Day: July 18, 2021

Little Women : A classic for the ages

by Louisa May Alcott

Although it hadn’t won any awards at the time of its release, multiple film adaptions, television shows, plays and retellings are a testament to the cult that surrounds the book “Little Women” by author Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888). Published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, Alcott wrote the book in response to a request from her friends and family to write a book for young girls. The first novel was a huge success and struck a chord with readers and Alcott was flooded with letters requesting the second volume immediately. She quickly wrote the next volume to accommodate them. Eventually, the two volumes were released as one novel in 1880.

The novel continues to be very widely read and the ambitious female characters in it contributed to the rise of feminism in 20th century America. It revolves around the story of the four March sisters: Margaret “Meg”, Josephine “Jo”, Elizabeth “Beth” and Amy as they live their lives and grow into adults. The girls must contend with learning to become good women and learning about who they are as people with the help of their mother and father.

While on the surface it may come across as a simple story about the four March girls’ journeys from childhood to adulthood, Little Women centres on the conflict between two emphases in a young woman’s life—that which she places on herself, and one which she places on her family. In the novel, an emphasis on domestic duties and family detracts from various women’s abilities to attend to their own growth. For Jo and, in some cases, Amy, the problem of being both: an individual skilled at what they do and to be a dutiful woman creates conflict and pushes the boundaries set by nineteenth-century American society.

At the time when the novel was composed, women’s status in society was slowly increasing. As with any change in social norms, however, progress toward gender equality was made slowly. Through the four different sisters, Alcott explores four possible ways to deal with being a woman bound by the constraints of societal expectations: marry young and create a new family, be subservient and dutiful to one’s parents and immediate family, focus on one’s art, pleasure, and person, or struggle to live both a dutiful family life and a meaningful professional life . While some of the March sisters conform to society’s expectations of the role that women should play, the others initially attempt to break free from these constraints and nurture their individuality. Eventually, however, settling into a more customary life. While Alcott does not suggest that one model of womanhood is more desirable than the other, she does recognize that one is more realistic than the other.

The novel contains five intrinsic aspects: character, theme, setting, plot, and writing style. It is an unusual example of young adult literature of the time because Alcott gives her character with both faults and virtues, avoids teaching to reader, writes in a simple but accurate style, employs simple and often humorous dialogue. Heart-warming and emotional, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott has stood the test of time, and indeed deserves the title of being the cult classic we all know.

China’s 5 Year Plan (2021-2025): Proposed Dam on River Brahmaputra

The five-year plans are a sequence of economic and social development initiatives furnished by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) since 1949. The five-year plans were inspired by the five-year plans from the USSR and the focus was on launching new schemes, reforms and setting new growth targets.

Since the 11th five-year plan (2006-2010), the Chinese government has mentioned it as ‘Guidelines’ instead of plans. Currently China is on its 14th five-year plan/ guidelines. Unlike the previous five year plans, there is no specific GDP growth target and instead, the government announced that growth would be kept in “reasonable range” and an annual target would be set based on the specific conditions each year. The focus of the current plan is on self-sufficiency as the country had to endure difficulty after the United States had restricted China’s major chip makers from using American technology. Other areas of focus will be on the above 7 percent growth in the research and development spending. The government will also try to raise the urban residents to 65 percent of the population while maintaining green development and increasing the life expectancy by 1 year. Infrastructure will also be an area of priority with a focus on high-quality development of the belt and road initiative.

One of the biggest infrastructure projects of the 14th The five-year plan (2021-2025) has been officially approved to build a series of dams in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, as the Brahmaputra is known in Tibet before it flows into India.

The proposed dam would be in Medog, Tibet region will have a maximum possible capacity of 60 gigawatts and could potentially produce 300 billion kWh annually. The location is an area called ‘the great bend’ also known as ‘Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon’ where the river goes through a very drastic U-turn and then the river descents from an elevation of 3000 meters to around 800 meters. Due to the drastic elevation change, the river flow is quite strong and is also an ideal location to build the dam.

The location of the dam could be a strategically risky move by china as it is very close to the Indian border but the other issue is that this proposed dam can undermine the water security of India. India relies heavily on the Brahmaputra River for agriculture and various other purposes.  Due to this, the proposed Dibang Dam by India in downstream (Arunachal Pradesh) might be the solution to offset the effect of the Chinese proposed dam. Although the majority of the catchment area of Brahmaputra is on the Indian side there is still the issue of water flow from the upstream as Assam usually suffers from floods in the rainy season and any additional water flow from the Chinese dam would make the situation worse. The problem will not only affect India but also Bangladesh due to its low-lying land and flood-prone region. Problem is that the region is ecologically diverse and sensitive and any kind of development in this region will negatively affect the ecology of this region. Due to turbulent tectonic plates, there are high chances of landslides and earthquakes as well. India will have to be vigilant and develop its strategy according to the developments on the Chinese side.

References:

Breaking Down the Myths on Self Harm

Self-harm is very common and affects more people than you might think. This means it’s likely that at least two young people in every secondary school classroom have self-harmed at some time, so if you are self-harming, you are not alone – lots of information and support is available.

Self-harm isn’t a suicide attempt or a cry for attention. However, it can be a way for some people to cope with overwhelming and distressing thoughts or feelings.  Self-harm should be taken seriously, whatever the reason behind it. It is possible to live without self-harm. It is important to know that you won’t always feel the way you do now. With the right help and support most people who self-harm can and do fully recover.

The self-harm cycle

Self-harm most frequently takes the form of cutting, burning or non-lethal overdoses, resulting to behavioral outbursts. It usually starts as a way to relieve the build-up of pressure from distressing thoughts and feelings, as a temporary relief from the emotional pain the person is feeling. It’s important to know that this relief is only temporary because the underlying reasons still remain. Soon after, feelings of guilt and shame might follow, which can continue the cycle.

The self-harm cycle

Because there may be some temporary relief at the start, self-harm can become someone’s normal way of dealing with life’s difficulties. This means that it is important to talk to someone as early as possible to get the right support and help. Learning new coping strategies to deal with these difficulties can make it easier to break the cycle of self-harm in the long term.

While it is true that anyone can be affected by self-harm, some people are more likely to self-harm than others because of things that have happened in their lives – where they live, things that are happening with friends, family or at school, or a combination of these. This means that some people are more at risk of self-harm than others. Some factors that might make someone more at risk are:

  • Experience of a mental health disorder. This might include depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, and eating disorders.
  • Being a young person who is not under the care of their parents, or young people who have left a care home.
  • Being part of the LGBT community.
  • Having been bereaved by suicide

Some people can manage these troubles by talking to friends and family, while others may find these difficulties overwhelming. When we don’t express our emotions and talk about the things that make us distressed, angry or upset, the pressure can build up and become unbearable. Some people turn this in on themselves and use their bodies as a way to express the thoughts and feelings they can’t say aloud, hoping that the pain they inflict upon themselves will distract them from their mental pain and negate it.

There are lots of myths attached to self-harm. Negative stereotypes can be powerful enough to hurt someone who’s already hurting.

MYTH: ‘Self-harm is attention-seeking’

One of the most common stereotypes is that self-harm is about ‘attention seeking’. This is not the case. Many people find it difficult to talk to anyone about what they are going through for a long time and it can be very hard for them to find enough courage to ask for help, hence they find self arm the easiest way to let all the pain out.

MYTH: ‘Self-harm is a goth thing’

Self-harm has been stereotyped to be seen as part of youth subcultures such as “goth” or “emo”. There is no conclusive evidence of this with little or no evidence supporting the belief that self-harm is part of any particular young person subculture. A certain way someone dresses has no connection to one’s mental state. Dressing up all black with pierced and inked skin and dark eye makeup doesn’t mean you cannot be happy, or living in a rich or posh family doesn’t mean you can’t be hurting. Human mind works in different ways and stereotyping our upbringings doesn’t do justice to it.

MYTH: ‘Only girls self-harm’

It is often assumed that girls are more likely than boys to self-harm, but boys aren’t heartless. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if a boy is unable to express his feelings, they aren’t worth heard about and dealt with.

MYTH: ‘People who self-harm must enjoy it’

Some people believe that people who self-harm take pleasure in the pain or risk associated in the behavior. The term “harm” means pain. For some, being depressed has left them numb and they want to feel anything to remind them they are alive, even if it hurts, because sometimes emotions can be overwhelming enough to make you vulnerable to an extent that you choose harming yourself for the sake of feeling something instead of talking it out. Nobody would voluntarily want to hurt themselves in their normal state of mind.

MYTH: ‘People who self-harm are suicidal’

Self-harm is sometimes viewed as a suicide attempt by people who don’t understand it. For many people self-harms is about trying to cope with difficult feelings and circumstances. Some people have described it is a way of staying alive and surviving these difficulties, some look at it as punishment for the deeds they regret doing. However, some people who self-harm can feel suicidal and might attempt to take their own life.

People often link self-harm to suicide but for me it was something very different; it was my alternative to suicide, my way of coping even though sometimes I wished that my world would end.

Yes. Talking to someone is the first step to getting out of the cycle.

Telling someone about your self-harm shows strength and courage; it can often be a huge relief to be able to let go of such a secret, or at least share it.

One shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help whenever and however they need to. Talking about your feelings isn’t a sign of weakness, it shows that you are taking charge of your well-being and doing what you need to stay healthy. It isn’t always easy to express how you are feeling. Talking can be a way of coping with a problem you’ve been carrying around in your head for a while. Feeling listened to can help you feel more supported and knowing that you aren’t alone in this.

I’ve tried so many distraction techniques – from writing down my thoughts, hitting a pillow, listening to music, writing down pros and cons. But the most helpful to my recovery was the five minutes rule, where if you feel like you want to self-harm, you wait for five minutes before you do it, then see if you can go another five minutes, and so on till eventually the feeling that you need to is over.

Many people stop hurting themselves when the time is right for them. Everyone is different and if they feel the need to self-harm at the moment, they shouldn’t feel guilty about it – it is a way of surviving, and doing it now does NOT mean that they will need to do it forever. It is a huge step towards stopping when they begin to talk about it, because it means that they are starting to think about what might take its place eventually.

Biography-Abraham Lincoln

” I walk slowly, but I never walk backward” -Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, guided his country through the most devastating experience in its national history- Civil War. He is considered by many historians to have been the greatest American President. He was born on 12February,1809 in Hardin (now Laure) country in Kentucky. His father Thomas Lincoln was a skilled carpenter and his mother was Nancy Hanks. Lincolns left Kentucky and moved to Indiana in 1816. There little Lincoln attended some schools for less than a year altogether. Lincolns left Indiana for Illinois in 1830. In 1831 Lincoln left home for New Salem and served briefly in the black Hawk War (1831). The military interlude was uneventful except that he was elected Captain of his volunteer Company. In 1842 he married Mary Todd. He served one term (1847-49) as a member of the US House of Representatives where he opposed the Mexican War as unnecessary and unconstitutional. He had been indifferent about the annexation of Texas, already a slave territory, but he opposed any expansion that would allow slavery into new area, gained as a result of the Mexican war. He expressed his view that the nation would become “either all slave or all free”. He won the Presidential election as the 16th President of the US and his inauguration was held in March 1861. He was soon noted for taking vigorous measures in the Civil War sometimes at odds with the Constitution and often at odds with the ideas of his military commanders. He was naturally anti-slavery. He endorsed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery and thus charged the racial future of the United States. But it agitated a section of the white people. John Wilkes Booth, a Negrophobe shot Lincoln while he attended a performance at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on 14th April, 1865. Lincoln’s achievements for saving the Union and freeing the slaves, and his martyrdom just at the War’s end assured his continuing fame forever.

Employee Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment or Hiring is the process of searching and attracting the right candidates for hiring them for vacant jobs in an organization. There are two sources of recruitment, internal sources and external sources. Recruitment refers to the process of searching for potential employees and influencing them to work for their organization.

The purpose of the recruitment process is to find talented and qualified individuals for the growth and development of their organization. It is part of the human resource management(HRM) department.

Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower resources. It involves the creation of a pool of available labor upon whom the organization can draw when it needs additional employees.’ The recruitment process leads to a collection of candidates for any vacancies an organization might have.

 

 

There are many sources of recruiting potential employees but all of them can be grouped into two categories, namely.

Internal Sources of Recruitment

Internal sources of recruitment consist of employees who are already on the payroll of a firm. It also includes former employees who have returned to work for the organization. Recruitment from internal sources is done to fill up vacancies through promotion, re-hiring and transferring employees within the company.

Advantages of Internal Sources of Recruitment

  • Selecting and transferring existing employees is a simpler process.
  • The managers are aware of the talents and abilities of already existing employees.
  • Internal recruitment serves as a tool to boost the morale of employees as internal hiring creates job and promotion opportunities for existing employees.
  • Internal hiring promotes a feeling of loyalty amongst the employees.
  • Existing employees are already aware of the company’s working methods and don’t take a long time to adjust to new positions.

External Sources of Recruitment

External sources of recruitment refer to the sources that lie outside or exist external to the organization.

Sources of external recruitment include:

  1. People joining an organization, specifically through recommendations.
  2. Employment agencies( e.g. naukri.com) or employment exchanges.
  3. Advertising
  4. Institutes like colleges and vocational schools (e.g. campus selection)
  5. Contractors
  6. Hiring unskilled labor
  7. List of applications
  8. Temporary workers.

Encouraging existing employees to recommend suitable candidates can thus lead to the hiring of the right individuals for the right jobs. A higher level of teamwork and synchronization among employees would, therefore, be achieved.

However, it might also lead to employees picking their close friends and family members who are unfit for the jobs. Thus, talented individuals might lose out on good opportunities.

Whereas, external recruitment provides a wider collection of potential employees with the necessary skillset. It has proven to be a successful recruitment process when hiring for managerial and technical positions.

Characteristics of External Sources

  • Long and time-consuming process.
  • It is an expensive process.
  • When external people are given opportunities over them, then existing workers lose morale
  • Hiring new employees can lead to the introduction of new blood and thus the introduction of a new set of skills and ideas.

 

EMPLOYEE SELECTION

Employee Selection is the process of putting right men on right job. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job, the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover, organization will face less of absenteeism and employee turnover problems. By selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will also save time and money. Proper screening of candidates takes place during selection procedure. All the potential candidates who apply for the given job are tested.

But selection must be differentiated from recruitment, though these are two phases of employment process. Recruitment is considered to be a positive process as it motivates more of candidates to apply for the job. It creates a pool of applicants. It is just sourcing of data. While selection is a negative process as the inappropriate candidates are rejected here. Recruitment precedes selection in staffing process. Selection involves choosing the best candidate with best abilities, skills and knowledge for the required job.

EMPLOYEE SELECTION PROCESS

Employee selection Process takes place in following order-

Preliminary Interviews- It is used to eliminate those candidates who do not meet the minimum eligiblity criteria laid down by the organization. The skills, academic and family background, competencies and interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary interview. Preliminary interviews are less formalized and planned than the final interviews. The candidates are given a brief up about the company and the job profile; and it is also examined how much the candidate knows about the company. Preliminary interviews are also called screening interviews.

Application blanks- The candidates who clear the preliminary interview are required to fill application blank. It contains data record of the candidates such as details about age, qualifications, reason for leaving previous job, experience, etc.

Written Tests- Various written tests conducted during selection procedure are aptitude test, intelligence test, reasoning test, personality test, etc. These tests are used to objectively assess the potential candidate. They should not be biased.

Employment Interviews- It is a one to one interaction between the interviewer and the potential candidate. It is used to find whether the candidate is best suited for the required job or not. But such interviews consume time and money both. Moreover the competencies of the candidate cannot be judged. Such interviews may be biased at times. Such interviews should be conducted properly. No distractions should be there in room. There should be an honest communication between candidate and interviewer.

Medical examination- Medical tests are conducted to ensure physical fitness of the potential employee. It will decrease chances of employee absenteeism.

Appointment Letter- A reference check is made about the candidate selected and then finally he is appointed by giving a formal appointment letter.

IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION

Selection is an important process because hiring good resources can help increase the overall performance of the organization. In contrast, if there is bad hire with a bad selection process, then the work will be affected and the cost incurred for replacing that bad resource will be high.

The purpose of selection is to choose the most suitable candidate, who can meet the requirements of the jobs in an organization, who will be a successful applicant. For meeting the goals of the organization, it is important to evaluate various attributes of each candidate such as their qualifications, skills, experiences, overall attitude, etc. In this process, the most suitable candidate is picked after the elimination of the candidates, who are not suitable for the vacant job.

The organization has to follow a proper selection process or procedure, as a huge amount of money is spent for hiring a right candidate for a position. If a selection is wrong, then the cost incurred in induction and training the wrong candidate will be a huge loss to the employer in terms of money, effort, and also time. Hence, selection is very important and the process should be perfect for the betterment of the organization.

 

 

Students and social service.

Man is a social being and social service is a must in a system of man-making education, There are so many kinds of social service and students have a lot of work to do in this field. They have some duties to remove illiteracy. They can hold night schools for the illiterate adults and give them lessons on the three R’s. They can remove bad customs and inform the people of the rights and duties. They can clean dirty ponds and maintain hygiene around their area. In times of emergency such as flood, famine and earthquake, they can take an active part in bringing relief to the sufferers like giving them food, clothes, and finding them shelter. In times of normalcy they can organise cultural functions for the poor villagers as we know that poverty is depressing but drudgery is killing but most of the time students waste their time in idle gossip, in roaming and in fruitless work. It is better to utilise the power of youth in socially productive work than to squander our precious time in loitering at the market place or before theatre hall. It is true also that the studies of students will be affected somewhat if they turn their attention to social service. But, on the whole, they will be gainer as social service will promote their fellow-feeling, increase their love for the country and develop their organising capacity.

High schools can deliver social services on campus or refer students to outside agencies for assistance like various NGO’s.

If a student utilizes his time fruitfully and in socially useful work he gets contentment. Contentment is his satisfaction with his position. Students should remember that they are born for the improvement of the society by instilling the spirit of service in them. They can help the mankind in the best possible way.

The value of social service should be taught to students to create inspiration in them. They should be enthused to pay their utmost strength and service to the society to make their existence meaningful.

Students can co-operate with people on matters of public interest such as education, sanitation, trade and commerce and be a part of that so that they can help more and more people.

Students have a spirit to work but the guardians and teacher should guide them in the right way. Social service can be safely managed if they can be guided properly. Our leaders should guide them in the right way.

The Great Game

The term ‘Great Game’ was used to describe the rivalry that occurred between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for most of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century as their spheres of influence in India, Afghanistan and the Tibetan Kingdom moved the two  powers closer to one another in South-Central Asia. It also had direct consequences in Persia(Iran) and British India.

History

The Great Game is believed to have begun on 12 January 1830 when Lord Ellenborough, the President of the Board of Control for India, tasked Lord Bentinck, the Governor General, with establishing a new trade route to the Emirate of Bukhara. Britain was fearful of Russia invading India to add to the vast empire that Russia was building. Britain intended to gain control over the Emirate of Afghanistan and make it a protectorate, and to use the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire, the Khiva Khanate, and the Emirate of Bukhara as buffer states between both empires. This would have protected India and also key British sea trade routes by stopping the Russian Empire from obtaining a port on the Persian Gulf or the Indian Ocean. Russia proposed Afghanistan to be the neutral, buffer zone. As a result, there was a deep atmosphere of distrust and the talk of war between the two major European Empires.  Britain made it a high priority to protect all the approaches to India, getting involved in a geopolitical chess and the “great game” is primarily how the British did this. The British Empire used Afghanistan as a buffer state to protect all approaches to British India from a Russian invasion. British concern about the Russian influence on Afghanistan led to the First Anglo-Afghan War (from 1838 to 1842) and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (from 1878 to 1880). The Third Anglo-Afghan War began May 1919 and lasted for a month. British Empire no longer had influence on Afghanistan’s foreign affairs after an armistice was signed on August 8, 1919.

Wakhan Corridor

The Geographical effects of the great game are still felt to this day by the formation of the Wakhan corridor, which was formed by an 1893 agreement between the British Empire (British India) and Afghanistan, creating the Durand Line. This narrow strip was to act as a Buffer zone between the Russian and the British Empires, and this geographical anomaly still exists to this day, as part of Afghanistan.

The end of the Great Game

Many Historians consider the end of the Great Game to be the 10 September 1895 signing of the Pamir Boundary Commission protocols and the border between Afghanistan and the Russian empire was defined.

https://www.loc.gov/ghe/cascade/index.html?appid=a0930b1f4e424987ba68c28880f088ea

Sonagachi: Asia’s largest red light district in the heart of Kolkata

Situated in North Kolkata, in the oldest part of 300 year old city situated on the banks of River Hooghly, is Sonagachi, Asia’s largest red light district whose narrow , rat infested lanes houses around 11, 000 sex workers.

Click on the link to know what are the red light areas.

SONAGACHI in Bengali means TREE OF GOLD. There is a fascinating story behind the origin of its name.

SONAGACHI- a place of SAINT and SIN

Sonagachi is named after a Muslim saint turned dacoit, Sanaullah. The area in olden times was known as the den of notorious dacoit Sanaullah who lived with his mother. After his death, when his mother lamented the loss of her son she heard a voice which said ,” Mother don’t cry, I have now become a Gazi”. Gazi which means a “warrior who help in the spread of Islam” is the title given to the Muslim saints. Thereafter, a mosque was constructed in his rememberance and many people came there for cures and the mosque came to be know as the Dargah of Sanaullah and the area as Sonagachi. This fascinating tale was traced by PT Nair, Kolkata’s “barefoot historian” in his book ‘ A History of Calcutta’s streets’.

Though the transformation from a dacoit to warrior may seem strange but it is pretty normal as there were many Bengali Hindu dacoits who were the devotees of Goddess Kali and a robin hood figure for the people.

Though there is no direct documentary tracing the reasons responsible for the transformation of Sonagachi into a Red light district but some stories blame the neighborhood of the area which was a business one. Sonagachi is in the neighborhood of Chitpur which many centuries back was a business center even before the arrival of the Britishers. Any place with large number of travellers or pilgrims in the British area was bound to have a red light area which housed brothels enclosing many women who were seen as nothing but a toy.

Brothels in those times were known to be owned by the prominent Bengali families . The now decrepit mansions which has suggestive names like “Prem kutir” houses and provides livelihood to thousands of woman living there.

SONAGACHI- where bounts of make up hides the pain

Majority of the sex workers there like any other red light district are trafficked . They were dubbed by husbands , lovers or by the well wishers in the false hope of a better future and “sold” to this area which has painful stories behind every gesture. The 10 by 10 rooms in the brothels provides a perfect balance of the personal + professional lives of the workers. The single bed with condoms stacked beneath the mattress and household utensils underneath the bed is a reminder of the family life for which these places and this profession provides the money for. The glossy make up, flashy lights , scented rooms and loud music is a facade to drown the cries of the children of sex workers and also the horrors faced by the workers.

To us , as the third persons the place may seem like hell , but for some workers it is a place of refugee which accepted and provided shelter to them when nobody else did. A sex worker told her story to Indian Express mentioning how she dreamt to be a teacher in a rural conservative household but since the idea of woman in the professional zone is strictly prohibited in a rural conservative home, she had to give up on her home until she found a “well wisher” who on the pretext of helping her get education sold her to these narrow lanes of Sonagachi , which after all these years are her safe haven.

Women here are scared of love because all they got in the name of love from the men outside is just hurt. Another sex worker recalled her leaving the brothel with the man she loved only to come to know months after being pregnant with his child that he already had two wives and in order to escape the physical torture , she had no where else but the lanes of Sonagachi to return.

The children of these workers have a hard time coming i terms with their mother’s profession. They have only their mother in terms of family , identity of the fathers being unknown . While some children slips into depression and denounce their mothers, the others leave their mother forever when they are able to stand on their feet while some understand the sacrifices she gave in terms of her body, soul and peace to provide for them.

Health concerns of the workers

The local government , a few years back had started the “Sonagachi project” which educates women about the use of condoms necessary to prevent HIV diseases. The result is that today the area as compared to other red light districts has low rate of Hiv.

During the covid lockdown, when there were no customers, local authorities and NGO provided ration here and educated the women about measures to keep themselves save from Covid-19. Authorities also ensured the vaccination of the workers.

India beats Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in the 1st Odi : Dhawan, Shaw,Kishan steal the show.

India defeated sri lanka in their first match of the odi series played in Colombo. Indian outplayed the inexperienced Sri-lankan in every aspects of the game.

India leads 1-0 in the 3 match series

Sril Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first and things were going there way until chahal stricked and removed Fernando.
Contributions from bhanuka 27 of 44, rajpaksa 24 of 22, Dhananjay de Silva 14(27), assalanka 38(65), Shanaka 39 (50),
Chanika karunatana and chameera scored 40 runs in last 3 overs to get teams total to 263.

Bhubaneshwar kumar looked off colour today and went wicketless with figure 9-63-0,Deepak chahar took 2 wickets and looked in great touch. Spin duo of kulcha shared 4 wickets between them. While Pandya brothers shared 1 wickets each and   Kurnal Pandya was most economical with figure 10-1-26-1.

Chasing down the target of 263, P shaw and captain Dhawan came to crease. P shaw smacked the Lankans all over the ground and was progressing towards half century before falling to de selva at long-off at 43(24).


Then, debutant Ishan kishan came and smacked the lankans all over the ground and scored half century. And he edged one delivery to the wicketkeeper and scored 59(42).

Next,Manish Pandey came to crease and with captain he stitched a partnership of 74. Throughout his innings of 26(40),he looked uncomfortable and except few strokes,he was in a hurry to finish the innings.Then,another debutant surya Kumar Yadav joined captain in middle and finished the game. Dhawan carried his bat with an unbeaten 86*(95) and sky scored quickfire 31*(20).

Dhananjay de selva bagged 2 wickets and lakshan Sandakan took 1 wicket. india leads the series 1 -0 , Lankan side will be looking to bounce back while indian side will be looking to continue their winning streak.

Kadambini Ganguly

Today’s google doodle is dedicated to Kadambini Ganguly, an inspiring lady who was born in Bhagalpur, Bihar and wrote history by achieving exceptional heights during her lifetime.


Google has already honoured her by dedicating the doodle on her 160th birth anniversary, born today in the year 1861. She belonged to an upper-class Bengali family and her father Braja Kishore Basu who was a Brahmo reformer and founder of Bhagalpur Mahila Samiti. She was born in an era when, educating a girl was far beyond imagination of people but, opposite to that her father encouraged her to pursue her education, after completing her schooling. she wanted to pursue her career in medicine and she cracked the entrance exam of University of Calcutta, she got admission in the university and became first women to do so but, after facing lot of struggles and denial from the society. At every stage of her life, she has to face a lot of obstacles mostly from society to fulfil her dreams and ambition. She later went abroad and received a triple diploma from training in Dublin, Glasgow and Edinburgh, adding another feather to the cap she became the first women to achieve such a qualification. On her return to India, she served great ladies like- Florene nightingale, Anne Beasant and other people. By this time, she got recognised for her work, a medical professional who was serving her nation. In the year 1890, she gave a lecture at INC which is again something exceptional that she did at that time


Later, she started working on improving the condition of the society, where educating a girl child and letting her pursue her dreams was considered unacceptable. She was always supported by her husband Dwarkanath Ganguliyand along with him she raised her voice against the discrimination between a male and female that she herself faced at the university, her voice turned out to be so impactful that in 1915 the University of Calcutta made the decision to open the university for female candidates as well.


As a woman medical practitioner, she was not only dedicated to her work but also had a vision to bring change in the society by setting an example since her schooling to her triple diploma, an inspirational and passionate women wo created history back then. Today, it’s her 160 th birth anniversary and her story makes us remember the contribution of all those women who worked really hard and stood up against the wrong opinion and criticism of society to become what they wanted to be. All the stories have one common learning that there is nothing that a women can not achieve just that she has to have that courage to step up herself and cross the boundaries that the society sets up by the narrow perspective they have in their mind. By proving all the critics wrong, and successfully reaching at a level that is beyond the imagination of an orthodox mentality.
Today, in many countries women are in a much better situation but, there is still so much that has to be changed.

Celebrity Endorsements

Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Buying Behavior
Image Source: google.com

Celebrities can influence the taste, preference and beliefs of the public. They can make powerful Influence in the minds of consumers about the product and services which they endorse. A popular face can communicate more than any advertisement using a model. It will lead to mass brand sale. Companies use stars to endorse any products and services like food, soft drinks, soaps, perfumes, hair oil, cosmetics, home appliances, mobile networks, mobile phones, electronic equipment, health products, automobile etc. Even political parties are influenced by the charisma of stars because of the magnetism of stars in the country. In the recent parliament election major political parties fielded a record number of stars from different constituencies around the country. South Indian star Nagma, Innocent and Suresh Gopi from Malayalam industry, Anitha Prathap from media competed in election.

Factors of successful celebrity branding

1)            Consistency and long-term Commitment

As with branding, companies should try to maintain consistency between the endorser and the brand to establish a strong personality and identity. More importantly, companies should view celebrity endorsements as long-term strategic decisions affecting the brand. A global must respect local needs, wants, and tastes while endorsing.

2)            Prerequisites to Selecting Celebrities

Before signing on celebrities to endorse their brands, companies need to ensure that they meet three basic prerequisites, namely the endorser should be attractive, have a positive image in society, and be perceived as having the necessary knowledge (although it might be difficult for a celebrity to meet all three prerequisites.

3)            Celebrity-Brand match

Companies should ensure a match between the brand being endorsed and the endorser so that the endorsements are able to strongly influence the thought process of consumers and create a positive perception of the brand. Tiger Woods endorsing the Buick brand makes no sense at all. There is just no believability that Tiger is dying to drive a Buick. And without believability celebrity endorsement is worthless.

4)            Constant monitoring

Companies should monitor the behavior, conduct and public image of the endorser continuously to minimize any potential negative publicity.

5)            Selecting Unique Endorsers

Great brands represent great ideas. These brands express the uniqueness of position to all internal and external audiences. Companies should try to bring on board those celebrities who do not endorse competitors’ products or other quite different products, so that there is a clear transfer of personality and identity between the endorser and the brand. The controversy related to the endorser’s personal or professional life must hamper the associated brand image. Kobe Bryant’s family-friendly endorsement deals with Nutella and McDonald’s came to a quick end after he was accused of rape.

6)            Timing

As celebrities command a high price tag, companies should be on the constant lookout for emerging celebrities who show some promise and potential and sign them on in their formative years.

The benefits of celebrity branding

  • Attracts the attention: Celebrity ensures attention by breaking the clutter of ads and makes the brand more noticeable.
  • Establishes credibility: celebrities create a sense of trust for the brand among target audience. It will be more helpful to new products.
  • Associative benefit: When the celebrity prefers the product it helps to create a persuasion to the target audience. It creates a feeling that as the celebrity benefits from the brand the consumer will also benefit.
  • Psychographic connect: Stars are loved and respected by the public, so the advertisers use stars to capitalize the feeling to turn the fans towards their brand.
  • Demographic connect: Stars represent different demographic segments like age, gender, class, geography etc.
  • Mass Appeal: Stars have universal appeal can make interest among these masses.

How To Choose Dinnerware

Dinnerware is the allure of the dining table. It settles the right tone of the dinner. Whether it is an informal dinner with your friends or a formal with your boss and colleagues or maybe even your regular dinner at home with your family. Different types of dinnerware are used for different purposes of dinner gatherings. If you have doubts about how to choose dinnerware, you have come to the right place. This right here is the proper guide for choosing dinnerware for the perfect setting.

Dinnerware is not just for style, it should be useful as well. It is a daily use item and should be durable for a long time. Now, how do you choose the right type of dinnerware for all different purposes? Don’t know? Well, let us help you with that. Come on, let’s dive into the world of dinnerwares.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

Types of Materials Used for Dinnerware

Before searching for anything else like the style, design, and colors, of the dinnerware set, look for something that will be durable and will not embarrass you in front of your guests. Some of the famous materials used for dinnerware sets are Bone China, Porcelain, Earthenware, Ceramic, and many more. Read on to have a detailed look at the types of materials.

Bone China

Bone China is the perfect type of dinnerware for both daily use and formal dinners. It is durable, stylish, comes in many designs and colors. It is generally thin,  lightweight, and chip-resistant. In addition to its qualities, it is microwave safe and can be easily washed in a dishwasher. It has an elegant appearance and is better than fine china.

Earthenware

One of the oldest types of dinnerware sets that gives a casual appeal. Earthenware gives slight durability and adds value to the dinner set. It also provides a significant weight to the dishes. But make sure you avoid high temperature changes that may damage the look of the material. Keep the microwave at low temperature settings while using earthenware. It is affordable but not as suitable for daily use as others.

Porcelain

Porcelain is the most common type of dinnerware material and the best for daily use purposes. This amazing type of material is dishwasher, microwave, and oven safe. It provides wonderful durability and appealing designs. Porcelain has a non-porous surface that gives an amazing texture. It is difficult to manufacture. But it is less expensive than Bone China and is easily affordable.

Ceramic

Ceramic is specifically not a type of material but it is considered as a class containing different types of china and porcelain. It is generally white in appearance but ranges in color from white to blue. White also has many different shades in ceramic, like off-white and others.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Stoneware

Stoneware is made from the same materials as porcelain but in different ratios. This makes it more heavy weight and sometimes it has a texture. This material may have speckles on it which gives a beautiful look to the plates and dishes. It generally comes with an off-white body. It is durable and user friendly. It is good for regular use as well as dinner parties. But they need to be kept at normal temperatures and away from both freezing or very high temperatures.

Melamine

Melamine is used for outdoor purposes as it is unbreakable. It is hard to break or chip. It is dishwasher safe but unfortunately not microwave or oven safe.

Sizes of Dinnerware sets

Now after getting to know about the materials of dinnerwares, next important point is to decide what size you have in mind. Is it a proper dinner set or just some plates for regular use? Let’s have a look.

Formal Dinnerware

Formal dinnerware sets mostly contain all the required dishes for a person to have a great dinner easily. It may also contain soup bowls. It contains full plates, quarter plates with serving spoons, and small spoons for eating.

Open stock

Open stock is a piece by piece sold dinnerware set. It can include dishes of your own choice. You are free to add items of your requirement like plates, spoons, or some dishes. You can mix and match with your collection at home if you need some white plates to go with your set, you can easily find them. If you don’t want the whole dinner set with things you don’t require, then you can go for open stock and select the items as per your requirements.

You can collect single pieces of different sizes or designs and colors according to what you have in mind. Choose whether you want soup bowls or not. Which color will go with your existing collection at home? Which design matches the tone for your dinner party? With open stock, you can customize your cabinet of dinnerware set with beautiful designs, shapes, and colors of the dishes and bowls. If you don’t want the unnecessary saucers, you can remove them, or maybe you just need one serving bowl, it’s your wish. Pick your item and that’s it.

Other Points to Keep in Mind While Buying Dinnerware

  • Choose plates and bowls according to the size of your cupboards and dishwasher. It will cause a problem for you if the plates are too wide or big.
  • Dinnerware makes the dining table look presentable if it is glazed or white with a beautifully designed plate set. So choose your set of designs and colors according to your choice.
  • Don’t shy away when buying a good dinnerware set. It will be useful in the long run. Don’t hold back if the set is a bit expensive. Make sure to buy enough for hosting a huge gathering. You don’t know when you might have to celebrate!
  • Look for thinner rim plates as they offer a larger plate area for use as compared to the ones with broad rims. Or maybe you want plates with flat surfaces.
  • You can decide whether to buy large cereal bowls, that can be used for many purposes, or you want shallow soup bowls. Commonly round bottom bowls are preferred over flat ones.
  •  If you are planning for a formal meal, you may want cups and saucers. They give an old and classic look to the setting.

These were all the required things you need to keep in mind while choosing your set of dinnerware. Enjoy shopping! We have made sure you have the answer to your query that is, ‘how to choose dinnerware?’ Remember these things and you are ready to start your collection of perfect dinnerware sets.

CAN WE ENCOURAGE BEGGING?

At a tender age when children should study in schools, play with toys and enjoy their leisure, many of them are seen on roads seeking alms to make both ends meet due to selfish motives of some miscreants that make them beg under extreme conditions. Masked perpetrators of such deeds are making it a huge business by remaining behind the scenes. The plight of such children is really heart-wrenching. Several initiatives are taken by various institutions and NGOs to check it, but to no avail. Not because they are not true to the work they are doing, but because people like us are not ready to accept that by giving them money we are encouraging begging. The situation is not better throughout the nation as these beggars can be seen begging at traffic intersections, market places, religious places and outside educational institutions. Many of them are mowed down by speeding vehicles. Such children sometimes take to stealing and snatchings. They also disrupt the traffic. There is a need to unmask those elements who are behind the menace. Don’t encourage begging, instead help them by instilling positive ideas and educating them. JASPREET SINGH, PATIALA, editorial@tribune.com

A Street Beggar Begging has been declared an offense in independent India, but it has really no real impact. On almost every red light’, there are number of beggars who beg in the name of mercy or religion. Initially, people used to beg only in desperate circumstances but now-a-days, it has become a profession. Those who can make easy money by begging. do not want to work. And at times, they can earn more than an honest worker. At every crossing, a woman carrying a child, a handicap person. young children asking for alms for food or in the name of God, IS a common sight. They can all work to earn their livelihood, even the handicapped, because all self-respecting people try to stand on their own feet. Of course, crippled people should be helped, but not by giving them alms. Begging cannot be justified at any cost. People use different innovative ideas for begging. Some form singing parties, some wear saffron clothes and carry a bowl, others beg in the name of charitable institutions. Some try to rouse sympathy by carrying small, crying, hungry infants but while giving aims to any beggar, one should always remember that one is not helping the beggar in any way by giving them money but is only satisfying his ego of being a kind and benevolent man. Begging is a stigma on the name of any nation and charity should be given only to charitable institution so that it reaches those who really need them.

Don’t encourage begging!

The REAL SMURF village

Hello guys! Have you ever watched the movie “smurfs”. If not definitely watch it it’s a fun film.

But this just an animated movie but there exists a real smurf village in this world!
This village is located in juzcar ,spain and can be easily located ,you want to know why? Because it's a blue-tiful village.
From tyla.com

Although the smurfs are not present in this village and is a normal village like any other then why do you think it is called a smurf village .

It is called because the whole village painted their houses in blue dedicating it to the film smurfs.

From ladbible.com

They even have statues located here and there and visiting this “blue-tiful” city you enter into a whole new world.

Like every other village everyone leads their daily lives normally but painting a whole village is something to talk about.

This painting of the whole village in blue colour was something that is intiated to promote the movie "Smurfs " which can captivate people by thinking out of the box .
From:veebrant.com

They chose this village juzcar because they are famous for mushrooms and Smurfs love and live in mushrooms so this place is perfect as this city not only promotes the movie but also can be related to the movie.

This started attracting tourists ,travellers,celebrities  to this city ,this place became a hub for all the smurf fandoms to gather .

Every wall has a smurf painting on it them and evey corner of the city is painted in blue and an astonishing amout of effort has been put in to this.

From hlc edu.in

Although the sponsors offered to paint back the village into white but the villagers liked as it is at present now and declined their offer .

This place gives off an relaxing vibe where one can visit it to just walk through the village and experience the refreshing atmosphere and appreciate the village for its simplicity.

Thankyou^^.

Advertisements

This is an age of advertisement, nay aggressive advertisement. There is virtually an advertisement invasion. It is all over the country influencing our ideas, lifestyles and decisions. There are more advertisements in the newspapers than the news and articles. On the small screen of television the programmes are heavily punctuated with advertisements. They are there on the silver screen of the cinema in large numbers. They can be seen on the walls, buildings, scaffolds, electric and telephone poles, trucks, buses airports and even in such places as cremation and burial grounds. Big, colourful and attractive advertisement balloons rise and float high in the sky. There are costly but very attractive laser advertisements. It has become a very big industry and there are huge profits and volumes. Corporate groups, business houses, film makers, shopkeepers, traders etc spend crores and crores on advertising. A great part of the annual budget of these people is spent on it.

Advertisements serve a great purpose. They promote sales, increase businesses and profits as nothing else can do. They catch the eyes, hearts and minds of the viewers and turn them into instant buyers. They appeal to their imagination, curiosity and purchasing urges. People are tempted to buy what they see advertised. Then there is pressure from ladies and children in the family. These pressures turn hesitation into immediate purchasing decisions even when the things are actually not needed. People buy on instalments, on credit or by borrowing money, such is the power of attractive advertisements. During festivals and social occasions their psychological appeal is at its best. They create a mood to buy and spend money. Then there are gift coupons, hampers, discounts, annual sales etc which the people find very hard to resist. Advertisements have ushered in a wave of consumerism in white, brown and other goods besides clothes and commodities.

Then there are big exhibitions in five star hotels, halls and sprawling grounds. Customers throng the exhibitions and enjoy themselves with their members of the family. When an environment of picnic prevails there, one can’t be easily on a spending spree. There is home delivery, buy now pay later offers. Such an onslaught can hardly be withstood. Advertisements also offer better products at reasonable rates. There is wider choice and vast range of things to choose from. People want value for their money and advertisements give them this opportunity. There is cheating as well but it soon exposed and cannot be repeated. In this age of global economy, international integration and fierce competition only the fittest can survive.

An advertisement to be successful, needs to be creative, novel, appealing and result oriented. Advertisements are prepared by experts by spending lakhs of rupees and keeping the target buyers in mind. Publicity aims at promoting sales by underlining certain unique qualities of a product and commodity. “Out of sight, out of mind” is a very old and time tested saying. It applies so well in the world of business, trade and commerce that nobody can ignore it. The more people see and listen about a product, the more they are sure to buy it.

Advertisements help in introducing new products as well as increasing the sales of established products. Advertisements create brand image and once a brand is established a commodity becomes a household word. Established brands have very strong appeal. And once one starts liking a particular brand, he or she sticks to it lifelong. It becomes a kind of addiction and hypnotism. Advertisements have revolutionized the business world.

But sometimes advertisements are really very dangerous and cause a lot of harm particularly to children and youngsters. They try to imitate dangerous advertisements seen on television, silver screen or in a magazine. Such visuals and advertisements should be banned and there should be heavy penalty on those advertisements which cause loss of life or injury among children.