Social Anxiety Disorder (S.A.D.) is also known as Social Phobia. It is one of the major psychological disorders listed in the DSM-5. It leads to a fear of social situations that involve direct or indirect interactionS with other people. It is a permeating disorder that can have a negative impact on an individual’s life. According to the latest data of 2020, 15 Million adults spread across the globe were diagnosed with social anxiety.
Reasons that lead to Social Anxiety
Genetic risk factors such as, a family history of anxiety related issues
Domestic atmosphere of anxious behavioral traits
Having an overly reactive Amygdala in the brain
Having to adjust in a new atmosphere during adolescence
Early childhood experience of bullying, rejection, avoidance, domestic conflicts, sexual abuse, death of a loved one, etc
Symptoms of Social Anxiety
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
Blank or a racing mind
Excessive sweating
Stomach upset or nauseating sensation
Rapid heart rate
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Cold tremors or shivering
Respiratory illness
Palpitations
Avoiding eye contact with people
BEHAVIOURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS
Intense worry about social situations (attending a party, going for a social gathering, hanging out with with peer, presenting a business presentation, etc)
Use of intoxicants (alchohol, drugs, smoking) to face a social situation
Experiencing anxiety several day before the social event
Thoughts of embarrassing oneself before a group of people or a person
Mind racing over thoughts of being judged negatively by people
Trying to spot flaws in one’s own actions or social performances
Intense fear of meeting new people and interacting with them
Fear of making mistakes, having a shaky voice during public interactions
Diagnosis of Social Anxiety
A mental health practitioner (Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Counseller) can diagnose a patient with social anxiety though a variety of methods.
Social anxiety can be determined through the following methods :
Listing out the situations that make the person anxious
Usage of techniques such as Questionnaires, Check lists, Survey to understand the symptoms experienced by the person
Applying the DSM-5 and ICD criterions to diagnose social anxiety
Treatment of Social Anxiety
Use of psychotherapy methods like personally interacting with the therapist about the problems faced by oneself and employing ways to generate happiness and overcoming the issue
Engaging in activities organized by support groups such as ADAA, Seven Cups of Tea, Daily Strength, etc
Pursuing hobbies that makes oneself elated (singing, dancing, sports, artwork,etc) and using one’s time constructively
Trained mental health practitioners may also suggest medications such as Antidepressents to regulate the levels of chemical messengers such as dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin in the body
Every year approximately 5 Million deaths occur due to anxiety and mood related disorders. Social Anxiety is not taken into possession by choice but varied circumstances leads to it. One must express concern and empathy towards any person known to face mental health related issues. Providing support and reassurance is much needed in such circumstances. Advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder proves that the future is still optimistic for those who suffer from it.
Most types of clocks rely on the oscillation of a slid body, be it a pendulum, a balance-wheel, or a quartz crystal, but each suffers from the effects of temperature, pressure, and gravity. Time measuring devices depended on the spin of the earth, but these suffer from seasonal effects and tidal friction. The moon causes tides to occur on earth and it causes friction between moon and the earth. This friction slows down the earth’s rotation by few milliseconds. This is called tidal friction. The atoms, however, vibrate a fixed number of times per second. Both the U.S. National Bureau of Standards and the United Kingdom’s National Physics Laboratory tried to take advantage of these vibrations.
In 1949 the Americans built a quartz clock that was synchronized by the 24-GHz vibrations of low pressure gaseous ammonium molecules. The British, under the leadership of physicist Louis Essen (1908-1997), used the oscillations of an electrical circuit synchronized to the vibrations of caesium atoms, the first caesium was kept in a tunable microwave cavity and the clock relied on the fact that were 9,192,631,770 transitions between two hyperfine ground state energy levels every second. This number defined the second, as opposed to the old definition of there being 86,400 seconds in one day. A good atomic clock was accurate to one part in 1,014, and therefore would take about 3 million years to lose or gain a second.
JILA’s 3-D Quantum Gas Atomic clock
Four atomic clocks are used in each of the many satellites of the global positioning system and comparisons of electromagnetic-wave travel times enable positions of earth to be measured very precisely. The clocks are also used by geophysicists to monitor variations in the spin rate of earth, and the drifting of the continents. Since record began, earth recorded the shortest day on July 19, 2020, when the day was 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than 24 hours.
Why atomic clocks is used in GPS?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of 24 satellites orbiting the earth. A GPS receiver uses the position of four of these satellites to locate itself. One to correct the time on the receiver, and three to locate its position. A signal is sent to the receiver from the first satellite that contains the satellites location and the signal’s time of departure. The receiver then multiplies the signal’s travel time by the speed of light to calculate its distance from the satellite. With one satellite the receiver knows that it’s located o a sphere around that satellite with a radius equal to the calculated distance. So, it does the same calculation with a second satellite. The intersection of these two spheres narrows the location to the circumference of a circle. Then with a third satellite, the receiver can reduce the location to a single point. Since signals are travelling at the speed of light, being off by even a millisecond means an error off about a million feet, or 300 kilometres. But with atomic accuracy, the receiver can locate itself to about 3 feet. Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites fly in medium earth orbit (MEO- Medium Earth Orbit) at an altitude of approximately 20,200 kilometres from ground.
The NIST-F1 is one of the most accurate time standards based on microwave atomic clocks. The most accurate atomic clocks lose about a second over 138 million years.
“Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.” – Miles Davis
Menstruation is a phenomenon unique to girls. Menstruation is the natural part of the reproductive cycle in which blood from the uterus exits through the vagina. It is a natural process that first occurs in girls usually between the age of 11 and 14 years and is one of the indicators of the onset of puberty among them.
Taboos surrounding menstruation exclude women and girls from many aspects of social and cultural life. Some of these are helpful, but others have potentially harmful implications.
In India especially, I found it extremely ironic for it to be still a taboo in this time and era, even before I don’t understand why it was called a taboo and the reason for that I guess was, India where a girl child recognised as boon ( as GODDESS LAKSHMI when born) and giving birth is also considered boon given only to women despite that this unique process that make it possible for a women to have a child is considered a TABOO. Even with many scientific clarification of the process of this unique phenomenon, even though being this 21st century there still continuous myth regarding this adapted within the society.
SOME OF THEM ARE:
Women who menstruate have long been taught to keep silent about their periods. Young girls are taught from a young age that they have to manage it privately and discreetly.
In Indian households including the literate ones, women are constantly reminded of the old-age traditions where “you are not allowed to touch anything holy, visit temples, cook or touch pickle.”
The taboo is so ingrained that women often have the “walk of shame” while carrying their sanitary pads wrapped in black plastic bags in their hands.
Strangely enough, in some cultures, celebrations are held on the commencement of menstruation. And in the same cultures, the already menstruating women are looked down upon as impure and filthy.
It is not uncommon for boys to giggle and laugh during biology class when the topic of menstruation comes up.
BUT NOT IN EVERY CULTURE IT OCCURS- In Kashmiri Hindu culture, menstruating women are given special care considering the belief that they become weak due to blood loss. They do not consider them to be impure and rules like, a woman on her period can’t visit temples or can’t work don’t apply.
#BREAKTHEBLOODYTABOO
It’s high time that we normalize menstruation as just a healthy and positive part of the female life cycle. Menstrual periods are nothing to be ashamed of. Just like digestion, blood circulation and respiration are considered as natural and biological processes, both men and women should work towards making menstruation an important topic to talk about openly. This is the only way to combat its silence and break the stigma.
some changes I notice toward breaking this taboo for women in this society
The greatest changed I noticed was for the changed working environment toward women as the sanitary environment facilities given to them as employment care like washroom provided with sanitary pads and tampons etc.
knowledge about the first period to young girls now given at their school is compulsory not only to girls but to boys too given knowledge for it be known as normal topic and not as a taboo topic.
Advertisement about sanitary pads and tampons starts to make this topic to talk openly about.
Men buying the sanitary pads and tampons make it comfortable for women during their periods so that they can express their thoughts, sorrows, angers, happiness with them.
God resides in the heart of a child. Child is as pure as water. When dirt enters in water it becomes impure. When a child is married the child loses the inner purity. To fulfill some “so called” rituals and respect their tradition people get ready to tie their children’s knot with someone even before the appropriate age. To prove our traditions, to respect them do we really need sin like child marriage? On one hand we talk about children and on the other hand we talk about marriage, how come we are living with this contradiction? We are living in a society where a separate section of society feels marrying their children after 18 is as dangerous as nuclear bomb. The actual nuclear bomb is child marriage. Because of this many children have died or let me say they have martyred. And here we are crying over GST; high price of tomatoes. This is the culture we are living with, this is the nation we are residing in.
The Middle
What actually child marriage is? Child marriage is a human rights violation. Despite laws against it, the practice remains widespread, in part because of persistent poverty and gender inequality. In developing countries, one in every three girls is married before reaching age 18. Child marriage is related to child espousal and court approved early marriages after teenage pregnancy. In many cases, only one marriage-partner is a child, usually the female. Child marriages were common throughout history for a variety of reasons, including poverty, insecurity, as well as for political and financial reasons. Today, child marriage is still fairly widespread in developing countries, such as parts of Africa, South Asia and Latin America. The incidence of child marriage has been falling in most parts of the world. Somewhere child marriage has given rise to teenage pregnancy. In poor countries, early pregnancy limits or can even eliminate their education options. This affects their economic independence. This makes girls more vulnerable to persistent poverty if their spouses die, abandon, or divorce them. Girls in child marriages are more likely to suffer from domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and marital rape.
The United Nations, through a series of conventions has declared child marriage a violation of human rights. Child marriages violates a range of women’s interconnected rights such as equality on grounds of sex and age, to receive the highest attainable standard of health, access to education and freedom from violence. The society is interlinked with each other. If one factor gets effected the whole system is disturbed. Then in which world we thought that child marriage would not create any change in our surroundings? Or the objects encircling us wouldn’t have any effect on child marriage? Factors that impact child marriage include poverty, gender inequality, protecting family honor; tradition and culture; and insecurity, particularly during war, famine or epidemics. Other factors include family ties in which marriage is a means of consolidating powerful relations between families. Why have we made marriage a form of business? Why always dowry has to be included in marriage? Why bride’s price is to be paid? Providing a girl with a dowry at her marriage is an ancient practice which continues in some parts of the world. These difficulties pressed families to betroth their girl, irrespective of her age, as soon as they had the resources to pay the dowry. A bride price is the amount paid by the groom to the parents of a bride for them to consent to him marrying their daughter. In some countries, the younger the bride, the higher the price she may fetch. Hence, the rise of the menace like child has become so popular all around the globe.
The End
Some of these marriages could have been stopped, in fact they should have been prevented only if people were well aware? No, only if we were all aware. We as a society need to come together to stop this gruesome crime. We need to stand against such traditional practices that endanger the lives of young kids, which lead to the creation of a dark cloud over these kids’ future. We just don’t need an end to this practice but we need an end to the thought process that lead people to think crimes like this to be okay in the name of traditions, we need an end to this totally aggravated legacy of ruining children’s life.
Today 28th September, we are celebrating the anniversary of surgical Strike. It was the first operation in which the Indian army’s para special forces has crossed the Line of Control to destroy terrorists camps and launch pads.
Reason for conducting surgical Strike
The Indian Army conducted the surgical Strike in response to the Uri attack on September 18, 2006, which was conducted by a Pakistani base terror group jaish-e-mohammed. The Attack aimed Indian army camp killings 19 soldiers. Similar attacks where done in Gurdaspur and Pathankot, so this was an alarming security alert for the Indian armed forces.
How it was conducted
Indian Army Army conducted this operation In the Midnight of 28 and 29 September 2016. There were 70 to 80 soldiers involved in teams a team of the forces crossed LOC in Kupwara district while, another group cross LOC from poonch district. They destroyed terrorist camp using granites and rockets, there were no casualties and no commoner was harmed during this mission. A soldier was injured due to tripping landmine.
New India
This was a moment the whole Nation was celebrating as we got our revenge of Uri attack and other previous attacks. Nations security is atmost priority and Indian Army Soldiers showed the whole world that this is New India, which knows how to enter in enemy’s land and finish them off ( Bhart dushmano ke ghar me ghusega bhi aur marega bhi).
A Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report of 2015 brought out the fact that 61,948 million liters of urban sewage is generated on a daily basis in India. But the cities have an installed sewage treatment capacity of only 38 per cent of this. In reality more than this amount goes untreated into the rivers or water bodies as the treatment capacity of major sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the country is around 66 per cent of the installed capacity as per CPCB findings of 2013. As a result, more than 38,000 million liters of waste water goes into the major rivers, water bodies and even percolates into the ground every day. Over and above this there is industrial effluent. The data on the raw sewage from rural areas is not available.
In April 2015, CPCB issued directions to all the state pollution control boards/pollution control committees in the country for setting up of STPs in their respective states so that untreated sewage does not enter the rivers. The same directions were also issued by CPCB to all 69 municipal authorities of metropolitan towns and capital cities in October 2015.
Crores of rupees have been pumped in for cleaning rivers under the Centre’s National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission programmers of the Ministry of Urban Development and the “Namami Gange” under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MOWR). Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) is taking care of the sanitation projects for villages near Ganga along with MOWR. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has so far released Rs 2,066.98 crores for implementation of various pollution abatement projects and STPs of capacity 2,446.24 million liters per day (MLD) under NRCP. Till March 2017, around Rs 7,000 crores was spent only for cleaning the Ganga, as noted in an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The states are also getting financial assistance in the form of loans and grants that are sanctioned by foreign agencies. The concerned citizens and civil societies have moved the courts time and again to save rivers from pollution. In March 2017, Uttarakhand declared Ganga and Yamuna as living entities thinking that this will conserve and rejuvenate the rivers faster. But in July, the Supreme Court stayed the order taking note of its legal and administrative ramifications.
Pollution levels
Still pollution level in rivers of India has not shown any sign of improvement. Around 302 polluted stretches on 275 rivers have been reported recently (See ‘Extent of contamination’,). The top five states showing maximum number of polluted stretches are Maharashtra, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal. Estimated polluted riverine length is 12,363 km, which is almost five times the length of Ganga main stem.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) report gives the maximum and minimum Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) of river water between 2012-13 and 2016-17—hence a conclusion whether there is any change in pollution trend across 4-5 years due to implementation of different sewerage systems is difficult to draw. Data of total 222 CWC water quality sites was analysed and it was found that water quality at 67 locations is beyond the permissible limit. Out of the 67 sites, 14 sites show BOD more than 30 mg/l, falling under severely polluted, 12 sites show BOD between 10-30 mg/l and 30 sites show BOD 3-10 mg/l which are also substantially polluted. Other 11 sites are also polluted showing BOD range above the permissible level.
Since cleaning Ganga and its tributaries has always been the priority for the Central government, hence the monitoring of the pollution of the rivers and availability of data in the public domain is accessible.
Namami Gange projects
When the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power at the Centre in 2014, cleaning of the Ganga was declared a priority. An umbrella programme Namami Gange was created in 2015 and a budget of Rs 20,000 crore was allocated for 2015-2020 and the cleaning of the river and its tributaries started. Namami Gange was even given a status of an authority in 2016.
In August 2017, data from MOWR shows that around 163 projects were sanctioned under Namami Gange, to cover all the ongoing and new initiatives. Out of 163 projects, 41 projects have been completed so far. In these completed projects 223.13 MLD of sewage capacity have been created along with 1,339 km of sewer network. The ministry’s website says that around 46 sewage treatment projects were launched under Namami Gange (May 14, 2015 to September, 2017). These sanctioned projects will create sewage capacity of 760 MLD in river Ganga. The details of this document show that none of these projects were completed till October 2017.
This means that whatever projects were claimed to be completed by MOWR were sanctioned pre-Namami Gange. However, in an announcement made by MOWR in October 2017, when Namami Gange completed one year as an authority, it was seen that 44 STPs were sanctioned under Namami Gange with a sewage capacity of 1,402.25 MLD. Nothing really moved on STPs under Namami Gange. The only projects perceived and started on the ground under Namami Gange were that of surface cleaning. Around 11 trash skimmers had been deployed at Haridwar, Garhmukteshwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna, Sahibganj, Nabadwip, Kolkata, Delhi and Mathura Vrindavan. Around 1.3 million toilets were also constructed in rural areas near Ganga to reduce sewage inflow into Ganga and latest figure from MDWS show that the coverage of household toilets in these villages was 99 per cent. But no improvement was observed in the river water quality in the whole Ganga basin. This was because solid and liquid wastes are not managed in a planned and scientific way.
Quality of river still poor
Between 2014-15 to 2017-18, around Rs 1,942 crore has been spent against the allocated amount of Rs 3,633 crore. This means that only 10 per cent of Rs 20,000 crores allocated by the Union government has been spent till June 2017 and by 2020 the rest needs to be spent. In March this year, the Central government justified that the causes of the delay in implementation of the projects were tendering process, retendering, non-availability of land, legal issues, natural calamities like flood and earthquakes and delay in permission from local authorities on road cutting/crossing. The data of CWC (collected between May 2016-June 2017) shows that the average BOD value (a parameter to measure the pollution level) of Ganga between Garhmukteshwar and Shahzadpur was not even suitable for outdoor bathing.
Between 2006 and 2016, if the quality of Ganga is analysed for two major hotspots— Kanpur and Varanasi during the monsoon period when there is dissolution of contaminants—it is found that quality of river never dropped below 3 mg/l (CPCB standard for outdoor bathing) for Kanpur whereas there has been slight improvement in the quality of river at Varanasi. But at the same time the entry of raw sewage in the river at Varanasi did not stop between 2006 and 2016; this is indicated by high faecal colliform levels in the river water (higher than 2,500 mpn/100 ml).
But the Central government denied any such increase in the pollution trend in the monsoon session of Lok Sabha in 2017 although they agreed that there has been continuous entry of wastewater from the human settlements and industries. In 2017, when NGT gave an order in response to M C Mehta’s petition on Ganga pollution, the order document clearly showed that there has been a continuous increase in sewage and industrial effluent entering the river since 2008-09.
Yamuna also did not show any improvement during the monsoon. The quality of river is not even fit for outdoor bathing. The quality of river is poorer in 2017 in comparison to 2014 and 2016. Since 1993, the cleaning of Yamuna is being done under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP). The Central government is supplementing the efforts of the states to reduce pollution in Yamuna by providing financial assistance to Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in a phased manner. The total expenditure incurred on conservation of river Yamuna under the YAP Phase I & II is Rs 1,515 crore. Under Phase III, the Japan International Cooperation Agency assisted project is under implementation at an estimated cost of Rs 1,656 crore for rehabilitation and up-gradation of existing STPs (950 MLD) and trunk sewers (43 kms) in Delhi. In 2016, NGT had given directions to take up cleaning of the Yamuna under Maily Se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Plan, 2017. Accordingly, the Delhi Jal Board that looks after water and sanitation of the city, has submitted a priority list of projects amounting to Rs 1,969 crore to be taken up under Phase I of Maily Se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Plan, 2017.
The results of all these projects to clean Ganga and its tributaries were not satisfactory according to the experts and in September 2017, the Prime Minister handed over the gigantic task of cleaning Ganga to the Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari. Soon after Gadkari was entrusted with the Ministry, two STPs—one in Haridwar and another in Varanasi—were approved in a public private partnership (PPP) mode at a combined cost of Rs 325 crore. These were the first two agreements with private sector companies to build STPs under an innovative PPP called hybrid-annuity payment model that the government formulated with the help of the International Finance Corporation. Few more constructions of STPs in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal were announced under hybrid annuity.
Need of the hour
Only having a large number of sewerage projects and STPs will not clean the rivers. An analysis of 71 cities by Centre for Science and Environment (seventh State of India’s Environment report – Excreta Matters) has shown that sewerage systems are not seen as connected to rivers. The analysis says that a piece of “hardware” is installed and if the water utility does not have money, the hardware does not run.
In any case incomplete sewage networks, designed without a specific plan for pollution control, do not clean rivers. Most of the sewerage projects are centralized systems conveyed through pipelines and pumping stations to an STP, where it is supposed to be treated and disposed off. Very little thought is given to the re-use of treated effluents from these STPs. Most of it mixes with untreated effluents from colonies not connected to the sewerage network. The root problems are both programmers—river-cleaning and city infrastructure—remain hardware-driven and marked by poor understanding of the water-sewage situation. In October 2017, the Centre planned to move from hardware focus to bioremediation technologies for cleaning Ganga at 54 new sites. In-situ treatment is simple and easy-to-operate and does not require major modification of the drain, said a note from MOWR. Hence, the Centre understood that the centralized system is not the only solution and it can be supplemented by decentralized techniques. Looking at the long time period of implementation of STPs and their development, the ministry is interested now in such decentralized innovative technologies from different parts of the world.
In the early models of the atom were simple, with protons and neutrons forming a nucleus and negatively charged electrons orbiting it, it seemed like a tiny solar system. In the early 1930s, however, analysis of cosmic rays and experiments with particle acceleration showed the existence of new particles by the dozen. In the early of 1960s American physicist Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig independently conjectured that protons and neutrons were made of even more fundamental particles. They named the subatomic particles as Quark in 1964. The word quark came from James Joyce’s novel “Finnegan’s Wake” in which it is a nonsense word made by Joyce. He key evidence for their existence came from a series of inelastic electron-nucleon scattering experiments conducted between 1967 and 1973 at the Stanford linear accelerator center. Other theoretical and experimental advances of the 1970s confirmed this discovery, leading to the standard model of elementary particle physics currently in force.
Properties of Quarks
Quarks are most commonly found inside protons and neutrons. They have many properties including mass, electric, charge, and color. There are six types of quarks, up quark, down quark, top quark, bottom quark, strange quark, charm quark. They can have positive (+) or negative (-) electric charge. Up, charm and top quarks have a positive 2/3 charge. Down, strange, bottom quarks have a negative 1/3 charge. So protons are positive because there are two quarks (+2/3) ups and one down quark (-1/3), giving a net positive charge (+2/3+2/3-1/3 =1). These three quarks are known as valence quarks, but the proton could have an additional up quark and anti-up quark pair.
An anti-quark is the anti-particle of a quark and it could have other types of quarks. It includes pairs of strange quarks and anti-strange quarks, charm quarks, and anti-charm quarks. In fact, the proton has tons of quarks, anti-quarks pairs. The quarks are held together by the strong force which is carried by particles called gluons. So inside the proton, there are zillions of gluons and quarks all moving around close to the speed of light. The quarks that comprise a proton only make of 1% of the mass of that proton. A neutron consist two down quarks and one up quark which gave it an overall charge of 0. The quarks have a property called color change. It includes three color, red, blue, green and each of them is complemented with an anti-color. When we mix these three colors, we get white, that’s why proton is called colorless. The quarks change their colors constantly but, In order to maintain colorless state, the ant-color mix into it.The interaction between quarks and gluons is responsible for almost all the perceived mass of protons and neutrons and is therefore where we get our mass.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC)- the world’s largest particle accelerator (27 kilometres).
Conclusion
The discovery of quarks was a gradual process that took over a decade for the entire sequence of events to unfold. A variety of theoretical insights and experimental results contributed to this discovery, but the MIT-SLAC deep inelastic electron scattering experiments plays a vital role. The existence of quarks is recognized today as a cornerstone of the standard model. I numerous experiments at CERN including those at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), physicists are measuring the properties of Gell-Mann and Zweig’s particles with ever-greater precision.
“Three quarks for muster mark!” – Author James Joyce
It is no denying now that the world is shifting towards digital platform. All the businesses, companies and oraganisations have their own consumer friendly websites so that their audience’s experience can be better. This digital transformation has encouraged every businessman to rapidly change their ways of trade and cope up with the dynamic environment. It is very well said that “to improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often.”
Although this digital transformation came in the picture a few years ago, the global pandemic has given it an accelerating push and every digitalization is the most common option people choose to promote out themselves. One thing to learn from this is that nothing is constant or predictable.
According to EY Future Consumer Index, 43% of the consumers, post pandemic, prefer to shop online rather than buying using their previous method of going to the store themselves. This only represents that geographical location is not as important as it used to be in an era.
COVID-19 has had a tremendously negative impact on almost all businesses especially the retail business since the production of consumer goods was stopped to the extent where the shops were seen completely empty a lot of times. In such a situation, many retailers questioned their ability to create a new customer base according to the new consumption habit. They wondered if their selling method is still efficient enough to keep their customer’s trust in their brand.
Two of the great examples of this would be Lululemon and Nike. With the world being put to lockdown, the demand for athleisure increased remarkably mainly because athleisure was a great choice for majority of the people to wear during lockdown. They handled their business during such a crisis because of their digital expertise and resources. Also, Lululemon diversified its products to meet people’s changing demands.
A brand that faced extreme loss due to COVID was Under Armour and Uniqlo. Its majority of the sales was based on distributing their products amongst other retailers which faced a drastic drop in its sales due to physical shops being shut. Uniqlo is basically focused on football which also had to face a sharp downfall because it couldn’t keep the interest of its consumers online as much as it could in their physical stores.
The world’s leading digital platforms have gained the most benefit due to the global pandemic and majority of these large companies are based in USA and China. It makes it difficult for some smaller companies or organizations to compete against them and a make a known place of their own.
In order to work swiftly with e-commerce, better understanding, skills and collaboration is required. Post pandemic, more than 30 e-trade companies have partnered together to acquire more opportunities and gain awareness regarding the risks that raises due to COVID. Also, to identify the ways in which businesses in less developed and developing countries can work their way out through these risks. This step must be taken into consideration by all business men in order to flaunt their business.
In India, poverty is presently estimated by fixing a poverty line based on a differentiated calorie-norm. This means that the level of poverty depends upon the capacity of a person to purchase food and a person who can buy specific amount of food to cross the poverty line margin for nutrients and calorie intake is above the poverty line. Whereas, the person who cannot buy enough food to meet the required nutrition value of calories and carbohydrates is below the poverty line. This level is not the correct parameter to check the level of poverty.
A task force of the Planning Commission in 1979 defined the poverty line as that per capita expenditure at which the average per capita per day calorie intake was 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas. Average per capita expenditures incurred by that population group in each State which consumed these quantities of calories, as per the 1973-74 survey of NSSO, were used as the poverty lines.
The debate on the extent of poverty in India has been a matter of global interest in the recent years. The primary reason for the global interest in the debate is that the levels of poverty in India and China have come to exert significant influence over the trends in world poverty itself.
Within India too, there has been growing contestation around poverty estimates, particularly in the period of economic reforms. First, there are persistent disagreements among economists on whether the rate of poverty decline after economic reforms was slower than in the preceding period. Secondly, the shift to targeted, rather than universal, welfare schemes has witnessed the use of poverty estimates to decide on the number of households eligible to access these schemes. The report of the Expert Group on the estimation of poverty, chaired by Suresh Tendulkar, is the latest input to the “Great Indian Poverty Debate.”
It is to be noted here that many subsidies and programs are launched by the government but these additional increments do not reach the actual people that are in need of them. Instead it is sent back to the businessman and thus a lot of profit is earned on these subsidized goods. Thus, to lower the level of poverty in India, schemes have to be launched in order to directly benefit the people in need.
The Hindu states that, “A final issue with the report, of much long-term consequence, relates to the wisdom of abandoning the calorie norm. It is indeed true that the levels of calorie intakes are not well correlated with nutritional outcomes. However, abandoning the calorie norm altogether and taking solace from the fortuitous fact that calorie intakes appear adequate at the new poverty lines is an arbitrary proposition. It is unclear whether there is any basis, theoretical or empirical, for this relationship to hold true across time.”
The Tendulkar Committee has pitched for a policy position that is stranded between the harsh realities of poverty in India and the fiscal conservativeness of a neo-liberal framework. The real challenge lies in preserving the positives from the report, and strongly persisting with the demand for a universal social security system.
Do you constantly find yourself cutting off from people without any reason? The feeling that you don’t belong? A major reason for such thoughts is that you find it difficult to blend in with your friends and family. While such mindset is not something permanent, it can develop from a constant state of neglect and lack of affection.
It is not necessary that such state of mind arises in only those who are generally closed off by nature. There is a larger percentage of so-called ‘extroverts’ who also suffer with the same complexion.
While this situation generally arises from a change in friend circle, or after losing a loved one, breakup, or a change in surroundings. Some other reasons like depression, heavy medicines, illness or other social factors can also be an imminent variable.
Some people can also call it a ‘Retreat’, a means to detach from society in order to better focus on their upcoming projects, a major people comprising this class will consist of authors, artists, and such other people in need of peace and tranquility.
The case is not always same for teenagers and young adults. Retreating from society in an abrupt manner is major teller of mental illness, depression, as it is generally termed. While it is not uncurable, a major support is required from family and loved ones in most cases. Emotional support goes a long way in providing support and a feeling of togetherness.
This does not mean that a person who appears to be detached from the general colorful society is weak. That would be a gross understatement. Such people are generally in need of a closure with whatever is it that they have suffering with. No other person can help solve this condition other than the person who suffers from it. All others can-do is provide an understanding gesture and emotional support.
The best ways to deal with such a swing of emotion could be to try to talk to someone and share your thoughts. Other than that, going out for a walk or eating your favorite dish will help make you feel better! The one thing that is imperative through the whole process is that you will emerge Stronger. A better version of your own self. With a better view of your dreams and desires. The only quality required is to have faith and be kind to yourself.
Think of your future self 5 or 10 years from now and how thankful they would be to you that in spite of all the hardships thrown your way, you held on, that is all that is required.
India with a population of about 950 million (in 1997) accounts for 16 per cent of the world population, as compared to about 15 per cent a decade and a half ago. It is the second largest country in the world, next only to China with a population of about 1200 million (in 1995). Five countries (China with 21.7%, India with 16.0%, US with 5%, Brazil with 3.5% and Russia with 3%) account for nearly half (49.2%) of the world population.
The scale at which India’s population is increasing is simply mind- boggling. While the total population of our country in 1941 was 31.86 crore, it increased to 36.10 crore in 1951, 43.92 crore in 1961, 54.81 crore in 1971, 68.33 crore in 1981, and 84.43 crore in 1991 (India, 1992:9). It is expected to reach 103 crore by 2,001, 126 crore by 2016 and 140 crore by 2,030 according to estimates of the Registrar General as well as according to a World Bank study.
While between 1921 and 1951 the percentage of increase was 43.65, between 1961 and 1991 it was 92.2. The addition of 16 crore people in the 1981-91 decade means an addition of little less than 2 crore persons every year, or about 17 lakh persons every month, or about 74 thousand persons every day, or about 52 persons every minute. In comparison to this, the increase in number of persons per minute was 21 in the 1961-71 decade, 15 in the 1951-61 decade, and 8 in the 1941-51 decade. The essence of the date is that whereas the rate of growth of population during the middle decades of the present century was moderate, now it is faster as well as alarming.
The disaster of galloping population in India is that:
1. Every sixth person on the globe today is an Indian, and by the turn of the century, every fifth living person will be an Indian.
2. India adds about 10 lakh persons to its population every fortnight.
3. Addition to India’s population is an equivalent of a Chandigarh a week, two Bhopal a month, and an Australia every eight months. During 1981-91, addition to the population was to the tune of 113 million, equaling the combined population of France, the UK and Italy.
4. By 2035, India would overtake China as the world’s most populous nation. While the rate of annual population growth in India is 1.9 per cent, in China it is 1.2 per cent. Thus, while China’s population would double in 60 years, India’s population would double in 34 years.
5. Around 49 per cent of the increase in India’s population in one decade is from four states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (known as BIMARU states).
6. More than three times as many couples enter the reproductive span than those leaving it, with the fertility rate of the younger group being three times higher than that of those passing out of the reproductive range.
7. At the present rate of growth, life for most Indians would be unbearable—medical facilities would be difficult to provide, expenses on education, housing, etc. would be exorbitant, technical and professional education would become the exclusive prerogative of the elite, and the scarcity of food would once again plunge more than half of the nation below the poverty line.
The goals of containing India’s population at the level of 1,000 million by the turn of the century and that the population growth rate would decrease to 1.2 per cent per annum by 2000 A.D. have receded beyond redemption. No amount of jugglery with statistics, particularly in relation to the acceptance of contraception by couples, can wish away the harsh reality that India’s population would reach 101 crore by 2000 A.D.
Global Citizen Live is a charity concert organized by the Global Citizen Organization founded in 2008. It hosts an annual music festival, one of the main objectives of the event is to raise awareness of global poverty and climate change.
Broadcasting from sites on six continents, including New York’s Central Park and in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Global Citizen also secured pledges from France for 60 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for developing countries and corporate pledges for planting 157 million trees around the world.
This year’s festival held across six continents, was the largest, part of global citizen’s 2021 Recovery Plan For The World Program. Added to the festival mission was an aim to help bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The main focus was on equity.
Artists and politicians alike from around the world had converged for the cause of the festival. International artists like Shawn and Camilla Mendes, Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, BTS, Metallika, Coldplay, Lizzo, One Republic, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Simon, Demi Lovato, H.E.R., among many others.
Personalities from India included Priyanka Chopra as the host. Others like Amitabh Bacchan, Anil Kapoor, Amit Trivedi, Farhan Akhtar, Badshah, Tanishk Bagchi, Ayushmann Khuranna, Dia Mirza, Hritik Roshan, Sonakshi Sinha also played their considerable part in the event.
Vaccine pledges, which also came from the governments of Croatia and Ireland, followed numerous pleas, including from Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, onstage at Central Park on Saturday afternoon.
“This year, the world is expected to produce enough doses to meet the target of vaccinating 70per cent of people in every single country,” Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, said to cheers from the Central Park crowd. “But it is wrong that so much of the vaccine supply has only gone to just 10 wealthy nations so far, and not everyone else.”
In ordinary terms, a child roughly between the age of 7 to 16 or 18 years who is involved in some kind of a ‘status offence’ such as vagrancy , immortality, truancy and ungovernability is a juvenile delinquent . Thus, juvenile delinquency is not just about under-aged criminals who get involved in criminal activities. In fact, the term ‘ juvenile delinquency ‘ refers to the violation of a code of conduct or a regular occurrence of certain patterns of disapproved behaviour of children and adolescents . The well accepted age at present for juvenile delinquents is 16 years for boys and 18 years for girls. Juvenile delinquents are mainly classified on the basis of their behavioural patterns. They range from the incorrigible truants who keep away from school to larcenies who are involved in petty thefts and armed robberies to destruction of property , violence and sexual offences. They are also classified according to the type of violation they commit. Thus psychologists have grouped juvenile delinquents on the basis of their personality traits as mentally defective , psychotic , neurotic, situational and cultural delinquents. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, the trend of children committed by minors was 1.7% of total crimes in the country, and in 2006 and 2007 it increased by 1.9% and 2%, respectively.It is extremely hard to trace and keep a check on juvenile delinquency as of all the delinquencies committed by juveniles, only 2% or so come to the notice of the police and the courts. Traditionally, surveys suggest that delinquencies like theft, burglary, robbery, dacoity and other such offences are most commonly committed by juveniles.But recent statistics reveal that juveniles have also been found actively involved in riots, murder, rape, kidnapping and abduction as well. The delinquency rates are comparatively much higher among boys than in girls. Children from broken homes or disturbed families who are either homeless or living with guardians or parents are more likely to indulge in criminal activities. Low education or illiteracy and poor economic background are major features of juvenile delinquents. But nowadays, it’s not only street children who take to crime.Even children from well-off middle and upper middle class families are turning to crime due to peer pressure and crime thrill the hunger of adolescents to be heroes among their friends, the need to portray class and style, effect of Television and Cinema have propelled the rate of juvenile delinquency in the society. The media plays a major role in creating bogus desires and images of success in the minds of the youth, for which they are willing to do anything. Moreover, unmonitored access to the internet is another reason for growth in these crimes, as many are caught swindling money from bank accounts. Children belonging to the elite class,who are either sons or daughters of politicians , businessmrn are also found involved in criminal cases , so the fear barrier no longer exists. Increased exposure combined with isolation is the root cause of these behavioural issues. Children are growing up much faster, but their conscience and ability to distinguish right and wrong isn’t developing at the same rate and they don’t feel the need to think things through.In most cases, the cause behind juvenile delinquency is defective upbringing or no upbringing , faulty or no family interaction. Children either then suffer from inferiority complex, jealousy or mental conflict and they many a times try to seek attention desperately, which results in some kind of an offence. Lack of good role models, unhappy or angry parents and even extra- discipline and sternness also pushes children over to the edge . Often, faulty companionship too drags children into unacceptable child – behaviour. Children are not born criminals. It’s the situations and circumstances that lead them into delinquencies. Mostly all juvenile offences have deeper roots and serious situational factors are responsible for a child behaving in a particular way.Family plays a vital role in structuring the mental, emotional and behavioral patterns of a child. Broken homes, parents with no time for children, strained relations between the spouses , are all the factors which distort a child’s thought process and if not checked in time,these result in serious consequences.Other factors that are responsible for the rise in juvenile delinquency are unhealthy neighborhood, cinema , pornographic literature and bad company.
These days we have Observation Homes , Reformatory Schools, Custody Institution , Probation Homes etc to help juvenile delinquents reform themselves so that they can be gradually absorbed into mainstream of the society. Moreover, we need to pay greater attention to improve the average conditions in a society so that no child confronts such situations that force him to adopt unacceptable behavioural patterns. We need to find ways and means to pool upon the youthful energy of the children in a constructive and desired direction.
An American essayist and novelist, born in 1924 in Hampton, James Baldwin who addressed the issue of race in 20th century america. He grew up poor, in a black ghetto and in the 1930s, during a time when racism encompassed the whole of America and Baldwin too was subjected to it all his life.
His work revolves around the racial and social issues that existed in 20th century america.
Early life
James Baldwin never knew his biological father who was a drug addict, owing to this reason his mother left his father and moved to Harlem where she gave birth to James baldwin. Baldwin was the eldest to his 8 siblings. Baldwin figured out his affinity toward writing at an early age and was exceptional at it too. He wrote his first article when he was only 13, this article was published in his school magazine. Throughout his teenage years Baldwin published short stories and essays in local literary magazines. In his young teenage years Baldwin was a youth minister at the church. Bldwin was a devout christian, this could be because his father was a baptist minister. In later years of his life, he refused to being religious however his religious attitude shaped his perception to a great extent.
Throughout his life he faced incidents of racism, some of which he addresses in his work as well.
Career
In 1943, he moved to Greenwich village to pursue literature and work with other writers and literaries. During his time at Greenwich he was also able to secure a writing fellowship. At this time Baldwin’s short stories were being published and not in local but well recognized and reputed magazines.
About 3 years later Baldwin emigrated to France under another fellowship where he would not be treated with the racist remarks of the American and would be able to make a name for himself beyond his african -american community. In France he was met with his sexual conflict and hoped to come to terms with it and understand it better.
Work
Baldwin wrote his first novelGo Tell It on the Mountain which was published in 1953. a near autobiographical novel which revolves around a young teenager growing up in Harlem, New York and his relationship with his father and the church. The book deals with several issues that prevailed in america. It talks about racism, poverty, Harlem, New York, basically all the things that Baldwin endured in his childhood are mentioned in this work through the eyes of another character.
Giovanni’s Room, was his second novel released in 1954, which deals with the sexul ambivalence of a man, and his relationship with other men living in paris. Homosexuality was a tabboo during that time and who else could have talked about a topic so contreversial if not Baldwin.
Baldwin’s subsequent novels Another Country and Tell Me How Long The Train’s Been Gone, talk about race and homosexuality.
James Baldwin is known for his thought inducing essays. He had the ability to write about an issue giving the reader another highly intellectual way to look at it. In addition to being an important literary figure of the 20th century he was also an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement.
Baldwin in 1987 died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France due to stomach cancer leaving his work enriched with revolution behind.
It’s no shame that so many people see relationships as the best part of their lives. Finding a boo for yourself and swinging to the tunes of romance is magical and mesmerising.
You must have friends who are obsessed with crawling bars and clubs in search of their significant other stating that everything will be alright when they have one. But certainly, being single has its own significant identity to treasure.
1. You Are 100% Yourself
Being single provides you with a great opportunity to be and feel yourself as you are. You save yourself from an identity crisis, which is mostly seen in a relationship in order to make the other person happy or satisfied or modifying yourself so that your partner can easily accept you. You can expose your weaknesses, strengths, insecurities that help you to find who you really are.
2. You Breathe Freedom
Being single doesn’t mean no one wants you; it’s about loving and finding yourself enough for you. It can be a choice to give yourself time to decide who you really want to be with. Singlehood is about having the freedom to explore what you really want and expect from your life. In singlehood, you are accountable to just yourself and you need no permissions or think of the repercussions before leading the journey of self-discovery.
3. You Are Your Own Master
Your single years can be the most liberating and productive days of your life. You are the boss of your own life, the whole and sole commander of your own actions. You need not to answer anyone where you were, why you were late, not to worry about what the other person will think about you, your outfits, the mistakes you make, the food you eat, the way you sit, blah blah… You are your own boss!
4. No Bars On Your Friendships
To your significant other, your friends are mostly the ‘snakes’ and you are the ‘ innocent admirer’. According to them, they are behind all your fights, silly arguments, parallel decisions etc. to your girlfriend your female friends are the troublemakers and vice-versa. Hence, in singlehood, you can do what your heart desires and be friends with anyone whom you like without always being conscious about the boundaries drawn by your bae.
5. Less Of Silly Quarrels/ Disagreements
While most people around the world feel that they are strong enough to take on anything, when it comes to conversations or the dreaded “we-need-to-talk”, they are the foremost customer of escapism. Those silly arguments presented in a PDF file by your partner, including facts and figures like the exact date, time and dialogues you spoke, are no less than mental torture, as half of the time it’s illogical. Being single saves you from all those emotional traumas and additional baggage.
Singlehood has perks exotic enough to applaud your decision or condition of not being in a relationship or be under any emotional commitments and attachments. Hope the above-mentioned list helps you to make better decisions in life and be happy with what you are surrounded with.
Eduindex News 
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