Day: July 13, 2021

An Application

Respected Sir/Madam

Education administration is a fast-changing field that requires knowledge of modern classroom practices and insights in student behavior. My experiences in education and administration make me the ideal candidate for this position.

The position listing for principal stated that you were searching for a candidate who could develop and maintain curriculum standards. I served as a teacher for seventeen years before entering administration and am keenly aware of the state and local standards for curriculum development.

I might not have sparkling marks and dazzling grades up to post graduation due to many reasons, but nevertheless, this lacuna always has kept me awaken and stimulated to impart updated education to my students at every level of their academic growth and aspiring career to score big, achieve high.

Close to 19 years of sound academic experience in more than one school has accustomed me to various teaching-learning and working experience. Employed in various capacity right from common teacher to HOD English to academic coordinator and finally to an esteemed post of a Principal has given me ample space, time, authority and opportunity to groom my pedagogic skill, academic quality, planning ability, leadership efficiency, administrative proficiency and management capacity, appropriately.

As a School Principal, I am nurtured, experienced and accumulated with vital information related to School leadership, Operation, Management, Administration, Marketing, Teaching, Training, planning and community relationship building. Being a priest of English, Sound writing and communication skills have always assisted me to be resourceful and updated at every level of my progress.

Educational requirements change quickly, and principals often act as liaisons between the state and the teaching staff. My experience in curriculum development has helped me be able to interpret state standards and communicate them efficiently to my colleagues. As a principal, I would be comfortable holding everyone accountable for these rapidly changing standards.

My resume highlights specific examples of my administrative and leadership duties, my strong problem-solving, creative thinking, and long-range planning abilities. Additionally, I am adept in communicating with a diverse population.

I relish the range of challenges that are part of this job and enjoy working with students, parents, and teachers. My interests, strengths and abilities, along with my experience, I believe, are exactly what you want for this position. I hope you will give me the opportunity of a personal interview to help me understand your needs better and explain to you in greater detail how I can contribute to your school system.

Thanking you in anticipation

Yours Sincerely

The Jagannath Rath Yatra

The Jagannath Rath Yatra is an annual Hindu festival associated with Lord Jagannath celebrated in Puri at the state of Odisha. It is celebrated on the Ashadha Shukla Paksha Dwitiya which is the third month according to the traditional Oriya calendar. A 9-day long event, it is celebrated as the return journey of Lord Krishna- who is known as Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra- also known as Balaram and his sister Devi Subhadra to Vrindavana . On their way back from the Shri Gundicha Temple, the three stop near Mausi Maa’s Temple (their aunt’s abode) where Poda Pitha is offered to them.

The rath yatra begins at the Jagannaath Temple in Puri. The Jagannath Temple is believed to have been constructed by the king of Ganga Dynasty- Ananta Varman Chodaganga Deva in the 12th century(source-wikipedia). The image of Sri Krishna (Lord Jagannath) in the temple of Puri is made of wood and is replaced every 12 or 19 years by an exact replica. This temple is part of the Char Dham( that comprises of the temples of Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri and Rameswaram).

Every year, the rath of all three deities is newly constructed by a specialized team of carpenters from the wood of a particular type of neem tree and takes about 2 months to construct. They are given hereditary rights for the very same. A week prior to the Rath Yatra, the Jagannath temple’s doors are shut as the lord is believed to have caught a high fever during his annual bath. After the end of the 7-day rest period, the doors are opened and the 3 km Rath Yatra begins, where thousands of devotees from all over the world participate in pulling the raths of the 3 deities to Shri Gundicha Temple. It is a popular belief that anyone who participates in the Rath Yatra is blessed with a good fortune. During the festival, the king dressed as a sweeper, sweeps the area around all the 3 chariots with a golden broom and sprinkles sandalwood water and powder as a part of the Chera Paahara ritual held on two separate days that marks the beginning as well as the end of the Rath Yatra. This day of the beginning of Rath Yatra also marks the beginning of agricultural season and farmers start ploughing their fields. It also marks the beginning of a three weeks long Chandan Yatra.

This year, however, in response to the covid-19 pandemic that is spread across the country, the government said that the Rath Yatra will take place with only 5 vehicles including 3 chariots and no devotees. The Supreme Court also said that the Rath Yatra will take place in limited areas of Puri. It began on the 12th of July,2021.

To whom the world belongs?

Biggest Landowner

Owning a piece of land in the world is a dream for many people. People having their own place for settlement is the daily struggle. Many Country politics are revolving around settlements, refugees and Wars for acquiring other colonies are daily news.
But do you know who own not only a piece of land but multiple countries?

Owner of 16 Countries

The world’s biggest Landowner is Queen Elizabeth II, who legally owns about 16.6% of the Earth’s land surface. She is the only person on the earth who owns multiple countries.
Queen Elizabeth II serves as the Head of State of United Kingdom, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
These nations are termed as “Commonwealth Realms”. These nations were former British colonies. The British sovereign retains the position she holds in the United kingdom that of the Head of State. As in Britain, this is largely a ceremonial role from day to day.

Many nations have withdrawn from the Queen’s rule before as like that from these 16 current nations, Barbados has announced that it will remove Queen Elizabeth II as the country’s head of state and become Republic by November 2021.
After which Queen Elizabeth II will own 14 Countries in addition to the home country United Kingdom. 

Sex Education

Indian wisdom holds Kama, love or desire of sensual enjoyment as one of the four ends of life. These are religion(dharma), wealth(artha), sex(kama) and liberation(moksha). India has dealt with the matter of sex most objectively and scientifically which is why there are temples of Khajuraho, Konark and Puri and a treatise like Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra. And yet sex has become a taboo now. Many parents, teachers and others find it embarrassing to talk of sex before children and students. In these days of much scientific, technological and industrial development, there still persist many superstitions, myths and much ignorance about sex in India. Because of this lack of scientific understanding of the procreation and it’s physical aspects, the adolescents and children suffer the most. Consequently, they are not able to develop healthy attitude towards sex and suffer from many sex related misconceptions. In the absence of right knowledge and healthy attitude towards sex they often become victims of sex abuses and suffer the ills mutely. In these days Web series, Western movies and liberal morals, the Indian children feel sexually excited and stimulated but cannot properly cope with the situation for want of sex education and start suffering from various sex related complexes. As such they commit many mistakes which often put them on wrong tracks and ruin their life.

The rapid increase in the cases of AIDS, HIV positive etc. are the direct result of this total ignorance about sex and the reproductive process. There is an urgent need to remove misconceptions about it by introduction of sex education on a wide scale in schools and colleges on scientific lines. It has become all the more important as coeducation is becoming more popular arid there is free and liberal coming together of the opposite sexes at schools, colleges, universities and social levels. Children are scolded or discouraged when found discussing sex. Then they try to obtain knowledge about sex from doubtful, ill informed sources, friends and books. This gives rise to obscene books, pornographic literature, blue films and such other trash material. Even many married couple suffer from sex guilt and think love making as something asocial, obscene and undesirable to be indulged into the darkness of their bedrooms at night. This unscientific and unhealthy attitude towards sex has been largely responsible for such evils as gender bias, sex abuse, prostitution, rape, homosexuality, unnatural sex and undesired pregnancy.

If the children are taught sex scientifically, naturally and as one of the school subjects many of the evils and complexes related with sex can be removed. Many of the diseases like syphilis, AIDS, STD etc can be prevented if sex education is imparted to the children by their teachers and parents with the help of models, charts, illustrations, slides etc. When properly informed, they would be better armed to guard against sex abuses and exploitations. Many young men and women become victims of evil sensual designs because of poor or unscientific sex knowledge. Consequently, there are many cases of unwanted mothers, children and pregnancies. No doubt, it is a very sensitive subject and needs to be handled very carefully and cautiously or else it may create another type of serious problems as is happening in many western countries where free love and sex prevails.

The content, quality and method of sex education should be proven standard. The men and women entrusted with giving sex education to children should be really well qualified mentally, psychologically and educationally. There cannot be any ad hoc or half baked things. Sex education should be suggestive, imaginative but of practical value based on scientific studies and attitudes. Such an explosive subject cannot be taken lightly nor can it be ignored. Children cannot be any longer brought up in ignorance of facts which so intimately concern them. Their questions, curiosity and doubts about the subject should be fully answered and removed. They should be encouraged to know more about it like any other subject. In the formative years of childhood and adolescence, it is very essential that they are well informed about sex. A lack of sex education or faulty education at this stage may result in various forms of sexual deviations and abnormalities later in adulthood.

To the unknown

The UNKNOWN

Maybe it’s some mystery or may it be what I have ignored.
In this luxury of hustling world, is it that we don’t take time to search or at least wonder about the unknown at.
In this society set ‘Pattern of Living’ and ‘Frame of Thinking’, do we ever care to get a glimpse of what we don’t know!?
Yeah,I agree with the fact that we aren’t able to harness we have grown already; what we have known already.
But why do we often let this ‘Want’ fade away, is it just because of the uncertainty of the next? Or too coward to take that one little extra mile?
No matter how efficiently I try to describe this unsettling situation, the quotation that, “Knowing that I don’t know, itself is an accomplishment”, is undeniable.

How beautiful would it be to able to reach that far fixed fence; but is it really how this is supposed to be?


The unknown as it pertains to me ,
is the horizon, it’s up to us to believe in or not but the run for eternity is happening constantly like it’s been always
Things do happen whether we acknowledge it or not , isn’t it?
But it’s just that my WANT TO KNOW THE UNKNOWN keeps rising. What about your want?

For more content catch up @shambhavimeti .

Is Pluto a planet or not?

Pluto – which is smaller than Earth’s Moon – has a heart-shaped glacier that’s the size of Texas and Oklahoma. This fascinating world has blue skies, spinning moons, mountains as high as the Rockies, and it snows – but the snow is red.

Soon after Pluto was discovered in 1930, it was designated a planet, the ninth in our solar system. After Pluto was discovered, many astronomers presumed it to have been responsible for the perturbations they have observed in Neptune’s orbit. It was these perturbations that actually prompted the search for a planet beyond it. However, further observations determined that it was smaller than initially assumed. Also, after American astronomer James Christy discovered Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, in 1978, astronomers were able to determine Pluto’s mass and realized that it was a lightweight and didn’t exert a gravitational influence powerful enough to have induced the observed perturbations. Pluto was found to be smaller and less massive than all the other planets. Moreover, its orbit is highly inclined (17 degrees) relative to the ecliptic, the plane defined by Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The other planetary orbits have smaller inclinations.     

As telescopes got bigger and better, and were able to take clearer pictures of distant bodies like Pluto, astronomers began to suspect that Pluto was much, much smaller than the other planets. By the time the second Kuiper Belt object was discovered in 1992, astronomers knew that Pluto was even smaller than Earth’s moon, but it had been called a planet for so long that it retained its planetary status.

Astronomers had also known for decades that Pluto’s orbit actually crosses Neptune’s orbit. None of the other planets cross each other’s orbits, so why was Pluto’s orbit different?

Over the next few years, dozens and then hundreds more Kuiper Belt objects were discovered by astronomers, until finally, in 2005, astronomer Mike Brown discovered Eris, which is even bigger than Pluto.

  

In the early 21st century, astronomers were finding bodies of comparable size beyond Pluto, such as Sedna, Eris, Makemake, and others. These discoveries prompted the question: should the IAU confer planetary status on all these other worlds? In August 2006, the IAU convened its triennial meeting in Prague. Toward the end of this meeting, they voted on the adoption of Resolution 5A: “Definition of ‘planet.” By this newly adopted definition, a body has to fulfill three requirements to be designated a planet. First, a body has to have established a stable orbit around the Sun. Thousands of bodies meet this condition. Secondly, a body has to have developed a spheroidal shape. When a body is sufficiently large and massive, gravity will mold it into a spheroid. Pluto fulfills this condition. Third, and finally, the body has to have cleared its debris field. It has to be sufficiently massive so as to incorporate all proximate objects into it. Pluto fails on this condition, as its orbit passes close to or even within the Kuiper Belt, a region from which short periods comets originate. By adopting resolution 5A, the IAU demoted Pluto, firmly established the other eight planets as planets, and disqualified all the bodies beyond Pluto, all in one fell swoop.    
 
Although the recent observations by the New Horizons craft has shown us that Pluto is larger, more geologically dynamic, and contains a thicker atmosphere than once believed, it still doesn’t fulfill the third condition within Resolution 5A. The IAU will have to adopt a revised definition of planet in order to confer planetary status back onto Pluto.

Of course, some defiantly maintain that Pluto is still a planet and no resolution shall induce us to change our minds. 

CHILDHOOD DREAMS

DREAMS AS A CHILD

Everyone has a profession or two that they aspire to be when they grow up. Some children, for example, want to be firefighters, while others want to be physicians or professors and lots more. This is where everything starts. Dreaming is what gives a child the wings to fly, the hope to survive and the will to become successful in future. Childhood and early adulthood experiences may mould and mould these dreams. Many of these children grow up to abandon their childhood ambitions whereas some of these children, continue on their road to pursue their aspirations and become the professionals they’ve always wanted to be.

My Childhood Aspirations When I reflect on my life, I realize how wonderful it has been. I had an absolutely fantastic childhood and consider myself to be quite fortunate. I grew up in a home with two loving parents who have been there for me through thick and thin, and for that I am eternally grateful, forever. My parents instilled in me the belief that I could be anything I wanted and that I could do everything I set my mind to, they made me believe that nothing is impossible and you can gain what you want if you work hard. As I grew older and developed into the person I am now, my dreams evolved.

DREAMS AS ADULTS

When people consider their life dreams, they frequently consider whether or not they are childlike fantasies. Adults are continually influenced by what is considered juvenile or practical, as well as how others would see them if they pursue their aspirations. Most people who are going to follow all of their childhood aspirations are emotionally immature in some way. Bringing this down to the level of students has a similar effect. After all, when children reach a certain age, the adults in their lives dismiss their dreams as infantile or kiddish which is very much seen among the people in the current generation. Despite the fact that it can drive someone’s willingness, childishness is usually regarded as negative or problematic in some way. People can be motivated by a variety of emotions that are considered juvenile, such as wrath, sadness and many more.

When broken down by gender, it appears that gender stereotypes were still present in the minds of today’s adults when they were children. Pilot (13 percent), Athlete/Olympian (10 percent), and Police Officer or Detective (6 percent) were the most popular dreams for boys, while Vet (12 percent), Teacher (11 percent), and Dancer/Choreographer were the most popular ambitions for girls (6 percent). I’ve had a range of interests and occupations throughout my life that have given me a lot of pleasure. But when it came to my work and something I’d be doing for the rest of my life, I couldn’t think of anything that would make me truly happy.

Some people have an easier time moving on from their “childhood aspirations” than others. As they become older, they develop interests behind the scenes or in theater administration, which they can turn into an internship, which could lead to a full-time job. That’s just fine with them but this is not fine by me.

Myths and Taboos around Menstruation

Menstruation has always been surrounded by taboos and myths that exclude women from many aspects of socio-cultural life. Not entering the temples and kitchens during menstruation is a major restriction for rural girls and women from orthodox families. They are believed to be unhygienic, inpure and unclean and hence their touch is considered to be contaminating.

“A menstruating woman is impure, she cannot enter holy places”

“Don’t enter the kitchen, don’t cook or touch the food, it will go sour”

Such taboos about menstruation present in many societies impact on girls’ and women’s emotional state, mentality and lifestyle and most importantly, health. About 23% of girls in India, mostly from less economically developed areas drop out of school when they begin menstruating. The monthly menstruation period also creates obstacles for female laborers. The gender – unfriendly work environment, infrastructure and the lack of adequate menstrual protection alternatives and clean, safe and private sanitation facilities for female workers undermine the right of privacy. Over 77% of menstruating girls and women in India use old cloth, which is often reused. This increases susceptibility to infection, putting them at the risk of being stigmatized.

The first and foremost strategy in this regard is raising the awareness among the adolescent girls related to menstrual health and hygiene. The need of the hour is to disseminate the same knowledge and normalize this concept among the male community, since most women shy away from discussing about it due to lack of support from their male partners and other family members. Provision of sanitary napkins and adequate facilities for sanitation and washing should be made available with the gender perspective.

We need to rise above all odds and link physical infrastructure and sanitation projects to health education and reproductive health programs and address the issue in more holistic ways because

Menstruation is a very normal biological phenomenon, and society should understand that women have the power of procreation just because of this virtue. TALK ABOUT IT!

The UNTITLED by Zuhair

It has been two hours that I have been sitting in a coffee shop thinking for a plot  for my dream story and drinking cups of coffee. But the idea is simply  not coming . It is tough to be an writer .

Since I have decided to be an writer  and make fame and money it is a compulsory thing to be creative. Finding a plot is a big task. I have been trying to find a plot for my debut movie but in spite of 3 months of breaking my mind, I am yet to make up  an original plot.

Suddenly my mobile rings, the caller is my  wife.

“Where are you?’’ she asks.

“I am just  relaxing out at a coffee zone in ECR. I’ll be here for  some time.”

“Don’t take much time. Please be in time for lunch at 1 p.m.” she abruptly ends the call.

I work as a  bank agent in SBI. Since the thought of becoming an writer has entered my head I have been looking to find the perfect plot. The coffee shop is half empty.  It is 11 a.m. on a  Sunday morning . I glance around at the people while having  my coffee. A young couple is sitting in a corner table. An old man in his sixties is reading a newspaper alone in a table. A family of three is sitting in a centre table. The child is crying. His mother is trying to stop the boy crying.

Half an hour passes. The cafe is almost full now. Suddenly a young woman enters the cafe. She is wearing grey trousers and black top with a blue scarf wrapped around her head. She looks around for any empty table.  There is none.  She looks at my table. The opposite chair in my table is empty. She comes straight towards my table.

“May I join you?’’ she asks.

I am amazed,  I realize that this is the only table that is half vacant. I just allowed her.

I notice she had a black bag hanging on her shoulders. She keeps the bag away from her.

She looks at me and says “Thanks for the seat. I hope I am not disturbing you.”

“No it is okay. I am sitting alone; it is nice to have a company.” I reply.

She orders for a apple shake . Then she gets busy looking at her messages in her mobile.

I am thinking of starting a conversation with the lady.

“This place is good. I often visit this cafe.”  I start to talk with her.

She does not reply.

“I am an  bank agent”.  I wanted to  continue the conversation.

“What about you?” I continue.

“My name is Priyanka “.I organize events. “she replies. She looks disturbed.

“You look troubled,is everything okay?” I asked. ” Just flush out your thoughts”, I continued.

“She remains quite for a minute then she answers  ” Yes I am a bit disturbed. But I do not want to trouble you. You are a stranger.”

“You can believe  me” I try to be charming.
She had a immediate reply ” How do I”.
“The reason is that coz I have heard Beleiver a lot of times.

She laughs at me as if I had cracked a joke. I was serious about it. I never spoke of it as she started a conversation.
“Well I have a friend who wants to kill her husband. She wants me to be a part of her plan.” She replies.

” Want to crack a joke.” I reply.

“It is not a joke. “ She replies.

I may get some interesting plot for my story from this situation I think. I want to know her story.

“You can share with me if you want.”

“My friend that I mentioned is my best friend, we studied in the same school in Kolkata. Her husband is rude, she wants to get rid of him and has plans to kill him. I have tried to stop her but she is not willing to listen.”

“Why cannot your friend leave her husband and run away. “  I asked.

“She has tried a few times but he chases her and finds her always and brings her home. This time she wants to get rid of him fully so that he cannot find her again.”

How can I help her in this situation?  But a plot for my story  is coming to my mind. So I am interested to know what happens after? How does her friend attempt to kill her husband?  Does she kill?

I want to hear the full story. My phone is ringing again. My wife called. I will have to leave now as it is getting late.

“I am guilty that I cannot help you in this matter. But please let me know what happens next if ever we meet again.” I get up from the table.

“Oh I forgot to ask you your name.” she asks. I do not know why I shared my thoughts with you.”

I should not say my original name to her, I think, I do not want to get into any trouble   “Well my name is…forget it,that does not matters a lot. I will have to leave.  Bye”

I ask for the bill and pay and get into my car. Driving home to Palavakkam from Adayar.  I am thinking what if the lady is speaking the truth. What happens next?  Anyway it is too late now. I will have to reach home now. I have promised to take my wife out for dinner tonight. It has been a long time that we had gone out together.

But anyways I have got the plot of my story, I think.  My story will say of how a woman kills her husband. The suspense and the drama will make it a huge success, I think.

I reach home within half an hour. I drive my car in the parking lot of my area. Reaching my house I rang the calling bell. My wife opens the door.

“You are late.” She complains. “I have cooked your favourite dish for lunch today.”

It is fried rice and chicken gravy for lunch. That is my favourite dish and my wife cooks them really well.

“Thanks, I will be ready.” I said.

After freshening I came to the dining table.

“So have you got your plot?” she asks.

“Well, I have got an idea, it will be a thriller. I will let you know once I finish it.” I am scared from sharing the conversation with the lady in the coffee shop.

After half an hour I am sitting on the dining table.  She brings the chicken and fried rice to the table. There is only one plate for me. Normally my wife has lunch with me.

“Where is your plate?” I asked.

“First taste some chicken and fried rice to check whether the salt is adequate and let me know how it is. Then I will join you”. She replies.

I take some fried rice and 2 pieces of chicken legs and tastes them. “Awesome.” I reply.

After two huge spoons of fried rice I continue my lunch.

“Today after you finish your lunch, I will start my lunch. “ My wife says.

I continue my lunch. I am thinking whether it is any fasting today. No, then why she is not having her lunch with me, I try to think.

When I have almost finished my lunch suddenly I start feeling dizziness in my head. My head is spinning as if I had came out of a coaster, I had to vomit, as if something is stuck in my throat. I drink a glass of water, but I start feeling more dizzy.

“I am not feeling okay, my head is rotating. I think may be I had a heart attack.

“Please call the doctor”

My wife is standing still without any movements. Suddenly a smile comes on her face.  I try to reach for my mobile but cannot find it.

“ Call a doctor pls. where is my mobile?”  I ask.

“Is the lunch tasty?  Have you enjoyed your lunch“ She asks still smiling.

What was in lunch today I try to think. Did the lunch have  something to do with my sudden condition?

“ What was about the lunch today? Why have you hidden my mobile?”  I asked her again.

“Because my dear you had poison in your lunch today in your chicken gravy. That is the only way to get rid of you”. She replies.

My wife has poisoned me. Suddenly I remember the lady in the cafe. The friend she was referring is my wife. She is also from Kolkata.  It is my wife  who wants to kill me. I wish that I should have heard details from her. May be I could have got some clues.

The whole story comes in front of my eyes. That my had shared her thoughts with her best friend. Her friend had accidentally met me in the coffee shop.  I had got a chance to get to know the plan. But I did not hear. My eyes begin to close; it is getting very difficult for me to keep my eyes open. I collapse and faint while my wife keeps looking. Slowly my breathing is stopping and I am getting unconscious. I realize I am dying.

While passing out flashbacks comes to my mind. I was looking for a plot, a perfect plot,  a master piece that would make me a author. I got the plot but I did not realize that the dying character of my story will be myself, that I will live the life of the character of my story.

–END-

TVF: A platform as a symbol of common man’s life.

TVF (The viral fever) is an Indian over-the-top streaming service and YouTube channel. It is seen as the pioneer of web content in India. Their earlier shows like Permanent Roommates and Pitchers introduced the idea of serialised storytelling on YouTube to an average Indian consumer. The idea at TVF has always been to come up with original content that strikes a chord with the Indian audience. Whether it’s family, relationships or the difficulties of college life, the shows and videos have always been refreshing and yet relatable. When people hear the word TVF, they imagine the best storytellers in the country irrespective of the platform. There has to be something different about our shows.The Viral Fever was one of the early arrivals on the Indian digital entertainment segment with videos covering a range of topics on Indian politics, movies, lifestyle, and emerging social concepts.

The Viral Fever has etched its name in our hearts with some of the most relatable and quirky web series on the internet. Their relatable and rather hatke content has time and again won our hearts. Whether it’s something in drama or maybe a comedy, they have set the bar pretty high. Today, we’re here with a list of 5 tvf webseries that you must watch.

1.Panchayat

Panchayat, created by TVF for Amazon Prime Video, has been winning hearts since its premiere. Starring Jitendra Kumar, Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta, Panchayat follows a man who has been posted to a village as a part of his government job. The show follows his journey as he tries to make peace with his surroundings even though he feels like he is in an alien environment.A satire on the challenges he faces during his tenure in the office and the dry humour has won over countless people who have seen this show. A must-watch if you still haven’t seen this one. At the inaugural ceremony of Filmfare OTT Awards, the film won all the nominations under the Comedy Series category, except for Best Actress, which went to Mithila Palkar for Little Things. The series were also nominated for Best Original Story, Screenplay and Dialogues for Chandan Kumar, although it did not receive a win.

2.The pitchers

The plot of Pitchers follows the lives of 4 friends who’re pretty unhappy with their jobs. An inspirational story filled with some great comic scenes – it shows how these friends come together to start a company by quitting their day jobs. Portraying the struggle, hard work, sweat, tears and countless sacrifices that go into making a company successful – this show is a must-watch. The first season of the show was fairly successful but following the sexual harassment claims against creator-actor Arunabh Kumar, the show did not return for a second season.

3.kota factory

Kota Factory followed the coaching culture that’s prevalent in the city of Kota, Rajasthan. Starring Jitendra Kumar and Mayur More, Kota Factory struck a chord with the audience and was an instant hit on YouTube. The five episodes of the series have over 130 million views on YouTube collectively. It is hilarious, a little dark, bittersweet and very entertaining. Plus, the fact that it’s been shot in monochrome sets it apart from other web series.

4.Aspirants

This plot follows the lives of 3 friends – Abhilasha, Guri and SK living in Old Rajinder Nagar in Delhi. Showcasing the struggle and drama that goes on behind the making of an IAS or CSE, Aspirant brings forth this entire journey. Starring Naveen Kasturia, Sunny Hinduja, and others in significant roles, Aspirants follows candidates who are preparing for their UPSC exams in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar.

5.Hostel daze

Hostel Daze is an Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama streaming television miniseries created Saurabh Khanna and Abhishek Yadav. Directed Raghav Subbu, it stars Adarsh Gourav, Luv, Shubham Gaur, Nikhil Vijay and Ahsaas Channa in lead roles. Hostel Daze premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 13 December 2019. Hostel Daze can be described as a laughter ride through the corridors of hostel life that celebrates the catastrophe escapade of four students played by Adarsh Gourav, Luv, Shubham Gaur, Nikhil Vijay, and wing-mates, brought together by fate and later followed by forced friendships, heartbreaks, and flumping grades.

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How to Restore Our Sleep Cycle

Pandemic has a huge impact on the sleep pattern of the people around the world. Some of them are tossing side to side to get a proper sleep during night time, other stay long awake but unable to regulate their usual pattern. Many experts also suggested that these days people often faces troubled sleep, with many going to bed far later and sleeping longer than usual.

Image: Shutterstock

Our sleep schedules do vary from person to person, depending in large part on the environmental causes. Because according to our circadian clock , that control our sleep schedules are sensitive to light like things like how much sunlight we’re exposed to throughout the day and what types of light we’re exposed to at night affect our sleep schedules. It’s really a huge problem, having a disrupted sleep schedule can result in deteriorating sleep pattern. But this will led to severe health ailments linked to several chronic health problems, such as sleep disorders, obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorders etc.

Image: Banala lite

But there are some suggested ways to get our disrupted sleep back on track:

  • A proper bed time routine: Try to stick to a schedule of sleep, like keeping your sleep-wake cycle the same. Our bodies have a circadian rhythm and walking up at different times disrupts it. The less you deviate from your normal bed and wake up times, the better you sleep. To get to sleep earlier, even doctors recommends going slowly and in small increments, adjusting no more than 15 minutes earlier every two to three days.
  • A touch of nature: Get a good amount of sunlight every morning. It serves an important purpose: it shuts down the release of melatonin, this hormone promotes sleep. Aim to get at least 15 minutes of sunlight every morning.

      Image: NPR

  • Cut off caffeine before sleep: Caffeine has a half-life of six to eight hours and a quarter-life of 12 hours. That means if you drink coffee at 4 pm, you’ll still have a quarter of the caffeine floating around in your brain at 4 am.
  • Limit your drinking habit: Alcohol suppresses REM sleep cause sleep disruptions. If you drink alcohol, limit that to two drinks or stop the intake at least three hours before bed.
  • Limit the screen timings: Avoid screen timings just before going to bed. As blue light of mobile screen interfere with sleep habits by sending wrong signals to stay awake. But many of us do it anyway. Avoid screen time before 2 hours of going to bed.
  • Journaling: You can’t get a proper sleep if something is bothering you, it’s always better to pen down your worries in a diary. Making this a habit can lessen your worries. Sit down with a blank piece of paper one to two hours before bed each night. Writing down your thoughts, especially anything that is bothering you. It will help you to schedule your activities and calm your mind.
Image: Unsplash

Meditation and Music: Meditation eases your woes by giving a direction to your thoughts. To get a proper sleep one should practice this 10 minutes daily routine. On the other hand, music calms mind and listening to a relaxing one will help to achieve sleep.

  • Avoid sleeping at day time: To promote better sleep one should avoid day time nap, so as to get a better sleep at night.
  • Environment: Make a good sleeping environment like switching off unnecessary lights and put on the curtains to prevent the entry of noise and lights. Take a warm bath and play some relaxing music, for instance. Make sure your bed is comfortable, the room is dark, and the temperature is not too warm.

These are the ways which enable us regain our disturbed sleep pattern. Sleep, itself promotes body healing. So, this is advised to get a proper 7-8 hours of sleep during night time.

Image: PBS

The case Ivory traders & manufacturers association VS Union of India

 THE CASE IVORY TRADERS & MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION VS UNION OF INDIA

INTRODUCTION

This case is based on the trading of ivory which is illegal. Basically the meaning of ivory is teeth of elephant. It is used for making the ornaments and other articles. And we know that it is banned because the trading of ivory is illegal. The animals get harm due to this. It is found tusks of the elephant. The case Ivory traders & manufacturers association VS Union of India, (AIR 1997 DEL 267) is based on the trading of the ivory.

  • According to article 48A of the Constitution of India: “protection and improvement and safeguarding of forests and wildlife.
  • The State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

NAMES OF JUDGES

The bench of:-

 The Hon’ble CJ Mr. M Jagannadha Rao

The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Anil Dev

 The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Manmohan Singh

FACTS OF THE CASE  

  • The petitioners are dealers and artisans in ivory carry on the and trade in ivory including the manufacture of articles which are derived from ivory lawfully imported in India prior to be ban.
  • They import the parts of his stock of mammoth ivory from Russia and parts of it from Hong Kong for the purposes of the business.
  • Ivory derived from mammoth, extinct species of wild animal and ivory derived from elephants. As the mammoth and elephants both are different from each other.
  • This case is totally based on environment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife. The State shall protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.
  • Four countries are involved in this trading these are India, Russia, Hong Kong and china.
  • The court reasoned that the amendment act explicitly bans the use of ivory for commercial use: “no person can commence or carry on business as a dealer in ivory imported into India or articles made, there from, or as manufacturers of such articles”. The court puts special emphasis on the words ivory imported into India as being designed deliberately. The intention is to cover all descriptions of ivory, including from mammoth.
  • Therefore, they plead that they are persons affected by amendment act.
  • The cannot even retain the possession and control of the ivory lawfully imported by them and articles made or derived there from as the same has been made an offence U/S 51 of act read with section 49 c (2). They say that the ban is unreasonable, unfair and arbitrary.

IMPORTANT ARGUMENTS ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER

  • First of all the restriction is unreasonable unfair and arbitrary and violates the fundamental rights of the petitioner under article 14 and 19 (1) (g) of Constitution of India.
  • As per the amendment act extinguishes the title of the petitioners over the imported ivory lawfully required by them and articles made there from without making any provisions for compensation thereof.
  • The petitioners trade only in imported fossil ivory and articles manufactured there from.
  • The mammoth imported from abroad and actually the act does not deal with this kind of ivory at all.
  • The act only covers elephant ivory articles made there from. That the elephant ivory and mammoth ivory are of different types and can be distinguished from each other.

IMPORTANT ARGUMENTS ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT

  • That the impugned legislation was enacted to provide protection to the wildlife and it must be viewed in that perspective.
  • That the necessity of population and conservation of wildlife is essential for the very existence of human life.
  • There is an illegal killing of the India elephants for the ivory.
  • Due to this wildlife of our country is also depleting. We have to control this depletion and we have to take strict steps to control all these things.
  • As I have discussed above about the depletion of wildlife this is all because of human activities. As the initiative is taken by the government. Is they constructed the wildlife sanctuaries and the national parks to only save the animals and our wildlife also.
  • The human beings are exploiting animals because of the rise of money in the products of wild animals. The trade of ivory was banned in 1986 in India. And the opportunity is left with traders to dispose of the stock.

JUDGEMENT

It needs to be noticed that the Amendment Act 44 of 1991 has been enacted to carry out the mandate of the directive principles as enshrined in Article 48-A. The State has the power to completely prohibit a trade or business which has an adverse impact on the preservation of species of wild life which are on the verge of extinction both because it is inherently dangerous practice to destroy such animals in terms of ecology and also because of the directive principles contained in Article 48A of the Constitution. When the Legislature prohibits a pernicious, noxious or a dangerous trade or business it is in recognition of society’s right of self protection. Act 44 of 1991 inserted Clause (I a) in Section 49-B (1) (a) in the principal Act. As per it- ‘No person can commence or carry on business as a dealer in ivory imported into India or articles made, there from, or as manufacturer of such articles.’ It is also noteworthy that Sub-clause (I a) uses the words ‘ivory imported into India’. These words have been designedly and deliberately used by the Legislature. The legislation intended to cover all descriptions of ivory imported into India including mammoth ivory to prevent Indian ivory from entering into the market under the pretext of mammoth ivory or African ivory. Once the mammoth ivory is shaped into an article or curio, it looks exactly like an article made from elephant ivory which was said on the basis of the articles shown in Court. The respondent in its affidavit has also expressed the same difficulty in distinguishing. Also when a buyer intends to buy a curio, he is not interested to know whether it was created from elephant ivory or mammoth ivory as an average buyer also does not have the expertise or the knowledge to distinguish between article made from mammoth ivory and Indian ivory and buys it purely on aesthetic considerations or as a statue symbol. To give permission to trade in Articles made from mammoth ivory would result in laundering of Indian ivory — a result which the legislation wants to prevent for the reasons already explained above.

CONCLUSION

No citizen has fundamental rights to trade in ivory or ivory articles. Article 14 of Constitution of India is violative unreasonable, unfairness and arbitrariness. The petitioners have no fundamental right to carry on a trade or business in exhibiting or traders of animals covered by the impugned notification is prevention of unnecessary pain and suffering to animals. We have to conserve our environments. The ivory trade in India and provide a safe and protected environment for the Indian elephant.

India’s first Covid patient again tested positive

She was a student from Kerala’s Thrissur enrolled at a medical college in China, who was the first Indian to test positive for Covid-19 in January 2020 after returning to India following the outbreak of the pandemic, has been infected again, a health official said on Tuesday.

Thrissur district medical officer K J Reena said” she has been she tested positive and under quarantine at her home. None of the family members have tested positive so far”.

The student was found to have been reinfected after she was retested as she planned to travel to Delhi. Her family said she is showing no visible symptoms and that she has also been administered the first Covid-19 vaccine dose.

The student, who has been unable to return to China as Beijing is yet to allow Indian students back into the country because of the pandemic, spent almost a month in hospital while undergoing treatment for Covid-19 in 2020. Her friends also tested positive who was travelled with her from Wuhan.

She spent 24 days at an isolated ward from January 27 to February 20, wearing personal protective equipment. She said her medical background helped her overcome the trauma.

The Real Santa Claus

Santa Claus—otherwise known as Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle—has a long history steeped in Christmas traditions. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red who brings toys to good girls and boys on Christmas Eve, but his story stretches all the way back to the 3rd century, when Saint Nicholas walked the earth and became the patron saint of children. Find out more about the history of Santa Claus from his earliest origins to the shopping mall Santas of today, and discover how two New Yorkers—Clement Clark Moore and Thomas Nast—were major influences on the Santa Claus millions of children wait for each Christmas Eve.

 

The Legend of St. Nicholas: The Real Santa Claus

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best-known St. Nicholas stories is the time he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. 

Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to saasget married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.

Sinter Klaas Comes to New York

St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death.

The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a “rascal” with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.”

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” more popularly known as “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.” Moore’s poem, which he was initially hesitant to publish due to the frivolous nature of its subject, is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head! Although some of Moore’s imagery was probably borrowed from other sources, his poem helped popularize the now-familiar image of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer to leave presents for deserving children. “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” created a new and immediately popular American icon.

In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children. It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves and his wife, Mrs. Claus

Santa Claus Around The World 

18th-century America’s Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. There are similar figures and Christmas traditions around the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning “Christ child,” Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children’s stockings with holiday treats. Père Noël is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Italy, there is a story of a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children.

ALL ABOUT CHESS

History of Chess

The origin of chess is something that is debated and there is not really a consensus on its origin or even the history of chess, from the old to the present.

Some say that versions of chess and its board date back from Ancient Egypt or Dynastic China, but its most supported origin is that it first appeared in India around the 6th century, at that time it would have the name of Chaturanga.

Over time, it eventually reached Persia and its name eventually changed, being now called Xatranje, probably having other rules as well.

It eventually spread throughout Europe slowly and it took about 500 years for Xatranje to begin to look more like the chess we know today.

In the yoer of 1475 began to be consolidated with the current rules and its name also eventually changed to chess but it still took a few hundred years for Europe to play with the most modern pieces and rules as well.

In the middle of the nineteenth century began to appear tournaments and chess competitions, thus giving rise to a sport, which was always dominated by the same players and had World champions who maintained their reign for long periods, 20 / 30 years for example.

Chess game

The game of Chess aims to give the “mate” in the king of the opponent player. This happens in the following situations:

  • The king can not move to any house (they are all in the attack line of the opponent’s pieces);
  • No part can stand in front and protect the King;
  • The piece you are attacking cannot be captured;

If any of these conditions arise, then the “mate” or “checkmate” will occur and the game ends, winning the player who applied the “mate”.

Board and Chess Pieces

The chessboard is composed of squares of white and black color (8 squares of length on each side), being these always alternating.

The pieces also have the same colors and each color corresponds to the pieces of a player.

The board should be positioned so the last house on the right side of the row closest to each player is a white square.

The game of chess consists of the following pieces:

  • Pawn
  • Tower
  • Horse
  • Queen
  • Bishop
  • Rei

The pieces have their own order to be placed on the board (Follow the positions that are represented in the image);

Please note: The position of the King and Queen changes depending on the player, following the rule:

White King – Black House
Black King – White House
White Queen – White House
Black Queen – Black House

Who starts playing is always the player who owns the white pieces.

Chess Moves / Plays

Each piece has its unique way of moving around on the board, which enables a very large number of patterns and strategies, making chess a strategy sport and more interesting.

The possible plays per house piece are:

Pawn
This can only just move forward (no more part has this rule), being that it can only advance 1 home in front, or 2 if it has never been tweaked. It is also the only one that moves differently when it is to take the opponent’s piece, and he can only take the piece that is diagonally forward.

Tower
The tower has a fairly simple movement. It can move forward, backward, left or right in a straight line across the entire board as long as it has the path without any part.

Horse
The horse is the one that has the most unique movement. It can only move in L. format. This means that you can only walk two houses forward and one to the side at each move. This piece can already make your move jumping over other pieces (it’s the only one with this rule).

Bishop
The bishop has a movement similar to that of the Tower, only the latter, instead of moving in a straight line, moves diagonally, and can not pass over any part either.

Queen
This is considered the most powerful piece of Chess, this due to its versatility of movements since it can make the same movements of the Tower and the Bishop.

Rei
The King can move 1 each in all directions. The only restriction that this has is not being able to go to a house that is “check” (in the line of attack) by some part of the opponent.

Special moves

There are certain moves that can be made under special circumstances that make this magnificent game even more interesting and competitive. The special plays that exist are:

Pedestrian Promotion

When you can get one of your pawns to reach the end of the board (on the first line of the opponent), the pawn must be replaced by another piece (being a bishop, tower, queen, or horse), and is usually chosen the queen since it is the most powerful piece of the game.

Roque

It consists of a movement between the king and the queen, who change positions at the same time, in an attempt to defend the king by taking it from the center of the board and move the tower to a better position of attack.

In this movement, the king moves toward the tower two houses and the tower moves to the king’s side passing over him. There are two rocks: the small and the large, the only difference being its designation. The big rock is when the rock is made with the tower farthest from the king and the small is the opposite.

To make this move, certain conditions must be met:

  • The king could not have moved;
  • The tower can not have been moved;
  • The way between the tower and the king must be clean;
  • The king can not stand in a position that is in the line of attack of the enemy;

Passing

This is a special way for the pawn to move and can take the opponent’s pawn that passed next to him when he is in the 5 row counting from his field. Observe the images to better understand the move.

For this move there are also special conditions, which are:

  • Your pawn should be in the 5 row
  • The pawn of the opponent has advanced two houses and thus have stayed next to his;
  • The bid must be made immediately to the movement of your opponent;

Some Chess Rules

Chess also has some rules. Let’s just highlight the main rules that are usually addressed.

  • When a player lifts a piece, it may place it anywhere that is valid for the movement of that piece. After landing the piece cannot be removed, only if it has made an invalid movement.
  • When promoting a pawn, the player can touch a piece that is outside the board and change for his pawn, thus finishing the move;
  • During the Roque the player must first take the King and then in the Tower thus making their exchange of positions. If you touch both at the same time you can do it. If this one raises the King with the intention to make the Roque but this is impossible, then it must move the King to a valid house.
  • Players must not speak during the game, only when asking for a tie or advising the referee of any infraction. In games between amateurs it is common to announce the “check” but among professionals, the same should not be announced.