Realism

Realism has been the most important approach of international relations over the years. It has been the dominant way of explaining international behaviour. Realism emphasizes relations among nations, as they have been and as they are. It is not concerned with the ideal world. It is the international interpretation of human behaviour. Individuals are essentially selfish, and they seek power to serve their interests and to prevail over others. As Morgenthau wrote in the 20th century, power is the control of men over the minds and actions of other men. And, there is constant strife leading to conflicts and clashes between individuals having divergent interests and seeking to acquire power. Thus, there is an ever-present struggle for power in the society. The same is the tone of nations that are guided by the same considerations as individuals.

Political Realism
Realism, or political realism, as an approach of international relations has evolved over the centuries. Prominent among its earlier advocates were Indian scholar Kautilya, Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, and Greek scholar Thucydides. Much later, Italian scholar Nicolo Machiavelli and English philosopher Thomas Hobbes also contributed to the evolution of realism. Their ideas may be called classical realism, though Morgenthau is now considered the principal classical realist. However, according to the view expressed by Robert Jackson and George Sorensen (1999) and many others, Morgenthau’s theory may be described as neo-classical realism. But, Morgenthau was the most systematic advocate of realism. However, British Professor E.H. Carr, who wrote The Twenty Years’ Crisis (1919-39) had prepared the ground on which Morgenthau developed his theory of realism.

Carr criticized democracies like the UK and France for their failure in defeating the designs of dictators. He blamed the democratic countries for failing to recognize the power realities in the world. Carr divided the scholars of international relations into two groups. These were ‘utopians’, or ‘idealists’, and the ‘realists’. He described the utopians as optimists- children of enlightenment and liberalism. The liberals held the view that reason and morality could structure international behaviour of the states towards peace. Wilson and (his) League of Nations were cited as main examples of utopians. Carr, who himself was a a realist, described realists as pessimists, or children of darkness, who emphasize power and national interest. Commenting on Carr’s views on power, Michael G Roskin and Nicholas O Berry wrote, ‘This does not necessarily mean perpetual war, for if statesmen are clever and willing to build and apply power, both economic and military, they can make the aggressors back down…’

Political realism is a significant theory in the field of international relations that seeks to explain state behavior under a set of specific and rigid assumptions. At its core, political realism is guided by three S’s: statism, survival, and self-help.

Statism asserts that states are the only entity on the international stage that matter and that they are unitary (acting alone) and rational (acting in its best interests) actors. Survival identifies the state’s primary goal is to survive in an international system characterized by anarchy. The final S, self-help, conveys the assumption that states cannot trust others in their pursuit of survival and must secure their security.

Political realism is further delineated into sub-theoretical frameworks, including:

Classical realism
Liberal realism
Neorealism
Neoclassical realism
While each sub-framework has its own nuance within the broader political realist theory, all forms of political realism fundamentally believe world politics is a field of conflict among states pursuing power.

Structural Realism
Structural realism, also referred to as neorealism in the academic community, is a major branch of political realism derived from classical realism. While the latter incorporates analysis of human behavior within state decision-making, structural realism focuses predominantly on the anarchic structure of the international system. In other words, structural realists see global conflict as inevitable because there is no supranational body that could prevent or mediate conflict between individual states. Therefore, structural realists assume that states must always be preparing for conflict because war could break out at any time.

Structural realists believe that understanding the international system is guided by the three S’s of political realism. However, they do incorporate analysis of inter-relationships between distinct state entities, particularly regarding power relationships. A key concept in structural realism is polarity, the balance of power within the international system. Today, international theorists often describe the world as unipolar, with the United States acting as the sole superpower endowed with the ability to dominate international relations via their economic, political, and military supremacy.

What Is a Shakespearean Tragedy?

A Shakespearean tragedy is a play penned by Shakespeare himself or a play written in the style of Shakespeare by a different author. Shakespearean tragedy has got its own specific features, which distinguish it from other kinds of tragedies. Traditionally Shakespeare play types are categorized as Comedy, History, and Tragedy, with some additional play categories proposed over the years. The plays grouped as Shakespeare tragedies follow the Aristotelian model of a noble, flawed protagonist who makes a mistake and suffers a fall from his position before the normal order is somehow resumed. It must be kept in mind that Shakespeare is mostly indebted to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy in his works.

Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy
A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language; in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.”
— Aristotle

What Is a Tragedy?

A tragedy is a play which when adequately acted before an audience can produce a complete cleansing of the emotions. To effect such a catharsis the dramatist much move the audience; he must have a capacity to feel the patho of human suffering, a strong moral sense, and great craftsmanship. The word tragedy was derived from the Greek word tragoidia, which means ‘the song of the goat.’ It is called “the song of the goat” because in ancient Greece the theater performers used to wear goatskin costumes to represent satyrs. Today in theater and literature a tragedy is a work that has an unhappy ending. The ending must include the main character’s downfall.

List of Shakespeare Tragedy Plays

Shakespeare wrote eleven tragedies beginning with ‘Titus Andronicus’. They include the four great tragedies ‘Hamlet’, ‘Othello’, ‘Macbeth’ and ‘king Lear’, the two great Roman tragedies ‘Julius Caesar’, and ‘Antony Cleopatra’ and the lyrical tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

The Origin of Shakespearean Tragedy

One of the main features of Renaissance art is that it was inspired by classical art and philosophy. This is evident in the work of such artists as Michelangelo who, caught up in the spirit of Humanism that was sweeping across Europe, focused on the human form. Focusing on the human form during Mediaeval times would have been impossible as it would have been a distraction from the necessary focus on God.

The essence of Humanistic art was that human beings were created in God’s image so it was possible for Michelangelo even to portray God – as a beautiful and physically powerful man with realistic human features, presented as perfection – in fact, the human form at its most beautiful. Artists became anatomists, going as far as buying human bodies for dissection. The result was a new realism in the representation of human beings in art.

Shakespeare is, in a way, the Michelangelo of literature. That he could, in one play, Othello, written four hundred years ago, represent what we can recognize as a modern psychopath and a modern alcoholic, in Iago and Cassio respectively, is incredible. Iago is a fully realized psychological character just as David is a fully realized man physically.

Greek drama was an important model for Renaissance drama after the flat, unrealistic morality plays of the medieval centuries. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, defined tragedy and asserted that it was the noblest and most serious, dignified, and important form of drama. Many of the plays of the Renaissance resembled those Greek tragedies. In several of Shakespeare’s plays, there is a central protagonist who undergoes a harrowing experience as he is brought down from his lofty height, ending up dead.

There is also a special feeling created in an observer of those Shakespeare dramas, similar to the feeling described by Aristotle as the effect of tragedy on an observer. Critics thus thought of those Shakespeare plays as tragedies and that notion has remained with us to this day, although many of those interested in Shakespeare are now thinking differently about the plays from this ‘Shakespearean tragedy’ label. There are still teachers, though, who teach the ‘tragedies’ as though they were Aristotelian tragedies and miss a great deal of what those plays are doing.

EXAMPLES OF SHAKESPEARE’S TRAGIC CHARACTERS

Using the term ‘Shakespeare tragedy’ about any of Shakespeare’s plays invites attempts to fit them to the Aristotelian pattern but none of them fits exactly. Othello seems to conform to the pattern but when one thinks about it, Othello, superficially resembling a tragic hero, doesn’t even seem to be the main character in the play. It can be seen as a modern psychological drama about a psychopath who manipulates every one around him just for fun – just because he has nothing better to do – and destroying other human beings gives him pleasure or is necessary because they get in his way.
Othello may seem to have a fatal flaw – too trusting, gullible – but so do all the other characters, because Iago has deceived them all with his psychopathic charm and a deliberate effort of making himself appear trustworthy. Every misjudgment Othello makes is the hard work of Iago. Easily manipulated? Jealous? Does he have all those ‘tragic flaws’ as well? The feeling at the end is not quite Aristotle either. Perhaps it is more of disgust for Iago than pity for Othello, who comes across as more stupid than tragic. And to make things more complicated, our feeling of pity is directed more to, Desdemona. And yet some teachers miss the meaning of this play by their insistence on teaching it as an Aristotelian tragedy.
Antony and Cleopatra are sometimes called a ‘double tragedy’. While Othello appears to fit the Aristotelian pattern because of the huge charisma of Othello at the beginning of the play Antony and Cleopatra cannot fit it in any shape or form. In tragedy, the focus is on the mind and inner struggle of the protagonist. The emotional information comes to the audience from that source. In comedy the information comes from a variety of sources and the comic effect is produced by a display of many different points of view, coming at the audience from different angles. That is exactly what happens in Antony and Cleopatra, so we have something very different from a Greek tragedy. What we have is a miracle – a tragic feeling coming out of a comic structure.
So what is Shakespearean tragedy? Perhaps there is no such thing. And yet we can identify tragic moments, feelings, and even a cathartic effect in some of the plays. We must be very careful not to insist on fitting them to any pattern because that wouldn’t help us understand the plays. We must look elsewhere for our understanding of them. Moreover, all of Shakespeare’s plays have elements of both tragedy and comedy, sometimes very finely balanced, creating effects that Aristotle could never have dreamt of.

REMEDIAL TEACHING

Remedial Teaching is a kind of teaching method or instructional work carried out to provide remedial measure to students. The word “ remedy” means “to rectify” or “to improve” something. So, Remedial teaching is carried out to provide remedial measures to get rid of common or specific weakness of students. The major objective of remedial teaching is to provide learning support and additional help to pupils who are not good as their peers in performance. Students with learning difficulties have some psychological needs. Some have less ability to comprehend abstract ideas and concepts. Others may have poor memory. So it is integral in remedial teaching to identify the specific weakness of pupils.

The learning difficulties in students are various. They may include poor memory, weak in problem solving power, short attention span, lack of learning motivation, lack of self confidence and self expectation, difficulty in understanding new or abstract concepts. So assessment is the first step in remedial teaching. Assessment is also the important factor, because through this the teacher gets a knowledge about the skills and weaknesses of a student. The capacity of students should be assessed by the teacher through survey testing. This will help the teacher to find the present level of achievement and difficult areas of a student. This will also aid the teacher in preparing suitable individual teaching materials. The survey testing reveals the strength and weakness of the class as a whole and the levels of discrepancies in the various basic skills of each student. So the test will help in classifying the students into groups for works like reading, spelling etc.

Teachers use various methods in remedial teaching. There must be diverse learning activities with the same teaching objective to develop abilities and skills of students. Quizzing is the most common method used in remedial teaching. Analyzing the progress of students will help in regrouping them if necessary. Designing meaningful learning situation is important. Suitable language environment is very important in second language classes. Games and activities also stimulate the interest and initiative in learning. Different teaching methods should be adapted by the teacher to improve the learning capacity of students. For example, the teacher should give valuable examples before proceeding to abstract concepts, which will help in easy understanding. Providing clear instructions is also important for students who are less competent in understanding written language. There must be short and clear instruction to avoid confusion among students. Summarising main points is another method which enhances the audio visual memories. Teachers can also guide the students to link up classroom knowledge with life experiences. This will enhance effectiveness of learning. Enhancing learning interest is important in remedial teaching. Teachers can design interesting activities coupled with reward scheme to stimulate the interest of students, for example role play, debate, narrating incidents and games related to language learning initiate learning. Remedial teaching should enhance the active participation of students to enhance their self confidence. Concern for individual performance is important. If individualized remedial teaching is necessary it should be done before or after the class, so the students can remove learning obstacles as soon as possible. Teachers should also note common errors made by these students

Thus remedial teaching is a very significant method . This provides correct foundation to rectify mistakes and for future learning. It hastens the process of learning. Underachievers are promoted to update learning and other students are promoted to expand learning. Remedial teaching also creates confidence in students and it help them to realize their full potential.

Magical Words For The Sign Of Birth

zodiac | Symbols, Dates, Facts, & Signs | Britannica

We all have seen or read fictional movies or books where people can go into the future or be able to see the future and so many more things like that. Just imagining this coming true in the real world makes us go into our imaginary dream world or brings a big smile to our faces. What if I told you that we do something similar like this then how would you react? Wondering how with a feeling of excitement? The answer is the topic that I am going to discuss is zodiac signs. Though it is a casual topic, it has a lot of depth and understanding. I feel it has a sense of mystery, myths, and stories, histories that we can learn and enjoy at the same time. Let me ask all the readers out there how many times have you looked into the newspaper or sites that speak about zodiac signs? We all have done it at some point in time that piques our interest and puts a sense of mark in our heads.

Types of zodiac signs readers

Many might know this but there are different ways people read their zodiac signs. These are some observations I have made.

True Believer: These zodiac sign readers make it a point to check their horoscope every single day without fail. They make it a point to read the different interpretations that people have made about their day according to their zodiac signs. Their ideas, perspectives, action, and activities influence whatever they have read about their zodiac sign to some extent. If you are wondering that, only a few people do this. Then you might want to think again. Many people whether rich or poor have made it a habit to read their zodiac signs and go about their day.

Special and Important Days: These zodiac signs readers are a little different from the first one. These people make it a point to read their horoscope according to their zodiac signs only on important days or special days such as job interviews, birthdays, difficult exams, etc. People under this category might or might not believe the interpretation. However, the influence is not as high as the true believer is.

Just for fun: These zodiac sign readers just read their horoscope about their zodiac sign just for fun and have the interest of reading about it casually. They do not have a specific time, date, month, or year. They just read if it comes on their search page, or while scrolling through their social sites, and so on. The influence of the interpretation is very little on the readers. However, there are high chances that these readers may slowly become true believers or special or important day’s kind of readers.

Sense of Identity: These zodiac sign readers feel a sense of connection with the things that tell about their zodiac signs. They see what it tells here is right or wrong about them. They usually tend to have the quality of reading different sites like a true believer and at the same time have the quality of believing or not believing about the things that tell about them in their horoscope. These readers are very intriguing because they show a sense of influence and at the same time, they show very little influence.

Do Not Care: Some people might consider them as part of zodiac sign readers and some might not. The reason is that these people do not care about zodiac sign interpretation and horoscopes at all. The reason I do include them in this category is my idea of inclusion. Just because one is not part of the main different types of the group does not mean they cannot be a part of it at all. These people do not search for things or even read about their zodiac sign for fun. Either if someone around them reads about their zodiac signs or they happen to see or read a post regarding it, they skip it, or even if they read a few lines there are no effects on their actions, thinking, etc. I find these people interesting because I wonder how things like these do not have an effect on them or do not bother them.

These are just a very few important ones that seem to be present in large numbers during my observation. There are many more types of zodiac sign readers that I have not mentioned. Who knows maybe in a few more years more people will start reading about their zodiac signs and many more types will show up that are not there now.

Horoscope Today, Dec 28, 2021: Check astrological predictions for Aries, Scorpio, Libra, Cancer and other zodiac signs here

Kinds of Zodiac Signs

The most common zodiac sign horoscope is the American version of the horoscope. Many people might not know this but there are several other cultures, ethnicity, religion, and country that have their different horoscopes and zodiac signs. The Chinese have separate zodiac signs and horoscopes. In India, there are so many different religions, cultures, and ethnic groups and each has unique and different zodiac signs and horoscopes. Not just India and China there are so many more countries that have different zodiac signs and horoscopes. This is because they celebrate New Year on a different date and not on 31 December. Though they might be different in names or dates they all are similar and are connected in some sense.

This is also a gentle reminder that please read your zodiac signs and horoscopes; there is no harm or problem in that. Nevertheless, do not let these interpretations or sayings harm you personally so much that it creates an imbalance in your mental and emotional health. The way prediction of zodiac signs is done has many factors playing in it. Some might be true some might be not. Therefore, we must read and look into the source of these zodiac signs or horoscope interpretation in detail before we dive into it completely.

To conclude, I would like to say that whatever we do in the end we should make sure that there is peace, harmony, and contentment not just with ourselves but also with the society, environment, and world so that we can reduce the number of negative things that we will have to deal with.

References

Google searches for images and quotes.

A Non – Negotiable Protection

Data privacy expectations in 2021: Trends to watch | 2020-12-28 | Security Magazine

Just a few days back, I decided to open a Facebook account. To my surprise the moment I created my account, it showed my personal information. Information that I had not even filled. To everyone reading this it might sound very scary. Being scared of such things especially when you hear them from people it becomes even more truthful and genuine. Today the topic that I am going to cover is something that has been a problem and issue for people all around the world. With this article, I hope to speak about the existence or non-existence of privacy in one’s life and the role of social media tech giants in it.

The word “Privacy” creates a mix of feelings. Gary Kovacs rightfully says, and quotes “Privacy is not an option. Therefore, it should not be the price we accept for just getting on the internet.” The reason I am stating this quote is that the world is slowly moving from the real to the virtual world at an uncontrollable pace. At the same time at a much faster rate, we tend to provide or give out all our information into the virtual world while also losing a sense of identity of oneself in the real world. It is a fact that, in the real world people do many things to protect their privacy and personal information but unconsciously tend to do very little about their privacy in the virtual world. The reason for this may be that people cannot see each other physically. This, therefore, brings in a sense of feeling in an individual that the person is not around me and hence they do not know things about me.

Does privacy exist or not?

I think that this question needs to be taken into consideration and find answers for it as we are moving constantly ahead in the field of technology every single day. When I question myself about the existence of privacy, there is only one answer that I get. Privacy does exist but not with the intensity that needs to be present in the 21^st Century. Privacy is such an important thing in everyone’s life. People get to decide what information about themselves they want to put out to the world and what they do not want. Any other person regardless of what kind of money, power, influence, etc they have cannot decide this. In recent years, privacy is slowly losing its importance and value. Therefore, we must decide what kind of information we want to put in the virtual world.

Cyber crime seems to increase every day. Let me as you this, how many times have you or people around you have had an experience of your fake account being opened, which you have asked people to report and block? I am sure we can think of one or two instances in our head, which stand as proof of how our personal information is lost and later seen for the use of wrong things. This is just one of the incidents that I have brought out. There are many more incidents whose intensity of danger and trouble is at a much higher rate. Through various ways, we give out our information that we would think twice before doing it. We would not tell everyone where we stay or where we are going to be all the time. Often we tend to let go of our location in the virtual world without even realizing it. Our privacy happens to be the invisible protective shield that will protect us from uncalled dangers. This shield cannot be negotiated for anything else whether it is the real world or the virtual world.

Social Media and The Power of Big Tech Companies | Shift - Living in the Digital Age | DW | 15.01.2021

Role of Social Media Tech Giants concerning Privacy.

I think we all are aware of the recent incidents taking place in the social media world. We all remember the controversies of Whatsapp, Facebook, and other social media platforms regarding their privacy policy and the threat of information of common people. Talking about the incident in a few lines, these social media tech giants want to make our personal information more public to gain more productivity and revenue. We all remember Whatsapp putting out on different newspapers on the front page saying that their privacy policy is completely secure and nothing will go wrong. A lot of governments and the public itself were not okay with the new privacy policy that has questionable statements that had to be accepted by the people if they wanted to continue as members of the app. The reason many people agreed to the policy even though they were not okay with it was that a lot of people’s daily lives and activities whether they were students or people working had a lot of reliance and dependency on being an active member of Whatsapp. The most shocking part was that when that the US Senator asked the CEOs of these Social Media Tech giants about their work towards privacy and protection they did not have an answer to the question and rather kept revolving around how it is not that simple. These CEOs have been made to come to court several times to answer and provide an explanation in the lapses of their app but they just do not do enough to make things better for people and it is the people who face the consequences of these lapses.

Yes, I completely agree when people say that online or the virtual mode whether it is social media or any other apps that we use brings people together, increases production and economy, continuous learning and communication, progress, development and so much more. However, what we tend to forget is that with advantages there are disadvantages that need to be looked into or else will result in grave loss of privacy. How many times have we heard on the news that Facebook, Instagram, or even food apps like Swiggy or Zomato have been hacked and information of different accounts has been accessed? It is high time we take such matters seriously and take some action towards them rather than leaving them as incidents that keeps happening every other day.

During the same time, we also had seen incidents regarding government-running apps such as the Aarogya Setu app in India. The justification provided by the different governments around the world was that the privacy of the people matters but the security of the people is also more important and the responsibility of the government. My question to this perspective is how privacy can and security is two different things? Only when the privacy rights of the people are taken into proper consideration only then will bring about the proper security of the people.

To conclude, the protection of privacy of every individual should come from themselves, the community, the governments, and the world. Only when we work together as a whole will be able to make the virtual world a safe place for every individual using it in any form. As Bruce Schneler rightly says, “Privacy is an inherent human right and, a requirement for maintaining the human condition. With dignity and with respect.”

References

Google searches for images and quotes.

WHAT IS A SONNET?

The sonnet is a popular classical form that has compelled poets for centuries. Traditionally, the Sonnet is a lyric in fourteen lines in iambic pentameter governed by certain prescribed rules in general and in the arrangement of the rhymes. It aims at concentrated expression, but fairly complex development of a single theme also is possible. It derives its name from the Italian ‘sonnetto’ which means ‘a little song’ or sound sung to the strain of music. It has only one leading thought or emotion as in Milton’s ‘On His Blindness’ or Keats’s ‘On first looking into Chapman’s homer.

Primary Types of Sonnets:

In English literature, there are two basic sonnet patterns:

Petrarchan Sonnet:

The first and most common sonnet is the Petrarchan, or Italian. Named after one of its greatest practitioners, the Italian poet Petrarch, the Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two stanzas, the octave has two rhymes ‘a’ and ‘b’ arranged in ab ab, ab ab scheme. The sestet has three rhymes arranged in various forms as abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd is suited for the rhyme-rich Italian language, though there are many fine examples in English. The octave may be divided into two stanzas of four lines each called tercets. Since the Petrarchan presents an argument, observation, question, or some other answerable charge in the octave, a turn, or volta, occurs between the eighth and ninth lines. This turn marks a shift in the direction of the foregoing argument or narrative, turning the sestet into the vehicle for the counterargument, clarification, or whatever answer the octave demands.

Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet to England in the early sixteenth century. His famed translations of Petrarch’s sonnets, as well as his own sonnets, drew fast attention to the form. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, a contemporary of Wyatt’s, whose own translations of Petrarch are considered more faithful to the original though less fine to the ear, modified the Petrarchan, thus establishing the structure that became known as the Shakespearean sonnet. This structure has been noted to lend itself much better to the comparatively rhyme-poor English language.

Shakespearean Sonnet:

The second major type of sonnet, the Shakespearean, or English sonnet, follows a different set of rules. Here, three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually arriving in the form of a conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often creating an epiphanic quality to the end. In sonnet 130 of William Shakespeare’s epic sonnet cycle, the first twelve lines compare the speaker’s mistress unfavorably with nature’s beauties, but the concluding couplet swerves in a surprising direction.

Shakespeare Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ eyes

Variations on the Sonnet Form

John Milton’s Italian-patterned sonnets (later known as “Miltonic” sonnets) added several important refinements to the form. Milton freed the sonnet from its typical incarnation in a sequence of sonnets, writing the occasional sonnet that often expressed interior, self-directed concerns. He also took liberties with the turn, allowing the octave to run into the sestet as needed. Both of these qualities can be seen in “When I Consider How My Ligth is Spent”.

The Spenserian sonnet, invented by sixteenth-century English poet Edmund Spenser, cribs its structure from the Shakespearean—three quatrains and a couplet—but employs a series of “couplet links” between quatrains, as revealed in the rhyme scheme: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee. The Spenserian sonnet, through the interweaving of the quatrains, implicitly reorganized the Shakespearean sonnet into couplets, reminiscent of the Petrarchan. One reason was to reduce the often excessive final couplet of the Shakespearean sonnet, putting less pressure on it to resolve the foregoing argument, observation, or question.

THe Theme:

The common theme of a sonnet is love as in the sonnets of Shakespeare, Philip Sidney, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. However several poets have used other themes also in their sonnets. Milton’s sonnet ‘On His Blindness ‘,Wordsworth’s sonnet addressed to Milton, Keat’s sonnet ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer and Arnold’s sonnet on Shakespeare are examples.

Examples of Famous Fisrt Lines in Shakespeare’s Sonnet:

William Shakespeare is credited with writing 154 sonnets, collected and published a few years after his death. Shakespeare featured many themes and subjects in his sonnets, and his works in this poetic form are arguably the most famous in English literature. Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets are known by their first-line rather than their number. Here are some examples of famous first lines in Shakespeare’s sonnets:

Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
Those lines that I before have writ do lie
To me, fair friend, you never can be old
My love is as a fever longing still
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
So are you to my thoughts as food to life
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Love is too young to know what conscience is
Then let not winter’s ragged hand deface

Sonnet Sequences:

There are several types of sonnet groupings, including the sonnet sequence, which is a series of linked sonnets dealing with a unified subject. Examples include Elizabeth Barrett Brownings’s Sonnet from the Portuguese and Lady Mary Wroth’s The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania, published in 1621, the first sonnet sequence by an English woman.

Within the sonnet sequence, several formal constraints have been employed by various poets, including the corona (crown) and sonnet redoublé. In the corona, the last line of the initial sonnet acts as the first line of the next, and the ultimate sonnet’s final line repeats the first line of the initial sonnet. La Corona by John Donne is comprised of seven sonnets structured this way. The sonnet redoublé is formed of 15 sonnets, the first 14 forming a perfect corona, followed by the final sonnet, which is comprised of the 14 linking lines in order.

Awareness towards good green

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change supports the States/Union Territories for carrying out afforestation activities through various Centrally Sponsored Scheme and funds under CAMPA to expand green cover across the country. The Ministry on various occasions like International Day of Forests, World Environment Day, Van Mahotsav, Wild life Week, International Day for Biological Diversity etc. disseminates knowledge in planting trees and other floral species which are naturally grown in a particular region through various Conferences, Workshops, Mass Plantation etc. State Forest Departments also promotes knowledge of local indigenous species of trees, herbs and shrubs along with their medicinal properties through Books, Pamphlets, Sign boards, Brochures etc.

The Ministry has also through its advisories issued from time to time to State/UT Governments on afforestation programs/activities emphasized that the plantation of locally suitable tree species should be on the basis of local climatic and soil conditions. The National Mission for a Green India also encourages the plantation of mixed indigenous species along with grasses, herbs, shrubs and tree species. Exotic and invasive plants are avoided in afforestation in forest areas.

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH has also launched a Medicinal Plant species-specific campaign on Tinosporiacordifoliaviz ‘Amrita for Life’, for promotion and creating awareness. Further, NMPB has also launched, ‘20 medicinal plants for 2020’, campaign to promote, cultivate and to create awareness among local people about rich diverse traditional knowledge on medicinal plants.

Restrictions on many Construction & Demolition(C&D) activities to continue in the NCR

The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) in furtherance of Direction No. 44 dated 16/11/2021 and its Order dated 27.11.2021 directs with immediate effect that Construction and Demolition (C&D) activities shall not be allowed in NCR, except for the following categories of projects:

(a) Railway services / Railway stations;

(b) Metro Rail Services including stations;

(d) National security/ Defence related activities/ projects of national importance;

(e) Hospitals/ nursing homes / health care facilities;

(f) Linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, over bridges, power transmission, pipelines etc.;

(g) Sanitation and public utility projects like sewage treatment plants, water pumping stations etc.;

(h) Ancillary activities specific to and supplementing the above categories of projects.

Further, the above said exemptions are subject to strict compliance of the C&D Waste Management Rules, dust prevention/ control norms including compliance with the directions of the Commission issued from time to time in this regard.

As per the report of IIT Kanpur (2016) namely “Comprehensive Study on Air Pollution and Green House Gases in Delhi”, construction and demolition activities in Delhi are frequent and “this source is the third most contributor to area source emission in PM10 and importantly it is a consistent source all through the year”. Additionally, the study estimated that the emission load from C&D activities in Delhi is 5167 kg per day and 1292 kg per day with respect to PM10 and PM2.5 respectively.

As per “Source Apportionment of PM10 and PM2.5 of Delhi NCR for Identification of Major Sources”, study of August, 2018 prepared by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), PM10 contribution from dusty sources (example – road, construction and soil dust) was significant in winter season ranging from 23 to 31 %. Similarly, contribution of dusty sources PM2.5 in winter was 15% in Delhi-city as well as NCR Towns.

C&D activities in urban agglomeration of Delhi city and NCR are frequent, numerous and dispersed and dust from the construction and demolition activities is a major source of Air Pollution in the National Capital Region and contributes significantly to adverse PM2.5 and PM10 levels.

While the Commission’s restrictions are still in force to control air pollution from two other major sectors contributing to air pollution namely industries and transport and it is both advisable and desirable to follow a phased approach in respect of construction sector also considering the air quality in NCR.

Keeping in view the current air quality in Delhi-NCR, there is a need to exercise control on various sectors that significantly contributes to air pollution. Taking into consideration different studies that clearly show that C&D sites are a major contributor of air pollution across the NCR, the Commission if of the view that except for the above said exemptions, C&D activities should not be allowed in the NCR till further orders.

Since the current air quality index is within the ‘Very Poor’, it would not be advisable to allow the operations at all C&D sites. Based on air quality forecast and significant improvement in air quality, the decision will be reviewed further.

As per the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Order dated 24.11.2021, States shall use the funds collected as labourcess for the welfare of constructions workers and provide them subsistence for the period during which construction activities are prohibited and pay wages notified under the minimum Wages Act for the respective categories of workers.

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KALA KUMBH ARTIST WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ARTS

The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi is celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav with Kala Kumbh– artist workshops for painting scrolls representing the heroic lives and struggles of unsung heroes of India’s freedom movement, as an integral part of the Republic Day celebrations 2022 in collaboration with Ministry of Defense. The workshop is being organised from 10th – 17th December, 2021 at Bhubaneswar to creatively showcase the legacy of India’s freedom struggle and our national pride on five scrolls of seventy five meters. Similar workshops will also be held in other parts of the country.

Kala Kumbh workshop intends to showcase our rich cultural heritage of indigenous and contemporary visual art practices, focusing on diverse geographical locations of India. Inspiration will also be drawn from the creative illustrations in the Constitution of India wherein the artistic elements painted by Nandalal Bose and his team have imparted a distinctive appeal. It will be an embodiment of progressive aspects of India’s socio-cultural, political and economic identity, represented on the scrolls as per the artistic vision of Sri Adwait Garanayak, Director General, NGMA.

As the entire program focuses on a collaborative effort, the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi has joined hands with Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Silicon Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar for this artists’ workshop. The narratives would reflect the tales of valor from Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, North Eastern parts of India and Andhra Pradesh with artistic expressions reflecting the indigenous forms of art such as Pattachitra, Talapatra chitra, Manjusa, Madhubani and Jadupatua to name a few. As NGMA, New Delhi takes these workshops to other parts of the country, many other forms of indigenous art will be woven into the stories of the unsung heroes of India’s freedom movement as a befitting artistic tribute to their struggles.

Can we fix our Ozone layer? The Montreal protocol

Imagine that one day our Ozone layer was disappeared. What will happen? How long can we survive without it? The Ozone layer is a region of Earth’s atmosphere that contains a high concentration of Ozone (O3). Ozone is a highly reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms. It is found in the lower portion of Earth’s atmosphere. It absorbs 97 to 99 percent of the Sun’s ultraviolet rays. Direct exposure to UV rays can cause serious skin problems including sun burn, skin cancer, premature ageing of the skin, solar elastosis. It can also cause eye problems and can ruin our immune system.

The depletion of ozone layer was first observed by a Dutch chemist Paul crutzen. He described the Ozone depletion by demonstrating the reaction of nitrogen oxide with oxygen atoms which slowing the creation of Ozone (O3). Later in 1974, American chemists Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland observed that chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) molecules emitted by man-made machines like refrigerators, air conditioners and airplanes could be the major source of chlorine in the atmosphere. One chlorine atom can destroy 100,000 ozone molecules.

Not all chlorine molecules contribute to ozone layer depletion; chlorine from swimming pool, sea salt, industrial plants, and volcanoes does not reach the stratosphere. The ozone hole in Antarctica is one of the largest and deepest depletion which was discovered by the British scientists. This became worldwide headlines after that. According to NASA scientist Paul Newman, if this depletion continues in this rate our ozone layer can be likely disappeared in 2065. If that happens UV rays from sun directly reach earth and cause severe health issues, Humans can last 3 months and plants may die in 2 weeks because of heavy UV radiation. Thus Earth will become inhabitable.

Fortunately in 1987, Montreal protocol was made that bans chlorofluorocarbon and other chemicals that cause ozone depletion. Surprisingly it works, researches made in 2018 tells that the ozone layer is repairing itself at a rate of 1% to 3% per decade since 2000. Still it will take at least 50 years for complete recovery. The greenhouse effect allows the short wave radiation of sunlight to pass through the atmosphere to earth’s surface but makes it difficult for heat in the form of long wave radiation to escape. This effect blankets the earth and keeps our planet at a reasonable temperature to support life. Earth radiated energy, of which about 90 percent is absorbed by atmospheric gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, nitrous oxide, and others. Absorbed energy is radiated back to the surface and warms earth’s lower atmosphere.

The gases have come to be called greenhouse gases because they hold in light and heat, just as a greenhouse does for the sake of the plants inside. Greenhouse gases are essential to life, not only at an appropriate balance point. These gases increased during the 20th century due to industrial activity and fossil fuel emissions. For example, the concentration of carbon dioxide I the atmosphere have recently been growing by about 1.4 percent annually. This increase in greenhouse gases is one of the contributors to be observed patterns of global warming. On September 16th world ozone day, we can celebrate our success. But we must all push to keep hold of these gains, in particular by remaining vigilant and tackling any illegal sources of ozone depleting substances as they arise, says UN ozone-secretariat. So without the Montreal protocol, life on earth could be a question mark, so keep working hard. “OZONE FOR LIFE”.

The incredible journey of Elon Musk’s SpaceX – The engineering masterpiece

The Falcon super heavy launch vehicle was designed to transport people, spaceships, and various cargos into space. Such a powerful unit wasn’t created instantly and it also had its predecessors. The history of the Falcon family of vehicles began with the creation of the Falcon 1- a lightweight launch vehicle with a length of 21.3 meters and a diameter of 1.7 meters and a launch mass of 27.6 tones; the rocket could carry 420 kilograms or 926 pounds of payload on board. It became the first private device that was able to bring cargo into low earth orbit. Construction of the Falcon 1 of only two stages, the first of them consisted of a supporting element with fuel tanks, an engine and a parachute system. They chose kerosene as the fuel and liquid oxygen became its oxidizing agent.

The falcon heavy side boosters landings -SpaceX
The second stage also contains fuel tanks and an engine; though the latter had less thrust compared to the one in the first stage despite the huge launch cost $7.9 million. Totally five attempts were made to send the Falcon 1 beyond the of our planet nut not all of them were successful. During the debut launch of the rocket, a fire started in the first stage engine; this led to a loss of pressure which caused the engine to shut down in the 34th second of flight. The second attempt to start the Falcon 1 incurred a problem with the fuel system of the second stage fuels stopped flowing into its engine at 474 second of flight it shut down as well. The third time of the Falcon 1 went on a flight, it wasn’t alone of the serious cargo the rocket carried onboard the trailblazer satellites and to NASA micro-satellites. In phase one with the first stage he flight went normally but when the time came to separate the stages, the first hit the second when it started engine, so the second stage couldn’t continue its flight.

The fourth and fifth launches showed good results but that wasn’t enough. The main problem with Falcon 1 was low demand due to its low payload abilities. For this reason, they designed Falcon 9; this device can carry on onboard 23 tons of cargo. It’s also a two stage launch vehicle and uses kerosene and l liquid oxygen as fuel. The device is currently in operation and the cost of its launch is equal to $62 million. The first stage of the rocket is reusable; it can return to earth and can be used again. The Falcon 9 is designed to not only launch commercial communication satellites but also to deliver dragon 1 to the ISS. Dragon 1 can carry a six ton payload from the earth, this drone supplies the ISS with everything they needs and it also takes goods back.

The prototype of SpaceX starship had its first free flight on July 25, 2019
The dragon 2 is designed to deliver a crew of four people to the ISS and back to earth. Now there is an ultra heavy launch vehicle with a payload capacity of almost 64 tones. It is the most powerful and heavier device called the Falcon heavy. This rocket was first launched on February 6th 2018 and the test was successful. The rocket sent Elon Musk’s car into space- a red Tesla Roadster. After this debut subsequent launches were also conducted without problem. The launch cost is estimated to $150 million.

The first stage of the Falcon heavy consists f three parts. There are three blocks contain 27 incredibly powerful engines in nine each one. The thrust created when takeoff is comparable to 18 Boeing 747s at full power. The second stage is equipped with a single engine. It is planned that the device would be used for missions to the moon and mars. Currently, SpaceX working on the star-ship manned spacecraft. According to its creators, this device will be much larger and heavier than all of the company’s existing rockets. This device will able to deliver cargo into space weighing more than a hundred tons. The launch of star-ship into pace is planned for 2022 to mars with a payload. Who knows, one of the mankind’s largest dreams may come true within the next year.

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk

Ideas to change your life!

“People don’t like to think, if one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.” – Helen Keller

Think big, act small

Never let anything hold you back when you think of ideas.
You’ve got nothing to lose. Just make sure you act small. Put in the work and stay practical.

Problems are unanswered questions

Every time you experience stress over a problem, you’re sabotaging your life.
A problem is nothing but an unanswered question. So stay calm. And figure out the answer.

firm foundation for relationships

Wrong reasons to start relationships include money, fear of being alone, abuse, needing attention.
The foundation of all relationships should be based on love, respect, support, trust, patience, good company, laughter, sadness, and more support.

Nothing in life is free

You always pay for something with money, time (the most valuable thing you have), or other resources.
Life is a business. And smart business people spend their resources wisely.

Never be afraid of making decisions

Waiting, postponing, doubting, researching too much — it’s all not useful. Get your act together, and decide firmly whenever you have to make one.
And when you made the wrong decision, own it, apologize, and make another decision.

Decide to become a leader

Being a leader also has nothing to do with your title.
When everyone looks at each other because no one wants to take responsibility, decide that you will take responsibility.

Productivity yields results

There’s only one thing that helps you to go from nothing to something: You have to put in the work.
Make sure you value effectiveness over everything. Results matter. Get things done and move on to the next thing.

See yourself as a salesperson

In almost everything you do, you’re selling yourself.
When you sell, be transparent, honest, and to the point. Don’t waste your time on people who don’t like you anyway.

Improve your skills

To improve your self-confidence.
You only improve your self-confidence by becoming good at something: By learning, doing, seeing results, and repeating that process for years. Your confidence will grow slowly every day.

Value your friends

We’re social animals. When we’re alone, we die early.
So be nice to each other. And respect that your friends also have lives of their own.

Don’t believe everything you see

Don’t believe all the success stories you see everywhere. YouTubers, Instagram models, millionaire entrepreneurs: They seem perfect. But you only see the outside.
You don’t have to be a cynic. Just don’t take appearances for facts.

Learn to love criticism

It’s fuel for you. You can use criticism to improve yourself, your product, or your service.
Or, if the criticism makes no sense, it can make you angry, which is also a good thing. That type of anger is useful. “I’ll show them!”

Take care of your body

If you can’t take care of your body, you can’t take care of anything.
You can influence your health by eating healthy, exercising, and treating your body with respect.

Happiness is a choice

You control your thoughts. That means you decide what you do with your life. If you’re unsatisfied, angry, or frustrated, that’s all you.

Create something

Make yourself useful.
Instead of consuming so much information, products, and entertainment from others, spend a fraction of that time on creating something yourself.

Reference

https://observer.com/2017/02/i-have-15-ideas-to-change-your-life-do-you-have-five-minutes/

MoHUA Schemes and Missions help boost the Make in India and AtamNirbhar Bharat Initiatives

Various schemes and Missions run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during 2021 have helped boost the Make in India and AtamNirbharBharat initiatives in many ways. The schemes and Missions have directly influenced the AtamNirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives directly or indirectly.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), launched to address urban housing shortage including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to eligible urban households by the year 2022, the technology used to build the houses at faster speed was innovative, specially the Light House projects as part of Global Housing Technology Challenge – India (GHTC -India) initiative, in six States .The initiative led to a new era in the construction technology in India, thus giving impetus to Make in India initiative. Bringing people and technology together, LHPs will pave the way for a new eco- system where globally proven technologies will be adopted for cost-effective, environment friendly and speedier construction. Advantages of these LHPs are many, the primary ones being durability, climate-resilient, affordability, safety and speed.

MoHUA also launched the Enrolment Module for TECHNOGRAHIS including students from IITs, NITs, engineering, planning and architecture colleges, faculty members, academicians, and stakeholders for registering themselves to visit Live Laboratories at six LHP sites for learning, consultation, generation of ideas and solutions, experimentation, innovation, and technical awareness. This helped them in getting a first-hand account of the technologies being used and in turn, they can adapt and adopt them as per their requirements in the construction sector for a ‘Make in India’ approach.

A Technology Sub-Mission (TSM) was set up to facilitate the adoption of innovative, sustainable, eco-friendly and disaster-resilient technologies and building materials for low-cost, speedier and quality construction of houses. TSM not only aims to ensure speedier and safer delivery under PMAY-U but also has the potential to bring a paradigm shift in the overall housing construction sector in the country.

Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) Scheme under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package addresses the vision of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ significantly by creating a sustainable ecosystem of affordable rental housing solutions and to achieve overall objective of “Housing for All” encompassing the need of affordable rental housing for urban migrants/poor. ARHCs will provide them dignified living with necessary civic amenities near their place of work.

Under Smart Cities Mission(SCM), the City Innovation Exchange (CiX) platform was launched for innovative practices in cities. The platform was a significant addition to the growing innovation ecosystem of India and focuses on fostering innovative practices in cities. CiX, through an ‘open innovation’ process, engages with innovators to design-test-deliver on solutions to pressing urban challenges. This initiative is among the ongoing efforts of the Government to realise Prime Minister’s vision of New and AtmaNirbhar Bharat, by making cities more self-reliant and enabled to meet the needs of and provide services to their citizens. Another step towards making the SCM targets easier, a SmartCode is a platform was launched by MoHUA that enables all ecosystem stakeholders to contribute to a repository of open-source code for various solutions and applications for urban governance. It is designed to address the challenges that ULBs face in the development and deployment of digital applications to address urban challenges, by enabling cities to take advantage of existing codes and customising them to suit local needs, rather than having to develop new solutions from scratch. The India Urban Data Exchange has been developed in partnership between the Smart Cities Mission and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. A New smart cities website & Geospatial management information system GMIS for project monitoring was also developed to implement and proper scrutiny of the projects under SCM.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Transport4All, aiming to bring together cities, citizen groups, and start-ups to develop solutions that improve public transport to better serve the needs of all citizens. It also started the EatSmart Cities Challenge which aimed to motivate Smart Cities to develop a plan that supports a healthy, safe and sustainable food environment supported by institutional, physical, social, and economic infrastructure along with the application of ‘smart’ solutions to combat food related issues.

National Urban Digital Mission will create the ideal space to harness immense synergies from the domain of urban and technology towards creating a citizen-centric governance that reflects Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’. The National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM) will create a shared digital infrastructure for urban India, working across the three pillars of people, process, and platform to provide holistic support to cities and towns. It will institutionalise a citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach to urban governance and service delivery in 2022 cities by 2022, and across all cities and towns in India by 2024.

For making the street vendors AtmaNirbhar, Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, MoHUA has entered into MoU with Zomato, one of the largest online platforms for ordering and delivery of food in India, to onboard street food vendors on its food-tech platform. It has given street food vendors online access to thousands of consumers and help these vendors grow their businesses. Further, MoHUA launched the Mobile Application for PM SVANidhi se Samriddhi- Socio-economic profiling of PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their families to link them to various Central Government Schemes

Under AtmaNibhar Bharat initiative, DAY-NULM scheme has focussed on equipping the urban poor women with adequate skills and opportunities, and to enable them to promote sustainable micro enterprises. It mobilises women from urban poor households into SHGs and their federations to create a support system for these women. Over 5.7 lakh SHGs have been formed across various States/ UTs, with almost 60 lakh members. Many of these SHGs are engaged in livelihood activities, producing goods such as handicrafts, textiles, toys, eatables and so on. These were being sold primarily in local neighbourhood markets and often faced barriers in achieving visibility and wide market access.

Under Urban Transport Mission, the metro coaches which were earlier imported from Spain, South Korea, and China, are now being manufactured within the country. Their quality is at par with international standards and also being exported to Australia and Canada.

Under the Central Vista project, the new Parliament Building is an intrinsic part of the vision for Azadi@75 and symbolises our commitment and efforts towards building AatmaNirbhar Bharat. The new Parliament has been designed and is being built by Indians using Indian materials. It will be the first Indian Parliament built by the people, of the people, and for the people.

To enable the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for New Urban India, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organised Azadi@75 Conference-cum-Expo in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh along with an exhibition themed on transforming urban landscape across the country.

Achievements and initiatives

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U)

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) was launched on 25th June, 2015 to address urban housing shortage among the EWS/ LIG and MIG category, including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to eligible urban households by the year 2022.

Against the total assessed demand of 1.12 Cr houses, 1.14 Cr houses have been sanctioned. Of these, total of 91.5 lakh houses were grounded for construction and 53 lakhs houses were completed / delivered, as on 12th Dec’ 2021.
A total of 17.35 Lakh beneficiaries have availed subsidy on housing loans through Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), out of which 6.15 Lakh beneficiaries are from Middle Income Group.
A total of 6,368 houses in Light House Projects are being constructed involving project cost of ₹790.57 crore.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

Against total SAAP size of ₹77,640 crore, 5818 projects worth ₹80,713 crore have been grounded. Of the grounded projects, works worth ₹57,414 cr. have been physically completed (inclusive of completed projects worth ₹22,756 cr.) and expenditure of ₹50,118 cr. has been incurred so far.

Sector-wise progress of AMRUT projects is as below:

Sector	Projects completed		Projects ongoing		Total Projects Grounded
Sector	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount
Water Supply	740	11,530	586	30,320	1,326	41,850
Sewerage &Septage	370	8,259	483	25,074	853	33,332
Storm Water Drainage	612	1,114	187	1,829	799	2,943
Non-motorised urban transport	218	397	131	626	349	1,023
Parks & Green spaces	1,943	1,130	548	435	2,491	1,565
Total	3,883	22,430	1,935	58,284	5,818	80,713

AMRUT 2.0 was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 1st October 2021 with the aim of making the cities ‘water secure’ and providing functional water tap connections to all households. The total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is ₹2,77,000 Cr including central share of ₹ 76,760 Cr for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.In the water supply sector, contracts for 1,326 projects worth ₹41,850 crore have been awarded of which 740 projects worth ₹11,530 crore have been completed. In addition, 18 projects worth ₹358 crore are at various stages of tendering. The target is to provide 139 lakh water tap connections to achieve universal coverage. So far 118 lakh water tap connections have been provided through AMRUT and in convergence with schemes.

Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U)

Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) was launched on 2nd October 2014, with the vision to make India open defecation free. Under the mission, 31 cities have been self-declared as ODF and 58 have been certified as ODF since 1st January 2021. ODF+ certified cities increased by 1,828 and ODF++ certified cities increased by 472 since 1st January 2021. Number of Individual Household toilets constructed increased by 20,892 and Community/ Public Toilets constructed increased by 17,866 till date. Under solid waste management, 100% Door to door collection has increased to 86,403 wards and 100% Source Segregation has increased to 77,415 wards resulting in increase of the total waste processing to 70% as against 68% till 1st January 2021.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0: Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 on 1st October, 2021 with an outlay of about ₹ 4.4 Lakh Crore to adopt ‘Universal Approach’ and make a move towards ‘Saturation’ in sanitation and water availability in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)

The DAY-NULM is a flagship scheme which aims towards alleviating urban poverty through building strong community institutions, providing skill training, access to affordable credit for self-employment, support for street vendors and shelters for the urban homeless. Since inception, it has covered 28 states, 7 UTs and 3,806 Towns creating 25.60 livelihoods. Under the scheme, 1.30 lakhs shelter spaces were created for urban homeless and 66.70 lakhs women members were mobilised into 6.4 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs).

Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were implemented with e-commerce giants like Amazon & Flipkart for selling over 2,000 products made by 5,000 SHG members on e-commerce portals across 25 States/ UT.‘SonChiraiya’ brand was launched with the aim to provide increased visibility and wider market access to the local ethnic products viz. handicrafts, food, apparel, decorative, etc.The Mission has provided 26.50 lakh Certificate of Vending (CoV) to urban street vendors to safeguard their rights. Mission has streamlined the process for payments of training fees to skill training providers through PAiSA Portal, which is centralized electronic platform for processing payments to the beneficiaries under the Mission.

AZADI KA AMRUT MAHOTSAV: As a part of the ongoing “AzadikaAmritMahotsav” of MoHUA, Revolving Fund (RF) support to Area Level Federation (ALF) i.e. federation of Self Help Groups through PAiSA Portal was operationalised on 30.09.2021.

PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)

The PM SVANidhi was launched to empower street vendors, making them independent and self-sustainable. Under “SwadishtVyanjankiAadhunikDukaan (SVAD)”, MoHUA has signed MOU with Swiggy and Zomato providing a digital platform for Street Food Vendors (SFVs). Presently, over 8,486 SFVs have been onboarded and have generated sales of over ₹4.9 Crores.

Tie up with Digital Payment Aggregators (DPAs) like BharatPe, Mswipe, PhonePe, Paytm, Aceware were done to issue UPI ids, QR codes and digital training to the beneficiaries. Around 24.5 Lakh Street Vendors (SVs) have been onboarded digitally out of which 9.8 lakh vendors are Digitally active who have conducted 10.9 Crore Digital Transactions till date.

More than 42 Lakhs Eligible Loan Application under 1st Tranche and 773,986 Eligible Loan Application under 2nd Tranche were submitted. Out of these, more than 30 Lakhs loans under 1st Tranche and 46,931 loans under 2nd Tranche were sanctioned and more than 27 Lakhs loans under 1st Tranche and 33,471 loans under 2nd Tranche were disbursed. The loan total amount disbursed under 1st Tranche is ₹2656.97Crores and under 2nd Tranche is ₹66.62 Crores.

Urban Transport

One metro project i.e. Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase 2A & 2B of length 58.19 kms at the completion cost of ₹14,788 Cr has been sanctioned in June, 2021. 31 kms of metro rail lines have been commissioned in the cities of Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur.Under Make-in-India initiatives, the Ministry, in January, 2021, has issued a list of items where public procurement shall be done only from local suppliers. With driverless train operation on 94 km on Delhi Metro’s network, India is at 4th position in the elite league of world’s metro systems which operate drives less trains.

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A Right Not A Privilege

Menstrupedia Blog | Let's Break the Vicious Circle of Menstrual Taboo - Menstrupedia Blog

Judy Grahn once beautifully said and I quote “Menstrual blood is the only source of blood that is not traumatically induced. Yet, in modern society, this is the most hidden blood, the one so rarely spoken of and almost never seen, except privately by women”. By this, everyone knows what this article is going to be about today. As women are slowly growing stronger and learning to stand up for themselves, it is time, not just women but also men start talking about menstruation, periods, and the entire process that girls, women go through every month for several years. It is high time topics like menstruation are brought out openly rather than hiding among women.

Understanding menstruation and the taboo behind it

Menstruation is the process where girls and women lose blood for a period of five to seven days, every month. This process is the menstrual cycle. The blood is usually old blood cells that detach themselves from the uterine walls. This is a process that every girl and woman goes through around the world no matter which religion, race, ethnicity, countries women belong to. Sounds pretty normal right? Then everyone just is wondering what the taboo is all about. People need to understand that menstruation, menstrual cycle, period cramps, etc are not something that has emerged very recently. These have been there from the time humankind has been existing.

The idea of menstrual blood being impure and something bad for society comes from a place of women idealization, gender discrimination, the gendered identity that has come into creation by the one and only patriarchy. Menstruation has become a medium to suppress women and limit their creativity, intelligence, feelings, emotions, and everything else that makes women as important as men or more in society. Let me ask people reading this. First, to all women and girls, how many of you have covered your pad in a newspaper and or taken your sanitary napkin like a secret bomb to the washroom? In addition, the second question to all men and boys who have seen this and found it weird until you know why women or girls have been doing this? This is how the inclusion of patriarchy happens in society and the idea of impurity and purity seeps into everyone’s lives. The very idea of how girls in co-ed schools and college are only in the class while the teachers are talking periods and the boys are in another class during that period shows how the societal taboo behind them. This is the very reason boys have no education about menstruation and how it works.

Until today, the awareness of menstruation is so less, that a lot of action and awareness is in great need to make things better for women and girls in every district, village, and country. Over the years, the taboo has come down about the menstrual cycle at least in the metropolitan areas of different countries. There was a time when women were in deprivation of communication with other people during their menstruation, and there were places separately for women and girls during their menstruation that was usually away from the house. So many more things were happening that no are longer happening in the developed parts of the country. Nevertheless, there are still so many places that these things take place. These are small villages, districts that have no connection with the mainland. That being said, many castes and religions have a cultural tradition of celebrating the commence of menstruation with great joy and pomp and bringing down the menstruation taboo that has such a strong grasp on the minds of the community.

Yes, things are much better in the metropolitan areas but let me ask you this how many times do we hear jokes or statements made about women “PMSing” when they are genuinely angry or irritated about something at work or home. Linking something as natural as menstruation to religion, caste, and gender is still present in every part of the world whether it is a village or a metropolitan area. People believe that period cramps are nothing because every woman goes through the menstrual cycle. What people do not understand is that though every woman suffers from period cramps the intensity level is very different. If you believe that women who have low tolerance levels have high-intensity pain, then you are wrong. Several studies have proven that period cramp pain is equivalent to the pain of several bones breaking together. Therefore, it is time we think twice before making comments or statements about menstruation.

It's Time We Make Feminine Products Free

Menstruation products and their prices

Though the world is moving forward and developing rapidly, women are still paying a huge amount for menstruation products that are in use for a natural process of losing blood every month. It might seem very surprising that women all over the world have to keep aside a lot of money just for menstrual products such as sanitary napkins, tampons, etc. Basic things like these have become a privilege. Products that are necessary during the cycle are not available for the lower section of the economy because the price of these products is so high. How fair is it that some sections of girls and women get menstruation products and some women and girls cannot? Menstrual hygiene is such an important thing in every single female’s life. If menstrual hygiene is not cared for then it can lead to many physical problems as well. It is time that governments all over the world look into this problem and make things more accessible to women and girls whether they belong to the higher economy or the lower economic class. Scotland and New Zealand are some of the best examples of other countries. These countries have made sanitary napkins free for everybody. These countries have shown that menstruation products should not be a privilege rather products everybody has a right to.

The argument that has been made is that these countries have a lesser population, therefore; it is easier for the government to bring about these laws. To this argument, the only answer can be that, even if you cannot make sanitary products free for everybody, things can at least be done to make them free for people who cannot afford menstruation products. The thing that needs to be kept in mind as well is that the quality of these products should be equally good as the products that are being paid for. The rights of women and girls should not be made into a monetary business from which only the rich benefit. In recent years, awareness, protests, and petitions have been increasing to bring about some change and remove patriarchy from the root so that women can get what they deserve. These actions should not stop until we as people have some change in the community and the world.

I would like to conclude that women do not expect to be treated as supernatural beings or goddesses rather what we do expect is to be treated as human beings who deserve respect, trust, proper treatment, and everything else like any other person living on this planet. Finally, it is time that the people of the world realize that periods are not gross, weird, or inappropriate to talk about.

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100% door to door collection of segregated waste from each household/ premise to be done under (SBM-U) 2.0

The salient features of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U) 2.0, launched on 01st October, 2021, are:

(i). all households and premises segregate their waste into “wet waste” (from kitchen and gardens) and “dry waste” (including paper, glass, plastic, and domestic hazardous waste and sanitary waste wrapped separately);

(ii). 100% door to door collection of segregated waste from each household/ premise;

(iii). 100% scientific management of all fractions of waste, including safe disposal in scientific landfills;

(iv). all legacy dumpsites remediated;

(v).all used water including faecal sludge, is safely contained, transported, processed and disposed so that no untreated faecal sludge and used water pollutes the ground or water bodies, in cities with less than one lakh population;

(vi). phased reduction in use of single use plastic.

The salient features of AMRUT 2.0, launched on 01st October, 2021, are:

(i). Universal coverage of water supply from 500 cities to about 4,800 statutory towns.

(ii). Focus on making the cities ‘self-reliant’ and ‘water secure’.

(iii). Universal coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities.

(iv). Target to provide 2.68 Crore tap connections and 2.64 Crore sewer connections.

(v). Focus on financial sustainability of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) through enhanced credit worthiness and market borrowing.

(vi). ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’ will be undertaken in cities to promote healthy competition among them and function as monitoring tool and Mission accelerator.

(vii). Technology sub-Mission under AMRUT 2.0 will help in identifying proven and potential global technologies in water sector.

(viii). Entrepreneurship/ start-ups involved in low-cost indigenous equipments and processes will be encouraged.

SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 have been launched on 01stOctober, 2021. The financial outlay of SBM–U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 is at Annexure-I.

Out of 4372 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs),4371 have been certifiedOpen Defecation Free (ODF),except for one ULBof Purulia in West Bengal.

Under AMRUT Mission, launched on 25thJune, 2015 in 500 cities, the objective was to improve the sewerage coverage and septage management and providing safe drinking water universally, in all ULBs with population of one lakh or more (as per Census 2011), all Capital cities, all Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) cities, identified cities on the stem of the main rivers, hill states, islands and tourist destinations.Now under AMRUT 2.0 all 500 cities will get universal coverage through sewerage/ septage.

Sewerage, septage management and recycle/ reuse of treated used water in cities with population less than one lakh, which are not covered under AMRUT, will be covered under SBM-U 2.0.

Sanitation being a State subject, it is the State Government which formulates its Action Plan for implementation of SBM-U in the State. Under SBM-U, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has released the Central Share (CS) assistance for implementation of the Action Plan submitted by the Government of Assam, which includes construction of Individual House Hold Latrine (IHHL), Community/ Public Toilet (CT/PT), Solid Waste Management (SWM), Capacity Building (CB) of the ULBsand also for carrying out Information Education Communication (IEC) and Public Awareness (PA) campaign. The details of the status of financial and physical progress of SBM-U in Assam are at Annexure-II.

For making cities garbage free, underSBM-U a protocol has been launched for Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities (GFCs) in January, 2018, in order to institutionalize a mechanism for cities to achieve Garbage Free status, and to motivate cities to achieve higher degrees of cleanliness.

In the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been rated as 3 star ULB in 2019 and 5-star in 2021 in Garbage Free City (GFC) assessment. In the past,Delhi Cantonment achieved 1 star GFC rating in 2020.

Under AMRUT, steps taken to provide water supply to every household includes, taking-up of 1,345 water supply projects worth ₹ 42,206 Crore, of which 1,326 projects worth ₹ 41,847 Crore have been grounded. Out of the target of providing 139 lakh water tap connections to achieve universal coverage, so far 114 lakh new water tap connections have been provided.

In NCR of Delhi, so far ten water supply projects worth ₹ 292 Crore have been taken up in the four ULBs, namelyNew Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North DMC) and South Delhi Municipal

Corporation (SDMC). Of these nine projects of ₹ 262 Crores have been grounded.

Operational Guidelines of SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 have been shared with the States/ Union Territories through the web portals given below:

SBM-U2.0:https://sbmurban.org/

AMRUT 2.0:https://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/AMRUT-Operational-Guidelines.pdf

Annexure-I

Financial outlay of SBM-U 2.0

Estimated cost of implementation : ₹1,41,600 crore.

Government of India share : ₹36,465 crores.

Balance cost to be contributed by

(a). Individuals as beneficiary contribution,

(b). States and UTs/ ULBs

(c). Private Sector under PPP.

(Wherever private sector funding is not available, State/ UT will need to provide the necessary funds)

Remaining cost : To be generated through various other sources of funds, including Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from public/ private sector, external assistance etc.

Financial outlay of AMRUT 2.0

The total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is ₹ 2,77,000 crore including central share of ₹ 76,760 crore for five years from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26.

The central budgetary allocation for various Mission components will be as under:

S. No.	Mission component	Central Allocation ( ₹ Cr)
1.	Projects	66,750
2.	Incentive for Reforms (8% of project CA allocation)	5,340
3..	Administrative & Other Expenses (A&OE) for States/ UTs (3.25% of project CA allocation)	2,169
4.	Administrative & Other Expenses (A&OE) for MoHUA (1.75% of project CA allocation)	1,168
5.	Technology Sub-Mission (1% of project CA allocation)	667
6.	IEC Activities (1% of project CA allocation)	667

The ongoing AMRUT projects will be funded with central assistance up to 31 March 2023.

No funds will be released for any AMRUT project incomplete by that date and it will become the responsibility of the State/ UT to complete them from their own resources.

Annexure-II

Swachh Bharat Mission

Financial progress: Out of total Mission allocation of ₹244.30 Crores for Assam, an amount of ₹207.49 Crores (84.93%) has been drawn by the Government of Assam till date.

Physical Progress:

(i). Toilet construction :

Type of Toilets	Target	Completed	Percentage Progress
Individual House Hold Latrines (IHHL)	75,720 Units	74,416 Units	(98.50%)
Community / Public Toilets (CT/PT)	3,554 seats	3,350 seats	(92%)

(ii). Open Defecation Free (ODF) status :

ODF certification type	Target	No. of certified ULBs
ODF	All 96 ULBs in the State ODF	96
ODF+		27
ODF++		0

(iii). Solid Waste Management :

Activity	Target	Achievement (in%)
100% Door-to-door collection	In all 943 wards	In 845 wards (89.60%)
100% Segregation at source	In all 943 wards	In 410 wards (43.47%)
Scientific processing of waste	100% of 1,021 TPD of waste generated daily	653 TPD (64%) of waste processed

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What Is a Tragedy?

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Think big, act small

Problems are unanswered questions

firm foundation for relationships

Nothing in life is free

Never be afraid of making decisions

Decide to become a leader

Productivity yields results

See yourself as a salesperson

Improve your skills

Value your friends

Don’t believe everything you see

Learn to love criticism

Take care of your body

Happiness is a choice

Create something

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