ONLINE SHOPPING

ONLINE SHOPPING
Shopping online is just like heading out to the store. You can often buy the same products online as available in a brick-and-mortar store and can sometimes score better sales.

Finding a Product
When you shop online, you have to start by searching for a product. This can be done by visiting a store’s website, or if you are not aware of any store that has the particular item you are looking for, or you’d like to compare prices between stores, you can always search for the items with a search engine and compare the results.

On major retail websites, companies will have pictures, descriptions, and prices. If a company or individual does not have the means to create a website, some sites like Amazon and Etsy make it possible for them to display products or build their own online stores for a monthly fee.

Other websites like eBay provide an auction format in which sellers can display items for a minimum price, and buyers can bid on these items until the listing ends or the seller chooses to award it to a buyer. Most stores also have placed virtual customer service centers on their websites, so you can either call, email, or chat with a live customer service representative if you have questions.

Buying and Receiving the Product
After selecting a product, the webpage usually has a “checkout” option. When you check out, you are often given a list of shipping and payment options. Shipping options include standard, expedited, and/or overnight shipping. Depending on the shipping company and your location, standard shipping usually takes seven to 21 business days, and expedited shipping can take anywhere from two to six business days.

There are typically various payment options available:

E-Check
This payment option is just like paying directly from your bank account. If you choose to pay by electronic check, you must enter your routing and account numbers. Once this is done, the amount is taken directly from your bank account.

Credit Card
When you pay by credit card, instead of swiping your card as you would at a brick-and-mortar store, you type the required credit card information into the provided fields. Required information includes your credit card number, expiration date, type of card (Visa, MasterCard, etc.), and verification/security number, usually the last three digits on the

back of the card above the signature.

Payment Vendors
Payment vendors or payment processing companies, such as PayPal, are e-commerce businesses that provide payment exchange services. They allow people to transfer money to one another without sharing financial information safely. Before you purchase through a payment vendor, you’ll need to set up an account first to verify your credit card and/or financial institution information.

Advantages of Online Trading
There are a lot of benefits gained from buying and selling online. These include:

Convenience: It is very convenient to shop from where you are located.
Cost Savings: With ever-increasing gas prices, shopping online saves you the cost of driving to stores, as well as parking fees. You will also save time by avoiding standing in line, particularly around the holidays, when stores are busy and packed with customers.
Variety: The Internet provides sellers with unlimited shelf space, so they are more likely to offer a wider variety of products than they would in brick-and-mortar stores.
No Pressure: No salesperson is hovering around and pressuring you to purchase in a virtual or online store.
Easy Comparison: Shopping online eliminates the need to wander from store to store comparing prices.
Disadvantages of Online Trading
There are also disadvantages to buying and selling online. These include:

Increased Risk of Identity Theft
When paying for your goods online, it can be straightforward for someone to intercept sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, home address, phone, and other account numbers.

Vendor Fraud
If the vendor/seller is fraudulent, they might accept your payment and either refuse to send you your item or send you the wrong or a defective product. Trying to rectify an incorrect order with a vendor through the Internet can be a hassle.

U.S. consumers can report fraud, abuse, and incidents of identity theft with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Protecting Yourself While Shopping Online
Overall, the advantages of shopping online outweigh the disadvantages. That said, it is important to note that while they might be smaller in number, the disadvantages can be a major hardship.

While shopping online, it is essential to protect yourself and your information. Here are some tips that can help you take care of yourself:

Invest in Technology
It is a great idea to install antivirus and anti-phishing programs on your computer. An antivirus program will protect your computer from viruses. An anti-phishing program will attempt to protect you via cybersecurity from illegitimate sites that are designed to look like legitimate sites but actually collect your personal information for illegal activities.

Be Careful
Vendors do not have the right to ask for certain information. If a website requests your Social Security number, it is probably a scam. You will need to research the company requesting the information or exit that site as quickly as possible.

Research
If you are searching for an item using search engines, and you encounter a store or a website you have not heard about, make sure you check the bottom of the pages for an SSL logo.

SSL is a standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. To be able to create an SSL connection, a web server requires an SSL certificate.

Shipping Check
Always read shipping policies posted on the seller’s website or beneath the product listing. Some sellers allow you to return an item within a specific period of time, while other vendors never accept returns.

The Bottom Line
Buying and selling online can be very convenient and rewarding, but you always have to protect yourself. If a deal looks too good to be true, it usually is. If you don’t feel 100% secure on a particular site, leave it, and find something else. Also, make sure that your computer is well protected before you begin any transaction that involves sensitive information. Many scams on the Internet can negatively affect your credit score and cost you money, so be proactive in your research to get the most out of shopping online.

SAVE TREES AND NATURE

SAVE TREES AND NATURE
From childhood, we have heard that trees are our best friend but in practical life, we didn’t see anyone who treats trees as their friends. Although they are the most valuable life source on the earth. They benefit every life form in a direct or indirect way. And the earth is connected to them to maintain a natural balance. In this essay on save trees, we are discussing the reason why our friends need saving.

They nourish us and protect us in many ways. Also, they keep our environment green and clean. So, it becomes our responsibility to repay them for the things they do for us by saving them. Besides, large trees are more beneficial than small ones because they capture more carbon, capture more water, combat the heat, filter greenhouse gases, gives shelter from heat and sunlight, etc. So, it can be said that we depend on them more rather than they on us.

essays on save trees
Advantages and Importance of Trees
As we have discussed the benefits of trees in short but here we are going to discuss them in detail. Plants and Trees fight the climatic changes that are destroying the earth. They also filter the air that we breathe and absorb all the harmful chemical gases and odors from the environment. Also, they take in the harmful carbon dioxide and gives out oxygen.

They are good for the diversity of flora and fauna. They give us food, shelter and many more things that we can’t count. Besides, they never demand anything from us and also prevent soil erosion, water evaporation. Above all, they control and manage the effects of wind, sun and, rain.

How to Save Trees?
The human has become aware and serious about this issue and started doing the best they can do to save trees. The forest departments and government have banned the illegal cutting of trees. And they are going digital so that they can save paper which will reduce the number of trees cut down for making paper.

Apart from that, the forest area after cutting of trees should be replanted with new ones. Also, we should teach our children to plant trees and ask them to pass it on their friends and acquaintances.

The least that we can do is to plant some pots in our home rooftops or garden and ask our neighbor to do the same. Also, if we see the removal of a tree then we should inform the local authority about it to create awareness. Above all, strict laws should be made for people who illegally or without permission cut these trees for their own benefits.

The various life form is able to survive on earth due to plants. If we remove plants from the earth even for one day then the survival of man will become difficult.

Besides, they are the source of water and fresh oxygen on earth. Cutting trees means destroying life on earth. So, the time has come that we to be responsible for the action we have done till now. And start finding ways to save this Green Gold.

DOCTORS IN PENDAMIC

DOCTORS IN PENDAMIC
CURRENT SITUATION
Doctors and healthcare workers who are responding to a global health crisis—trying to protect individuals, families and communities in adverse situations with stretched resources, shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other equipment’s—have found themselves as unexpected targets in the fight against COVID-19. There have been several reported incidences of such violence against them during this pandemic time in India. Although the exact numbers of such cases cannot be determined, there are a few glaring examples: on 8 April 2020, two trainee doctors in New Delhi were allegedly assaulted by a neighbour who accused them of spreading the disease. On19 April 2020, the burial of a neurosurgeon who had died after contracting COVID-19 in Chennai was disrupted by a mob who attacked the undertakers. The citizens’ opposition was due to a misconception that the contagion may spread in the neighbourhood if the surgeon was buried there. A group of public health workers in Indore, a city in central India, who were trying to ‘contact-trace’ a person, were descended upon by a group of 100 people pelting stones and drove them away. Increasingly, reports pour in of doctors being spat on, hurled abuses at and driven away.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE DOCTORS AND HEALTHCARE WORKERS
The reasons for violence against healthcare workers may vary from fear, anxiety, panic, misinformation (as to how the SARS CoV-2 virus outbreak may spread and affect individuals), mistrust and misplaced quotes in the social-media.11 Government hospitals in India are inundated in such public health crisis with lack of adequate facilities, equipment and infrastructure are other quoted reasons. The private hospital sectors have largely shut down to non-emergency admissions, and people find it difficult to access medical aid. Aggressive emotional response of relatives may sometimes boil over with frustration exhibited in the form of damage to the healthcare facilities and verbal or physical violence against the healthcare personnel. The situation is being made more difficult as health units and professionals in some government hospitals highlight shortage of PPE but do receive hostile response from hostile hospital administration. Health professionals are recognised as ‘newer untouchables’. People are panicked about catching COVID-19 from medical workers or being stigmatised for having contracted it themselves.

STRATEGIES TO COMBAT VIOLENCE
Better communication
A better and timely communication with the aggrieved patients and their family members is the key to avoid violence and untoward incidences. Due to shortage of time and to maintain social distancing norms, often the verbal and direct communication between doctors and patients is lacking during this pandemic. It leaves the patient and the family ‘in the dark’ and unsatisfied. The hospitals should designate some social workers and counsellors to coordinate with them on a regular basis to allay any fears.

Role of media
Social media including both the printed and the digital media has a significant role in the spread of information in India and are known to sensationalise stories about medical negligence and malpractice. The widespread news coverage about COVID-19 has heightened anxiety and fear among the Indian public. Social media platforms can play a positive role in the current pandemic collaborating with Government agencies to provide an effective information campaign to educate the public about the diagnosis, spread, containment and prevention strategies against COVID-19 transmission. The uptake of ‘Aarogya Setu’—Indian government’s COVID-19 contact tracing application—can be promoted by smart phone technology companies and web providers to minimise the spread of COVID-19, thus help to safely reduce lockdown measures. This will help prevent a ‘second wave’ of viral outbreak in the future.

Self-defence
Violence against doctors is underreported in India, perhaps because the doctors fear for their personal safety and harassment from public, administration and law enforcement system. Recently, doctors and government institutions have started to take steps to protect themselves against violence. Marshalls have been posted at large central government hospitals in Delhi in their accident and emergency department. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, has started self-defence training among doctors for protection. At places, doctors have had to evaluate patients from a distance to avoid assault and this hampers history taking and examination of the patient properly.

Government strategy
Concerned with the rising violence against the doctors and healthcare workers, the Indian government has recently issued an ordinance that makes violence against healthcare workers a non-bailable offence, punishable by up to 7 years imprisonment. The Ordinance—an amendment of India’s age-old Epidemic Diseases Act 1897— seeks to protect doctors, nurses, and paramedic and community health workers from harassment or physical injury, which has been introduced following an upsurge of violence against healthcare workers since the start of COVID-19 pandemic. It has been welcomed by all quarters to rein in violence and punish the wrongdoers. It is expected to be a deterrent, if applied and executed strictly. However, currently, it is an amendment of the epidemic act and it is unclear how the regulation will be applied once the pandemic has resolved. Recently, to give support and respect to emergency workers like doctors and paramedics during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has urged people to clap or ring any musical instrument on a designated day and time. This has improved the respect of healthcare workers and corona warriors to some extent.

Role of telemedicine
Telehealth has been a game changer and one of the positives that has emerged out of this COVID-19 pandemic and will be an integral part of healthcare in the post-COVID-19 era. Use of telehealth will reduce the face-to-face contact of patient and thus may reduce the physical assault to the doctors to some extent. The thought of recording of the telemedicine services may force the patients and their caregivers to behave properly and thus prevent verbal abuse and threats.

Role of education and better primary healthcare
Education of the masses and better access to primary healthcare services is vital to reduce violence against doctors and healthcare workers. Time has to identify effective ways and means to improve and strengthen public health education and practice. This is necessary not only to educate the population about the importance of prevention of infection, hand hygiene in preventing communicable diseases prevalent in India but also the importance of various healthcare workers in delivering healthcare programmes. Doctors and healthcare workers need to be supported in carrying out their fight against global health crisis such as COVID-19 pandemic, understand their limitations due to lack of resources and thus minimise incidents of violence. Establishment of better primary healthcare facilities such as Delhi’s Mohalla (community) and Mumbai’s Swasth (health) clinics is one of the right ways forward to access local healthcare.

CONCLUSION
COVID-19 health crisis has exacerbated violence against doctors and healthcare workers. They have become unforeseen targets in the fight against the current pandemic. For a sustainable protection of the healthcare workers, the current Ordinance needs to be further extended and incorporated into existing laws in the form of a strict, permanent legislation that is strictly enforced. It would improve the safety of the very individuals who carry out their duties fearlessly for the benefit of sick patients, either during a health crisis such as the current pandemic or during traditional times.

INDIAN ECONOMY


The economy of India is characterised as a middle income developing market economy. It is the world’s sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on a per capita income basis, India ranked 145th by GDP (nominal) and 122th by GDP (PPP). From independence in 1947 until 1991, successive governments promoted protectionist economic policies with extensive state intervention and economic regulation, which is characterised as dirigism, in the form of the License Raj. The end of the Cold War and an acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 led to the adoption of a broad economic liberalisation in India. Since the start of the 21st century, annual average GDP growth has been 6% to 7%, and from 2013 to 2018, India was the world’s fastest growing major economy, surpassing China. Historically, India was the largest economy in the world for most of the two millennia from the 1st until the 19th century.

The long-term growth perspective of the Indian economy remains positive due to its young population and corresponding low dependency ratio, healthy savings, and investment rates, increasing globalisation in India and integration into the global economy. The economy slowed in 2017, due to shocks of “demonetisation” in 2016 and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in 2017. Nearly 60% of India’s GDP is driven by domestic private consumption and continues to remain the world’s sixth-largest consumer market. Apart from private consumption, India’s GDP is also fueled by government spending, investment, and exports. In 2019, India was the world’s ninth-largest importer and the twelfth-largest exporter. India has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995. It ranks 63rd on the Ease of doing business index and 68th on the Global Competitiveness Report. With 500 million workers, the Indian labour force is the world’s second-largest as of 2019. India has one of the world’s highest number of billionaires and extreme income inequality. Since India has a vast informal economy, barely 2% of Indians pay income taxes. During the 2008 global financial crisis the economy faced a mild slowdown, India undertook stimulus measures (both fiscal and monetary) to boost growth and generate demand; in subsequent years economic growth revived. According to the 2017 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, India’s GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2050. According to World Bank, to achieve sustainable economic development India must focus on public sector reform, infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of land and labour regulations, financial inclusion, spur private investment and exports, education, and public health.

In 2020, India’s ten largest trading partners were the United States, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, and Malaysia. In 2019–20, the foreign direct investment (FDI) in India was $74.4 billion with the service sector, computer, and telecom industry remains leading sectors for FDI inflows. India has free trade agreements with several nations, including ASEAN, SAFTA, Mercosur, South Korea, Japan, and several others which are in effect or under negotiating stage. The service sector makes up 50% of GDP and remains the fastest growing sector, while the industrial sector and the agricultural sector employs a majority of the labor force. The Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange are some of the world’s largest stock exchanges by market capitalization. India is the world’s sixth-largest manufacturer, representing 3% of global manufacturing output, and employs over 57 million people. Nearly 66% of India’s population is rural, and contributes about 50% of India’s GDP. It has the world’s fourth-largest foreign-exchange reserves worth $585 billion. India has a high public debt with 89% of GDP, while its fiscal deficit stood at 9.5% of GDP India’s government-owned banks faced mounting bad debt, resulting in low credit growth, simultaneously the NBFC sector has been engulfed in a liquidity crisis. India faces moderate unemployment, rising income inequality, and a drop in aggregate demand. India’s gross domestic savings rate stood at 30.1% of GDP in FY 2019. In recent years, independent economists and financial institutions have accused the government of fudging various economic data, especially GDP growth.

India is the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs, and its pharmaceutical sector fulfills over 50% of the global demand for vaccines. The Indian IT industry is a major exporter of IT services with $191 billion in revenue and employs over four million people. India’s chemical industry is extremely diversified and estimated at $178 billion. The tourism industry contributes about 9.2% of India’s GDP and employs over 42 million. India ranks second globally in food and agricultural production, while agricultural exports were $35.09 billion. The construction and real estate sector ranks third among the 14 major sectors in terms of direct, indirect, and induced effects in all sectors of the economy. The Indian textiles industry is estimated at $100 billion and contributes 13% of industrial output and 2.3% of India’s GDP while employs over 45 million people directly. India’s telecommunication industry is the world’s second largest by the number of mobile phone, smartphone, and internet users. It is the world’s 25th-largest oil producer and the third-largest oil consumer. The Indian automobile industry is the world’s fifth-largest by production. It has $1.17 trillion worth of retail market which contributes over 10% of India’s GDP and has one of the world’s fastest growing e-commerce markets. India has the world’s fourth-largest natural resources, with the mining sector contributing 11% of the country’s industrial GDP and 2.5% of total GDP. It is also the world’s second-largest coal producer, the second-largest cement producer, the second-largest steel producer, and the third-largest electricity producer.

China – 1959 to 1961


The Great Chinese Famine (Chinese: 三年大饥荒, “three years of great famine”) was a period between 1959 and 1961 in the history of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) characterized by widespread famine. Some scholars have also included the years 1958 or 1962. The Great Chinese Famine is widely regarded as the deadliest famine and one of the greatest man-made disasters in human history, with an estimated death toll due to starvation that ranges in the tens of millions (15 to 55 million)
The major contributing factors in the famine were the policies of the Great Leap Forward (1958 to 1962) and people’s communes, such as inefficient distribution of food due to the planned economy, requiring the use of poor agricultural techniques, the Four Pests Campaign that reduced bird populations (which disrupted the ecosystem), over-reporting of grain production (which was actually decreasing), and ordering millions of farmers to switch to iron and steel production . During the Seven Thousand Cadres Conference in early 1962, Liu Shaoqi, the second Chairman of the PRC, formally attributed 30% of the famine to natural disasters and 70% to man-made errors (“三分天灾, 七分人祸”).[7][17][18] After the launch of Reforms and Opening Up, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially stated in June 1981 that the famine was mainly due to the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward as well as the Anti-Rightist Campaign, in addition to some natural disasters and the Sino-Soviet split.
Besides the name “Three Years of Great Famine” (simplified Chinese: 三年大饥荒; traditional Chinese: 三年大饑荒; pinyin: Sānnián dà jīhuāng), the famine has been known by many names.

The government of the People’s Republic of China called it:

1 ) Before June 1981: “Three Years of Natural Disasters” (simplified Chinese: 三年自然灾害; traditional Chinese: 三年自然災害; pinyin: Sānnián zìrán zāihài).
2 ) After June 1981: “Three Years of Difficulty” (simplified Chinese: 三年困难时期; traditional Chinese: 三年困難時期; pinyin: Sānnián kùnnán shíqī).
Production drop Edit
Policy changes affecting how farming was organized, with devastating effects, coincided with droughts and floods. As a result, year-over-year grain production fell dramatically in China. The harvest was down by 15% in 1959 compared to 1958, and by 1960, it was at 70% of its 1958 level.[21] Specifically, according to China’s governmental data, crop production decreased from 200 million tons (or 400 billion jin) in 1958 to 170 million tons (or 340 billion jin) in 1959, and to 143.5 million tons (or 287 billion jin) in 1960.

Birth and death rate in China
Due to the lack of food and incentive to marry at that time, according to China’s official statistics, China’s population in 1961 was about 658,590,000, some 14,580,000 lower than in 1959. The birth rate decreased from 2.922% (1958) to 2.086% (1960) and the death rate increased from 1.198% (1958) to 2.543% (1960), while the average numbers for 1962–1965 are about 4% and 1%, respectively . The mortality in the birth and death rates both peaked in 1961 and began recovering rapidly after that, as shown on the chart of census data displayed on the left. Some outlier estimates include 11 million by Utsa Patnaik, an Indian Marxist economist, as well as 3.66 million by Sun Jingxian (孙经先), a Chinese mathematician. It is widely believed that the government seriously under-reported death tolls: Lu Baoguo, a Xinhua reporter based in Xinyang, explained to Yang Jishe why he never reported on his experience .
A research team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences concluded in 1989 that at least 15 million people died of malnutrition.
Li Chengrui (李成瑞), former Minister of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, estimated 22 million deaths (1998). His estimate was based on the (27 million deaths ) estimated by Ansley J. Coale, and the (17 million deaths) estimated by Jiang Zhenghua (蒋正华), former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Judith Banister, Director of Global Demographics at the Conference Board, estimated 30 million excess deaths from 1958-1961.
Jasper Becker, a British scholar, showed in his book Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine that most estimates of the famine death toll range from 30-60 million.[37][38]
Cao Shuji (曹树基), Distinguished Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, estimated 32.5 million.
Yang Jisheng, senior journalist from Xinhua News Agency, concluded there were 36 million deaths due to starvation, while another 40 million others failed to be born, so that “China’s total population loss during the Great Famine then comes to 76 million.”
Mao Yushi, a Chinese economist and winner of the 2012 “Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty”, put the death toll at 36 million
Liao Gailong (廖盖隆), former Vice Director of the History Research Unit of the CCP, reported 40 million “unnatural” deaths due to the famine.
Chen Yizi (陈一谘), a former senior Chinese official and a top advisor to former CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, concluded that 43 million people died due to the famine.
Frank Dikötter, Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong and the author of Mao’s Great Famine, estimated that at least 45 million people died from starvation, overwork and state violence during the Great Leap Forward, claiming his findings to be based on access to recently opened local and provincial party archives. His study also stressed that state violence exacerbated the death toll. Dikötter claimed that at least 2.5 million of the victims were beaten or tortured to death. His approach to the documents, as well as his claim to be the first author to use them, however, have been questioned by some other scholars. Dikötter provides a graphic example of what happened to a family after one member was caught stealing some food .
The Great Chinese Famine was caused by a combination of radical agricultural policies, social pressure, economic mismanagement, and natural disasters such as droughts and floods in farming regions.

Great Leap Forward :
Chair of the Chinese Communist Party, introduced drastic changes in farming policy prohibiting farm ownership. Failure to abide by the policies led to punishment.

People’s communes :
During the Great Leap Forward, farming was organized into people’s communes and the cultivation of privately owned plots was forbidden. The agricultural economy was centrally planned, and regional Party leaders were given production quotas for the communes under their control. Their output was then appropriated by the state and distributed at its discretion.

AHOM – ETHINIC GROUP


The legacy of Sukapha, founder of Ahom kingdom Political commentator Garga Chatterjee faces arrest for remarks about the Ahom ruler. A look at the kingdom he founded, and the role of the Ahoms in establishing the concept of greater Assam.

Garga Chatterjee arrest, Sarbanda Sonowal Assam, Assam Garga Chatterjee, Garga Chatterjee twitter, Garga Chatterjee Sukapha, Ahom community Assam, Sukapha, founder of Ahom kingdom, Who was Chaolung Sukapha
Sukapha was a 13th-century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries.

On Friday, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal ordered the arrest of a Kolkata-based political commentator, Garga Chatterjee, who had described Chaolung Sukapha as a “Chinese invader”.

Who was Chaolung Sukapha?

Sukapha was a 13th-century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries. Contemporary scholars trace his roots to Burma.

“Sukapha was a leader of the Ahoms. He reached Brahmaputra valley in Assam from upper Burma in the 13th century with around 9,000 followers,” said Arup Kumar Dutta, author of the book The Ahoms.

In his authoritative book on Assam history — A History of Assam, Sir Edward Gait wrote that Sukapha is said to have left a place called Maulung in AD 1215 with eight nobles and 9,000 men, women and children — mostly men. He had with him two elephants, and 300 horses. Gait wrote that In 1235, Sukapha and his people settled in Charaideo in upper Assam after wandering about for years, defeating those who protested his advance, and temporarily staying at different locations.

It was in Charaideo that Sukapha established his first small principality, sowing the seeds of further expansion of the Ahom kingdom.

Who are the Ahoms today?

The founders of the Ahom kingdom had their own language and followed their own religion. Over the centuries, the Ahoms accepted the Hindu religion and the Assamese language, scholars say.

“The Ahoms embraced the language, religion and rituals of the communities living here — they did not impose theirs on those living here,” said Dutta.

As written by Gait, most of those who came with Sukapha were men. Dutta said the men later married women from communities living in Assam. Today, the Ahom community is estimated to number between 4 million and 5 million.

He said Sukapha developed very amiable relationships with the tribal communities living here — especially the Sutias, the Morans and the Kacharis. Intermarriage also increased assimilation processes.

Why is Sukapha important?

Sukapha’s significance — especially in today’s Assam — lies in his successful efforts towards assimilation of different communities and tribes. He is widely referred to as the architect of “Bor Asom” or “greater Assam”.

“Sukapha and his people could consolidate power, culture and religion in the region in a manner which brought a diverse mix of jati and janajatis (multiple tribes and communities) together who at different points of history offered their allegiance to the Ahom kings… For this very reason that the Ahoms managed to group a diverse mix of people in such a politically sensitive region criss-crossing South Asia and South-East Asia, the first Ahom King Sukapha is hailed as an architect of Bor (larger) Assam in popular culture,” Suraj Gogoi, a doctoral candidate at the National University of Singapore, told The Indian Express.

To commemorate Sukapha and his rule, Assam celebrates “Asom Divas” on December 2 every year. Speaking on the occasion last December, Chief Minister Sonowal had said Sukapha “was the architect of greater Assamese society”. “He laid the foundation for a robust and vibrant Assam through his policy of amity, unity and harmony,” Sonowal said.

What has the political commentator said about Sukapha?

In a series of tweets, Garga Chatterjee, who describes himself as a “Bengali nationalist” on Twitter, repeatedly referred to Sukapha as a “Chinese invader” and questioned why the BJP-led state government commemorates his rule as “State Day”.

In a tweet on June 17, Chatterjee wrote: “Why does @sarbanandsonwal regularly celebrate a Chinese invader and his invading army? Why does banned separatist group ULFA also celebrate the Chinese invader? Do real Indians know that Indian tax money is being used by BJP in Assam to put up statues of a Chinese invader?”

In another tweet — whose screenshot is available but could not be accessed online — Chatterjee wrote, “There is a state in India where the ‘State Day’ is celebrated by Assam BJP to commemorate a Chinese invader who brutally attacked India with Chinese troops. This invader is considered a Hero by China-funded anti-Indian separatist group ULFA.”

What action is being taken?

Chatterjee’s tweets caused outrage in Assam. Multiple police cases were filed. On Friday, Sonowal directed the state police to arrest Chatterjee and bring him to Assam. An Assam police team has left for Kolkata.

In a press statement on Friday on him ordering Chatterjee’s arrest, Sonowal said Sukapha was the architect of the greater Assamese identity and making derogatory statements about such a great personality could not be tolerated.

“Posting of offensive remarks on social media misinterpreting historical facts could lead to rift between different communities in an ethnically diverse state like Assam,” said Sonowal, adding that the derogatory statements had “hurt the sentiments of Assamese people”.

TECHNOLOGY IN 2050

TECHNOLOGY IN 2050

Erath 2050 Robot Protestor.

We see a picket line of robots in the city center. Their placards are plastered with slogans written in binary code. The widespread development of robots and artificial intelligence have necessitated the creation of a legal framework to protect them to regulate the rights of intelligent robots. Subsequently, this code is constantly updated and improved so robots have improving rights in our society.

Personal assistants (PAs) have rapidly developed throughout the 21st century. To begin with, they could only answer primitive questions: in 2019, voice assistants were as dumb as a box of rocks. But by 2025, they’d mastered the art of recognizing and transcribing speech (with punctuation marks too); they could understand the meaning of a text and recite it so realistically that it was almost indistinguishable from a human. This led to half of all office activities being automated: PAs began to take minutes, write post-meeting reports, summarize lengthy documents, and consciously digest and recapitulate the contents of messages. They also plan your day, schedule meetings and even order lunch.

Thanks to machine learning, PAs are fully adapted to their owners’ personalities, increasingly penetrating every aspect of their lives. It all began with assisting with office work, and by the mid-2040s, PAs had become an integral part of everyday life by monitoring their owners’ diets, planning trips abroad, buying gifts for friends and family, and more.

But it’s not as rosy as it seems: the human-PA relationship has spawned a plethora of psychological issues and communication difficulties between real people. However, a specially trained AI psychologist is on hand to help us cope. Paradoxically, it’s just another voice assistant.

The power is in your hands
Doctor’s hand

In decades past, palms and fingers were scanned for identification. Now, hands with implanted sensors become the scanners themselves. These implants come in different models with two main variations: first, a simple scanner for daily use. It helps to read different tags and product codes, and to exchange digital business cards via the handshake ritual (you can use face recognition to identify a stranger but this is considered indecent; besides, many people use protection to prevent recognition. Hats with special veils are popular). Second, sophisticated scanners for technicians and other professionals. For example, a doctor’s hand includes various medical sensors for diagnostics – even a portable endoscope with a direct video stream to the doctor’s visual cortex.

In the year 2050, technology will dominate the workplace with artificial intelligence and smart assistants being commonplace, while the use of augmented and virtual reality continues to increase. Everything will be ‘smart’ – connected and data-driven. The vast majority of us will continue working the same way we are today, but the jobs on offer will be ones that haven’t yet been invented. Emotional intelligence and ‘human’ skills such as perpetual learning will be crucial for leaders to possess, as well as fluency with the latest technologies.

Work will increasingly become more fluid as some employees will be virtual, some will be full-time, some will be bots, and we will all be working non-fixed hours. As with any kind of change, there will be pros and cons. Those who work in routine jobs are likely to struggle to make sure they can stay relevant in the new world of work. The advantage is that this will give us more time to focus on the human aspects of work such as building relationships, being creative, deep thinking, and practicing skills like empathy and self-awareness. Technology will help us make organizations more personable. This also means that we need to get more comfortable with using technology such as bots and AI in our work, a cause of tension and fear for some.

And what about working hours? It depends if you’re a knowledge worker or working in industries like retail. Flexible work arrangements are already being implemented at organizations around the world. The advantages are far-ranging, from improving employee satisfaction, productivity and tenure, to being able to attract and retain top talent. The potential disadvantages here are making sure that employees can stay accountable for delivering high-quality work while feeling like they’re a part of the team, dealing with isolation, and ensuring effective communication and collaboration. I think the pros outstrip the cons: when managed effectively, flexible work arrangements can be a huge benefit to the organization and its people.

For sure, work will become more fun and those repetitive activities in our day-to-day life will be done by robots and artificial intelligence. Knowing programming logic will be as important as English and mathematics. User experience design (UX) will be more important than other technical components of a project to ensure its success with customers. Skills in solving problems and serving customers will continue to be competitive advantages for the work of the future.

PSYCHOLOGY- AN INTRODUCTION


Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. It encompasses the biological influences, social pressures, and environmental factors that affect how people think, act, and feel.

Gaining a richer and deeper understanding of psychology can help people achieve insights into their own actions as well as a better understanding of other people.

Types of Psychology
Psychology is a broad and diverse field that encompasses the study of human thought, behavior, development, personality, emotion, motivation, and more. As a result, some different subfields and specialty areas have emerged. The following are some of the major areas of research and application within psychology:

Abnormal psychology is the study of abnormal behavior and psychopathology. This specialty area is focused on research and treatment of a variety of mental disorders and is linked to psychotherapy and clinical psychology.
Biological psychology (biopsychology) studies how biological processes influence the mind and behavior. This area is closely linked to neuroscience and utilizes tools such as MRI and PET scans to look at brain injury or brain abnormalities.
Clinical psychology is focused on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders.

Cognitive psychology is the study of human thought processes including attention, memory, perception, decision-making, problem-solving, and language acquisition.
Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior.
Developmental psychology is an area that looks at human growth and development over the lifespan including cognitive abilities, morality, social functioning, identity, and other life areas.
Forensic psychology is an applied field focused on using psychological research and principles in the legal and criminal justice system.
Industrial-organizational psychology is a field that uses psychological research to enhance work performance and select employees.
Personality psychology focuses on understanding how personality develops as well as the patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and characteristics that make each individual unique.
Social psychology focuses on group behavior, social influences on individual behavior, attitudes, prejudice, conformity, aggression, and related topics.
What Are the Branches of Psychology?
Uses
The most obvious application for psychology is in the field of mental health where psychologists use principles, research, and clinical findings to help clients manage and overcome symptoms of mental distress and psychological illness. Some of the additional applications for psychology include:

Developing educational programs
Ergonomics
Informing public policy
Mental health treatment
Performance enhancement
Personal health and well-being
Psychological research
Self-help
Social program design
Understanding child development
It is difficult to capture everything that psychology encompasses in just a brief definition, but topics such as development, personality, thoughts, feelings, emotions, motivations, and social behaviors represent just a portion of what psychology seeks to understand, predict, and explain.

The Major Goals of Psychology

Impact of Psychology
Psychology is both an applied and academic field that benefits both individuals and society as a whole. A large part of psychology is devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact of psychology.

Some of the ways that psychology contributes to individuals and society include:

Improving our understanding of why people behave as they do as well
Understanding the different factors that can impact the human mind and behavior
Understanding issues that impact health, daily life, and well-being
Improving ergonomics to improve product design
Creating safer and more efficient workspaces
Helping motivate people to achieve their goals
Improving productivity
Psychologists accomplish these things by using objective scientific methods to understand, explain, and predict human behavior. Psychological studies are highly structured, beginning with a hypothesis that is then empirically tested.

Potential Pitfalls
There’s a lot of confusion out there about psychology. Unfortunately, such misconceptions about psychology abound in part thanks to stereotyped portrayals of psychologists in popular media as well as the diverse career paths of those holding psychology degrees.

Sure, there are psychologists who help solve crimes, and there are plenty of professionals who help people deal with mental health issues. However, there are also psychologists who:

Contribute to creating healthier workplaces
Design and implement public health programs
Research airplane safety
Help design technology and computer programs
Study military life and the psychological impact of combat
No matter where psychologists work, their primary goals are to help describe, explain, predict, and influence human behavior.

History of Psychology
Early psychology evolved out of both philosophy and biology. Discussions of these two subjects date as far back as the early Greek thinkers, including Aristotle and Socrates.

The word “psychology” itself is derived from the Greek word psyche, literally meaning “life” or “breath.” Derived meanings of the word include “soul” or “self.”

The emergence of psychology as a separate and independent field of study truly came about when Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany in 1879.

Throughout psychology’s history, various schools of thought have formed to explain the human mind and behavior. In some cases, certain schools of thought rose to dominate the field of psychology for a period of time.

The following are some of the major schools of thought in psychology.

Structuralism: Wundt and Titchener’s structuralism was the earliest school of thought, but others soon began to emerge.
Functionalism: The early psychologist and philosopher William James became associated with a school of thought known as functionalism, which focused its attention on the purpose of human consciousness and behavior.
Psychoanalysis: Soon, these initial schools of thought gave way to several dominant and influential approaches to psychology. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis centered on how the unconscious mind impacted human behavior.
Behaviorism: The behavioral school of thought turned away from looking at internal influences on behavior and sought to make psychology the study of observable behaviors.
Humanistic psychology: Later, the humanistic approach centered on the importance of personal growth and self-actualization.
Cognitive psychology: By the 1960s and 1970s, the cognitive revolution spurred the investigation of internal mental processes such as thinking, decision-making, language development, and memory.
While these schools of thought are sometimes perceived as competing forces, each perspective has contributed to our understanding of psychology.

The Origins of Psychology: History Through the Years
A Word From Verywell
As you can see, while psychology may be a relatively young science it also has a tremendous amount of both depth and breadth. The assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness are central interests of psychology, but psychology encompasses much more than mental health.

Today, psychologists seek to understand many different aspects of the human mind and behavior, adding new knowledge to our understanding of how people think as well as developing practical applications that have an important impact on everyday human lives.

Psychology works to help people improve their individual well-being and thrive in an increasingly complex world.

SHARE MARKET

SHARE MARKET
If the thought of investing in the stock market scares you, you are not alone. Individuals with very limited experience in stock investing are either terrified by horror stories of the average investor losing 50% of their portfolio value—for example, in the two bear markets that have already occurred in this millennium —or are beguiled by “hot tips” that bear the promise of huge rewards but seldom pay off. It is not surprising, then, that the pendulum of investment sentiment is said to swing between fear and greed.

The reality is that investing in the stock market carries risk, but when approached in a disciplined manner, it is one of the most efficient ways to build up one’s net worth.2 While the value of one’s home typically accounts for most of the net worth of the average individual, most of the affluent and very rich generally have the majority of their wealth invested in stocks.3 In order to understand the mechanics of the stock market, let’s begin by delving into the definition of a stock and its different types

Definition of ‘Stock’
A stock or share (also known as a company’s “equity”) is a financial instrument that represents ownership in a company or corporation and represents a proportionate claim on its assets (what it owns) and earnings (what it generates in profits).

Stock ownership implies that the shareholder owns a slice of the company equal to the number of shares held as a proportion of the company’s total outstanding shares. For instance, an individual or entity that owns 100,000 shares of a company with one million outstanding shares would have a 10% ownership stake in it. Most companies have outstanding shares that run into the millions or billions.

Common and Preferred Stock
While there are two main types of stock—common and preferred—the term “equities” is synonymous with common shares, as their combined market value and trading volumes are many magnitudes larger than that of preferred shares.

The main distinction between the two is that common shares usually carry voting rights that enable the common shareholder to have a say in corporate meetings (like the annual general meeting or AGM)—where matters such as election to the board of directors or appointment of auditors are voted upon—while preferred shares generally do not have voting rights. Preferred shares are so named because they have preference over the common shares in a company to receive dividends as well as assets in the event of a liquidation.

Common stock can be further classified in terms of their voting rights. While the basic premise of common shares is that they should have equal voting rights—one vote per share held—some companies have dual or multiple classes of stock with different voting rights attached to each class. In such a dual-class structure, Class A share , for example, may have 10 votes per share, while the Class B “subordinate voting” shares may only have one vote per share. Dual- or multiple-class share structures are designed to enable the founders of a company to control its fortunes, strategic direction and ability to innovate.

Why a Company Issues Shares
Today’s corporate giant likely had its start as a small private entity launched by a visionary founder a few decades ago. Think of Jack Ma incubating Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) from his apartment in Hangzhou, China, in 1999, or Mark Zuckerberg founding the earliest version of Facebook, Inc. (FB) from his Harvard University dorm room in 2004. Technology giants like these have become among the biggest companies in the world within a couple of decades.

However, growing at such a frenetic pace requires access to a massive amount of capital. In order to make the transition from an idea germinating in an entrepreneur’s brain to an operating company, they need to lease an office or factory, hire employees, buy equipment and raw materials, and put in place a sales and distribution network, among other things. These resources require significant amounts of capital, depending on the scale and scope of the business startup.

Raising Capital
A startup can raise such capital either by selling shares (equity financing) or borrowing money (debt financing). Debt financing can be a problem for a startup because it may have few assets to pledge for a loan—especially in sectors such as technology or biotechnology, where a firm has few tangible assets—plus the interest on the loan would impose a financial burden in the early days, when the company may have no revenues or earnings.

Equity financing, therefore, is the preferred route for most startups that need capital. The entrepreneur may initially source funds from personal savings, as well as friends and family, to get the business off the ground. As the business expands and capital requirements become more substantial, the entrepreneur may turn to angel investors and venture capital firms.

Listing Shares
When a company establishes itself, it may need access to much larger amounts of capital than it can get from ongoing operations or a traditional bank loan. It can do so by selling shares to the public through an initial public offering (IPO). This changes the status of the company from a private firm whose shares are held by a few shareholders to a publicly traded company whose shares will be held by numerous members of the general public. The IPO also offers early investors in the company an opportunity to cash out part of their stake, often reaping very handsome rewards in the process.

Once the company’s shares are listed on a stock exchange and trading in it commences, the price of these shares will fluctuate as investors and traders assess and reassess their intrinsic value. There are many different ratios and metrics that can be used to value stocks, of which the single-most popular measure is probably the Price/Earnings (or PE) ratio. The stock analysis also tends to fall into one of two camps—fundamental analysis, or technical analysis.

What is a Stock Exchange?
Stock exchanges are secondary markets, where existing owners of shares can transact with potential buyers. It is important to understand that the corporations listed on stock markets do not buy and sell their own shares on a regular basis (companies may engage in stock buybacks or issue new shares, but these are not day-to-day operations and often occur outside of the framework of an exchange). So when you buy a share of stock on the stock market, you are not buying it from the company, you are buying it from some other existing shareholder. Likewise, when you sell your shares, you do not sell them back to the company—rather you sell them to some other investor.

The first stock markets appeared in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, mainly in port cities or trading hubs such as Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London. These early stock exchanges, however, were more akin to bond exchanges as the small number of companies did not issue equity. In fact, most early corporations were considered semi-public organizations since they had to be chartered by their government in order to conduct business.

In the late 18th century, stock markets began appearing in America, notably the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which allowed for equity shares to trade. The honor of the first stock exchange in America goes to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX), which still exists today. The NYSE was founded in 1792 with the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement by 24 New York City stockbrokers and merchants. Prior to this official incorporation, traders and brokers would meet unofficially under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street to buy and sell shares.

The advent of modern stock markets ushered in an age of regulation and professionalization that now ensures buyers and sellers of shares can trust that their transactions will go through at fair prices and within a reasonable period of time. Today, there are many stock exchanges in the U.S. and throughout the world, many of which are linked together electronically. This in turn means markets are more efficient and more liquid.

There also exists a number of loosely regulated over-the-counter exchanges, sometimes known as bulletin boards, that go by the acronym OTCBB. OTCBB shares tend to be more risky since they list companies that fail to meet the more strict listing criteria of bigger exchanges. For example, larger exchanges may require that a company has been in operation for a certain amount of time before being listed, and that it meets certain conditions regarding company value and profitability.14 In most developed countries, stock exchanges are self-regulatory organizations (SROs), non-governmental organizations that have the power to create and enforce industry regulations and standards.15 The priority for stock exchanges is to protect investors through the establishment of rules that promote ethics and equality. Examples of such SRO’s in the U.S. include individual stock exchanges, as well as the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

How Share Prices Are Set
The prices of shares on a stock market can be set in a number of ways, but most the most common way is through an auction process where buyers and sellers place bids and offers to buy or sell. A bid is the price at which somebody wishes to buy, and an offer (or ask) is the price at which somebody wishes to sell. When the bid and ask coincide, a trade is made.

The overall market is made up of millions of investors and traders, who may have differing ideas about the value of a specific stock and thus the price at which they are willing to buy or sell it. The thousands of transactions that occur as these investors and traders convert their intentions to actions by buying and/or selling a stock cause minute-by-minute gyrations in it over the course of a trading day. A stock exchange provides a platform where such trading can be easily conducted by matching buyers and sellers of stocks. For the average person to get access to these exchanges, they would need a stockbroker. This stockbroker acts as the middleman between the buyer and the seller. Getting a stockbroker is most commonly accomplished by creating an account with a well established retail broker.

Stock Market Supply and Demand
The stock market also offers a fascinating example of the laws of supply and demand at work in real time. For every stock transaction, there must be a buyer and a seller. Because of the immutable laws of supply and demand, if there are more buyers for a specific stock than there are sellers of it, the stock price will trend up. Conversely, if there are more sellers of the stock than buyers, the price will trend down.

The bid-ask or bid-offer spread—the difference between the bid price for a stock and its ask or offer price—represents the difference between the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay or bid for a stock and the lowest price at which a seller is offering the stock. A trade transaction occurs either when a buyer accepts the ask price or a seller takes the bid price. If buyers outnumber sellers, they may be willing to raise their bids in order to acquire the stock; sellers will, therefore, ask higher prices for it, ratcheting the price up. If sellers outnumber buyers, they may be willing to accept lower offers for the stock, while buyers will also lower their bids, effectively forcing the price down.

Matching Buyers to Sellers
Some stock markets rely on professional traders to maintain continuous bids and offers since a motivated buyer or seller may not find each other at any given moment. These are known as specialists or market makers. A two-sided market consists of the bid and the offer, and the spread is the difference in price between the bid and the offer. The more narrow the price spread and the larger size of the bids and offers (the amount of shares on each side), the greater the liquidity of the stock. Moreover, if there are many buyers and sellers at sequentially higher and lower prices, the market is said to have good depth. Stock markets of high quality generally tend to have small bid-ask spreads, high liquidity, and good depth. Likewise, individual stocks of high quality, large companies tend to have the same characteristics.

Matching buyers and sellers of stocks on an exchange was initially done manually, but it is now increasingly carried out through computerized trading systems. The manual method of trading was based on a system known as “open outcry,” in which traders used verbal and hand signal communications to buy and sell large blocks of stocks in the “trading pit” or the floor of an exchange.

However, the open outcry system has been superseded by electronic trading systems at most exchanges. These systems can match buyers and sellers far more efficiently and rapidly than humans can, resulting in significant benefits such as lower trading costs and faster trade execution.

Benefits of Stock Exchange Listing
Until recently, the ultimate goal for an entrepreneur was to get his or her company listed on a reputed stock exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or Nasdaq, because of the obvious benefits, which include:

An exchange listing means ready liquidity for shares held by the company’s shareholders.
It enables the company to raise additional funds by issuing more shares.
Having publicly traded shares makes it easier to set up stock options plans that are necessary to attract talented employees.
Listed companies have greater visibility in the marketplace; analyst coverage and demand from institutional investors can drive up the share price.
Listed shares can be used as currency by the company to make acquisitions in which part or all of the consideration is paid in stock.
These benefits mean that most large companies are public rather than private; very large private companies such as food and agriculture giant Cargill, industrial conglomerate Koch Industries, and DIY furniture retailer Ikea are among the world’s most valuable private companies, and they are the exception rather than the norm.

Problems of Stock Exchange Listing
But there are some drawbacks to being listed on a stock exchange, such as:

Significant costs associated with listing on an exchange, such as listing fees and higher costs associated with compliance and reporting.
Burdensome regulations, which may constrict a company’s ability to do business.
The short-term focus of most investors, which forces companies to try and beat their quarterly earnings estimates rather than taking a long-term approach to their corporate strategy.
Many giant startups (also known as “unicorns” because startups valued at greater than $1 billion used to be exceedingly rare) are choosing to get listed on an exchange at a much later stage than startups from a decade or two ago.17 While this delayed listing may partly be attributable to the drawbacks listed above, the main reason could be that well-managed startups with a compelling business proposition have access to unprecedented amounts of capital from sovereign wealth funds, private equity, and venture capitalists. Such access to seemingly unlimited amounts of capital would make an IPO and exchange listing much less of a pressing issue for a startup.

The number of publicly traded companies in the U.S. is also shrinking—from more than 8,000 in 1996 to around to between 4,100 and 4,400 in 2017.18

Investing in Stocks
Numerous studies have shown that, over long periods of time, stocks generate investment returns that are superior to those from every other asset class. Stock returns arise from capital gains and dividends. A capital gain occurs when you sell a stock at a higher price than the price at which you purchased it. A dividend is the share of profit that a company distributes to its shareholders. Dividends are an important component of stock returns—since 1956, dividends have contributed nearly one-third of total equity return, while capital gains have contributed two-thirds.19

While the allure of buying a stock similar to one of the fabled FAANG quintet—Facebook, Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), and Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)—at a very early stage is one of the more tantalizing prospects of stock investing, in reality, such home runs are few and far between. Investors who want to swing for the fences with the stocks in their portfolios should have a higher tolerance for risk; such investors will be keen to generate most of their returns from capital gains rather than dividends. On the other hand, investors who are conservative and need the income from their portfolios may opt for stocks that have a long history of paying substantial dividends.

Market Cap and Sector
While stocks can be classified in a number of ways, two of the most common are by market capitalization and by sector.

Market capitalization refers to the total market value of a company’s outstanding shares and is calculated by multiplying these shares by the current market price of one share. While the exact definition may vary depending on the market, large-cap companies are generally regarded as those with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more, while mid-cap companies are those with a market capitalization of between $2 billion and $10 billion, and small-cap companies fall between $300 million and $2 billion.

The industry standard for stock classification by sector is the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), which was developed by MSCI and S&P Dow Jones Indices in 1999 as an efficient tool to capture the breadth, depth, and evolution of industry sectors. GICS is a four-tiered industry classification system that consists of 11 sectors and 24 industry groups. The 11 sectors are:

Energy
Materials
Industrials
Consumer Discretionary
Consumer Staples
Health Care
Financials
Information Technology
Communication Services
Utilities
Real Estate
This sector classification makes it easy for investors to tailor their portfolios according to their risk tolerance and investment preference. For example, conservative investors with income needs may weight their portfolios toward sectors whose constituent stocks have better price stability and offer attractive dividends – so-called “defensive” sectors such as consumer staples, health care, and utilities. Aggressive investors may prefer more volatile sectors such as information technology, financials, and energy.

Stock Market Indices
In addition to individual stocks, many investors are concerned with stock indices (also called indexes). Indices represent aggregated prices of a number of different stocks, and the movement of an index is the net effect of the movements of each individual component. When people talk about the stock market, they often are actually referring to one of the major indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) or the S&P 500.

The DJIA is a price-weighted index of 30 large American corporations. Because of its weighting scheme and that it only consists of 30 stocks—when there are many thousand to choose from—it is not really a good indicator of how the stock market is doing. The S&P 500 is a market cap-weighted index of the 500 largest companies in the U.S., and is a much more valid indicator. Indices can be broad such as the Dow Jones or S&P 500, or they can be specific to a certain industry or market sector. Investors can trade indices indirectly via futures markets, or via exchange traded funds (ETFs), which trade like stocks on stock exchanges.

A market index is a popular measure of stock market performance. Most market indices are market-cap weighted—which means that the weight of each index constituent is proportional to its market capitalization—although a few like the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are price-weighted. In addition to the DJIA, other widely watched indices in the U.S. and internationally include:

S&P 500
Nasdaq Composite
Russell Indices (Russell 1000, Russell 2000)
TSX Composite (Canada)
FTSE Index (UK)
Nikkei 225 (Japan)
Dax Index (Germany)
CAC 40 Index (France)
CSI 300 Index (China)
Sensex (India)
Largest Stock Exchanges
Stock exchanges have been around for more than two centuries. The venerable NYSE traces its roots back to 1792 when two dozen brokers met in Lower Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities on commission; in 1817, New York stockbrokers operating under the agreement made some key changes and reorganized as the New York Stock and Exchange Board.

How The Stock Market Works
The NYSE and Nasdaq are the two largest exchanges in the world, based on the total market capitalization of all the companies listed on the exchange. The number of U.S. stock exchanges registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission has reached nearly two dozen, though most of these are owned by either CBOE, Nasdaq or NYSE.23 The table below displays the 20 biggest exchanges globally, ranked by total market capitalization of their listed companies.

Domestic Market Capitalization (USD millions)
Exchange Location Market Cap.*
NYSE U.S. 22,987,587
Nasdaq U.S. 13,286,825
Japan Exchange Group Japan 6,000,171
Shanghai Stock Exchange China 5,037,349
Euronext France 4,821,103
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Hong Kong 4,595,366
LSE Group U.K. 4,024,164
Shenzhen Stock Exchange China 3,454,965
TMX Group Canada 2,386,066
Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) Saudi Arabia 2,333,838
BSE India Limited India 2,181,351
National Stock Exchange of India Limited India 2,162,693
Deutsche Boerse AG Germany 2,020,041
SIX Swiss Exchange Switzerland 1,775,268
Nasdaq Nordic and Baltics Sweden 1,594,481
Australian Securities Exchange Australia 1,497,599
Korea Exchange South Korea 1,402,716
Taiwan Stock Exchange Taiwan 1,143,210
B3 – Brasil Bolsa Balcão Brazil 1,118,281
Moscow Exchange Moscow 772,189

  • as of January 2020

KUMARASWAMI KAMARAJ


Kumaraswami Kamaraj, (born July 15, 1903, Virudunagar, India—died October 2, 1975, Madras [now Chennai]), Indian independence activist and statesman who rose from humble beginnings to become a legislator in the Madras Presidency (an administrative unit of British India that encompassed much of southern India), chief minister (head of government) of the successor Madras state in independent India (now largely occupied by Tamil Nadu state and also including portions of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala states), and president of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party).

Kamaraj was born in what is now southern Tamil Nadu to a family of the Nadar (next-to-lowest) caste. His father, a coconut merchant, died when Kamaraj was a young boy. When he was 12 years old, he dropped out of school and began working in a cloth shop. He soon found himself drawn to the Indian independence movement against British rule and began attending public meetings held by local Congress Party leaders and later volunteering in various capacities (e.g., organizing fund-raising rallies for the party in his home district).

Kamaraj joined the party at age 17, just as the noncooperation movement (1920–22) led by Mohandas K. Gandhi was getting under way, and became a full-time worker for the independence cause. His participation in the Salt March act of civil disobedience (satyagraha) in 1930 earned him a sentence of two years in prison (he was released in 1931 as part of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact agreement). He would be imprisoned several more times by the British, notably in 1942–45 for his prominent role in the Congress Party’s large-scale Quit India campaign against British rule. He used his time in prison to give himself the education he had not received as a child.

In 1954 Kamaraj was elected chief minister for Madras state, and in 1957 he won a seat in the state legislative assembly. While in office he was credited with greatly advancing education in the state through programs that built new schools, introduced compulsory education, and provided meals and free uniforms for students. His administration improved the state’s economy by implementing a large number of irrigation projects and enacting laws that protected small farmers from exploitation by landlords. In 1963 he voluntarily left office under what came to be known as the Kamaraj Plan, which called for the voluntary resignations of high-level national and state officials in order to devote their efforts to rebuilding the Congress Party at the grassroots level following India’s disastrous border war with China.

Soon thereafter he was appointed president of the party. He was largely responsible for placing Lal Bahadur Shastri in the prime ministership in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966—both times defeating the future prime minister and Gandhi opponent Morarji Desai. Kamaraj was defeated in the 1967 state legislative elections. Soon after, he was maneuvered out of the party leadership by Gandhi as she consolidated her power. In January 1969 he won a by-election to the Lok Sabha, and later that year he was part of an old-guard leaders’ group that tried to remove Gandhi from power. The party split, however, leaving Kamaraj and his associates with a small splinter group. He nonetheless won reelection to his seat in 1971 and retained it until his death.

Kamaraj’s low social origins contributed to his success in bringing low-caste and Dalit (formerly “untouchable”) voters into the Congress fold. He underscored his strong belief in personal contact by visiting nearly all the villages in his state more than once. In 1976 he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian.

BLOGGING


There are many reasons to start a blog for personal use and only a handful of strong ones for business blogging. Blogging for business, projects, or anything else that might bring you money has a very straightforward purpose – to rank your website higher in Google SERPs, a.k.a. increase your visibility.

As a business, you rely on consumers to keep buying your products and services. As a new business, you rely on blogging to help you get to potential consumers and grab their attention. Without blogging, your website would remain invisible, whereas running a blog makes you searchable and competitive.

So, the main purpose of a blog is to connect you to the relevant audience. Another one is to boost your traffic and send quality leads to your website.

The more frequent and better your blog posts are, the higher the chances for your website to get discovered and visited by your target audience. This means that a blog is an effective lead generation tool. Add a great call to action (CTA) to your content, and it will convert your website traffic into high-quality leads. A blog also allows you to showcase your niche authority and build a brand.

When you use your niche knowledge for creating informative and engaging posts, it builds trust with your audience. Great blogging makes your business look more credible, which is especially important if your brand is still young and fairly unknown. It ensures presence online and niche authority at the same time.

Blog structure
The appearance of blogs has changed over time, and these days blogs include a wide variety of items and widgets. However, most blogs still include some standard features and structures.

Here are common features that a typical blog will include:

Header with the menu or navigation bar.
Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts.
Sidebar with social profiles, favorite content, or call-to-action.
Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy, contact page, etc.
Basic blog structure
The above example is the basic structure of the average blog. Each item has its own importance and helps visitors to navigate through your blog.

Blogs and websites
Many people still wonder if there is any difference between a blog and a website. What is a blog and what is a website? It’s even more challenging to differentiate between the two today. Many companies are integrating blogs into their websites as well, which further confuses the two.

What differentiates blogs from websites?
Blogs need frequent updates. Good examples of this include a food blog sharing meal recipes or a company writing about their industry news.

Blogs also promote reader engagement. Readers have a chance to comment and voice their different concerns and thoughts to the community. Blog owners update their site with new blog posts on a regular basis.

ZOO

The world is a huge place to see. It consists of so many living organisms that it is impossible to see each and every one of them. Especially for human beings, who are fascinated very much by animals. For the same reasons, zoos were created so that humans can interact better with animals.

Essay on Zoo
In other words, a zoo is a facility that has animals, birds, and reptiles of all kinds. They are confined to space where they are given food and medical facilities. The government has given strict guidelines to maintain a zoo. This is done keeping in mind the animal’s safety. In addition, zoos are made breeding grounds for animals to protect their species.

Benefits of Zoo
Zoos were made to bring wildlife closer to humans. It gave humans a better and up-close view of them. This allows various researchers and scientists to note the behavioral pattern of the animals. It helps them in their studies and discover new things.

In addition, zoos are a great source of entertainment for kids. They love visiting zoos and interacting with animals. This helps them learn practical knowledge about the animal. It also gives them exposure to wildlife and widens their knowledge.

Furthermore, zoos give us easy access to rare animals. Had it not been for zoos, we would have never been able to see what some animals looked like. We enjoy their behavior and it also creates awareness about the extinction of the rare species.

Similarly, zoos are a safe breeding ground for animals. They ensure the animal breeds so they never go extinct. This helps in creating a good balance. Moreover, the zoos ensure the animals get all the nutrition in their bodies to lead a healthy life. This is beneficial as the animal may not get guaranteed meals in the forests.

Disadvantages of Zoo
While the zoo is a great place for entertainment, it is also very exploitive. It takes advantage of the poor animals to make a profit off them. The zoos keep animals in very bad conditions. It takes unethical methods just to create revenue.

Furthermore, zoos are very unfair to animals. They take the animals out of their natural habitats just for the sake of human entertainment. Why would the animals be put into cages as humans want them to? They are voiceless creatures who are being forced to live in poor conditions. Imagine putting humans into cages so animals could come to see them. It sounds inhumane the other way around but not when we do the same to animals.

Most importantly, zoos do not take proper care of exotic animals. They bring them over in their facility despite knowing that they cannot survive in that climate. Some zoos do not take enough precautionary measures to keep the animals safe. This has resulted in so many deaths of animals that it seems cruel.

In short, though zoos are very helpful to humans and animals to an extent. They must be monitored constantly to ensure the animals are safe. The unethical zoos must be shut down at once to prevent any further loss of animals.

AMOZON FOREST


The Amazon is burning. Around 73,000 km2 of land was burnt in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil in 2019 – fires across the whole of Brazil were almost double the number in 2018. And they continue into 2020. Soaring deforestation is one of the main causes of these fires. We must fight the causes and protect this precious place.

WHY THE AMAZON IS SO IMPORTANT
South America’s Amazon contains nearly a third of all the tropical rainforests left on Earth. Despite covering only around 1% of the planet’s surface, the Amazon is home to 10% of all the wildlife species we know about – and probably a lot that we don’t know yet.

Our research shows that, on average, a ‘new’ species of animal or plant is being discovered in the Amazon every 3 days. However, tragically, because huge parts of the forest are being destroyed so fast, we may never know all the riches it holds.

People around the world, as well as locally, depend on the Amazon. Not just for food, water, wood and medicines, but to help stabilise the climate, playing a critical role in global and regional carbon and water cycles.

The Amazon is under siege like never before. Deforestation and fire are once again on the increase, and protected areas and indigenous lands face increasing threats. It needs our help more than ever. We cannot tackle the climate crisis without the Amazon’s vital life-sustaining role.

Just two quick facts to give you an idea of what’s at stake here. 1) The Amazon has more species of primate than anywhere else on Earth. 2) You can find more types of ant on one tree in the Amazon than you can in some whole countries.

We’re so determined to help protect the Amazon, for the benefit of its people and for the planet as a whole. Your help will be vital.

WORLD’S LARGEST NATIONAL PARK PROTECTING A TROPICAL RAINFOREST
We worked for decades with many other organisations to expand Chiribiquete National Park in the heart of the Colombian Amazon. We finally won in 2018, and in more good news the park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site – recognition of its enormous value. Deforestation, climate change, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, illegal timber extraction, illicit crops and unplanned settlements, remain significant threats to Colombia’s forests: 66 per cent of the country’s deforestation occurs in the Amazon region. We’re now supporting the creation of a fund to increase the amount of land in Colombia’s protected area system and make sure that the land is properly managed and protected .

FAMILY – LOVABLE BOND


The best gift God has given to all living beings on earth is a family. Getting a happy family is a blessing because not everyone in the world has it. The pleasure of living with your parents, fighting over petty with your siblings can just make you smile the moment you think about it.

My family has always supported me without any claim, from the moral teachings to love and support. For me, my family is like a strong pillar on which I can rely blindly whenever I need support. My family is always there to inspire and support me to overcome all life challenges and accomplish things. A relation is a unique kind of love that gives you all the lessons you need to live a healthy lifestyle.

My family is one of the world’s craziest families. We ‘re four members, my mother, my father, my younger brother, and me. While my dad is the one who works for a living, my mom is the boss of the house. My dad is a humble person. He doesn’t scold us. But, just the opposite, our mother. She needs us to remain vigilant, and she quite often scolds us.

I have a wonderful family, and I love every member of my family.
My family is made up of four members- father, mother, brother, and myself.
My dad is an engineer, and my mother, by profession, is a school teacher.
Every member of my family loves, respects, and cares for one another.
My family goes there once every two weeks for a picnic.
After dinner each night, we all like to spend time with each other.
My family has taught me strong lessons about our love, solidarity, and cooperation.
Why family is important?
Families are wealth, which not everyone is lucky enough to have. Sometimes, those who have don’t value this gift. Families are important because they assist in our development. They grow us all into a full-fledged human with individual identity. They always offer us a sense of comfort and a safe place to flourish within. We learn to socialize and develop our intellect through our families. Studies demonstrate that people who live with their families tend to be happier than those who live alone. In times of trouble, they serve as your pillar.

When the entire world questions you, families are the only ones who believe in you. Similarly, they ‘re the first to cheer you up when you’re down and out. Having a supportive family by your side is a great blessing. In ups and downs, my family has always been at my side. They taught me how to be a better human being. I will be grateful to my family forever for what they did to me. Without them, I can’t imagine my life. They are my first instructors and friends.

The atmosphere in my family
We have a peaceful environment at home. After school, we spent our time studying, playing and watching TV, which our mother certainly doesn’t like. Like other partners, my mum and father rarely fight. In reality, as soon as we see an argument coming up, one of them just withdraws, and a heated debate between them is just rare to see. That’s what I like most about them because I feel my parents are so sweet. It is just my brother and me who enjoy competing with each other.

However, we know that it is truly our love for one another that holds us together behind those battles. I just enjoy spending time at home with my parents and my brother. I feel like how bad it will be when we go on with our professional lives tomorrow, and we won’t be able to spend a lot of time together.

My family values
My family values are what I care so much about because they have made me what I am today, and I intend to pass on these great values in the future to my children. Every family has those things, acts, and values that they hold in high regard and so much appreciation

My Family Values include –
Loyalty
This is a strongly secured concept within my family. Since my childhood, my family has made me learn how to be honest and the benefits that lie inside

Kindness
My mom believes that if the world and everyone in it shows love and kindness to each other, there will be no hatred, and wars will be wiped out.

Education
This is a concept passed down in my family from generation to generation. My dad would say the best legacy you can give a child is education.

Appearance
I don’t want to be wrongly addressed and give the wrong impression. So, the way we dress and our appearance matters a lot to us.

Why do I love my family?
My father is the world’s best father. I am looking a lot at my father because I want to take a lot of his habits and make them mine. He taught me to be satisfied with everything that I have. My mum is the world’s greatest chef. Without my mum, I don’t know where I will be today. I owe her quite a deal.

My brother is one of the greatest presents that I’ve received. He is the last kid, so if you know what I mean, this gives him the potential to be irritating.

Conclusion
Each family has one thing or the other, which they hold in high regard and continue to pass from one generation to another. That is what makes a family a single group not because blood binds us but because we share the same beliefs. We always have one reason to love our family. I love my family because it’s the best gift I’ve ever been able to ask for and the fact they’ve been there for me through the good, bad, and fun times. They are a complete word for me. They are always to support me during my tough times.

DUTY OF GOOD STUDENTS

DUTY OF GOOD STUDENTS
The first duty of an good student is to study. His main interest is his studies. He is genuinely interested in his books. He doesn’t have to force himself to read. He does not require any external pressure. His parents need not goad him to study. His teachers are confident of his earnestness. He devotes most of his time to his work. He takes pleasure in his work. He does not allow any other activity to disturb or distract him.

An good student is therefore well versed in his courses of study. He is hardworking and intelligent. He is conscientious. The result is that he is regular in his work. He does not allow his work to pile up. He is attentive in the classroom. He takes notes and improves upon them at home. If there is any difficulty he consults the teacher without any hesitation. Of course he does not cram. Nor does he study only from the examination point of view. He, therefore, does not fear the examination. An examination offers him an opportunity to show and test his ability. Generally, he avails himself of this opportunity.

But he is not a book-worm. He is keen but not blind. He goes frequently beyond the prescribed text-books. Being intelligent, he is able to select his reading wisely. He does not read more than he can digest. Moreover, he does not read for show. He has well defined tastes and he develops them with patience and care. He knows his own limitations. He does not waste his time in struggling with books that are beyond his grasp. This does not mean that he remains content with his achievements. On the contrary, he makes earnest efforts to improve his mind and is systematic in his reading.
Naturally, he cannot do without the teacher’s guidance. He has faith in the superior knowledge of his teachers. He goes to them and discusses his difficulties. He then goes to the library and picks up books suggested by the teacher, Advanced students.plan their reading. There are books without number. Planning is therefore necessary. An good student does not waste his time and energy on trash. He goes to the classics, the great books; first.

Apart from studies, an good student is interested in many other things. Books are necessary but they are not everything. Constant and unbroken reading makes a person dull. If also affects one’s health. So the good student is interested in games and sports. He may not be an excellent .player of any game but he has enthusiasm for playing. If he cannot play he at least participates as a spectator, Besides games there are other general activities at a college. An good student participates in as many of these activities as possible. He picks and chooses according to his taste. If he has taste for literature he joins the literary union. Is he is interested in debating, he joins the debating society. He may be good actor. In this case he takes a prominent part in the dramatic society. In short, he contributes as much as he can to the life of the institution where he studies.

An good student’s attitude to discipline is worth mentioning. Many students look upon discipline as a check on their freedom. An good student regards discipline with respect and understanding. With him discipline is not an external force. He disciplines himself. He does not go against the rules of the college. If he finds the rules unreasonable, he goes to the principal and expresses his opinion. He is not afraid of the authorities because he is not against them. He does not agitate or join strikes on tribal issues. In fact he discourages such interdisciplinary activities. He co-operates with the authorities for running the institution along efficient lines.

What is his attitude to politics? This is a controversial matter. Some persons regard politics as harmful to students. They suggest that students should keep aloof from politics. There are others who think that students most actively take part in politics. Both the positions are wrong. How can a grown-up student be blind to politics? He is an intelligent person. He reads newspapers, listens to the radio, reads books, keeps his eyes and ears open. Can be remain ignorant of the political currents in his country? The answer is an emphatic no. Now if he cannot remain ignorant he cannot help taking some interest in politics. The problem is what should be the extent of his interest.

An good student solves this problem in a very intelligent manner. He takes interest in politics. He tries his best to understand what is happening in the country and in the world. But he keeps his mind open. He does not jump to conclusions. He may discuss political issues with his friends or on the college platform, but he does not allow his mind to become prejudiced. He does not, therefore, attach himself to any political party. He remains free. Normally speaking, he does not take part in demonstrations and strikes. He is wise enough to know that such things are often engineered by interested political parties. It is only in times of national crisis that he may give up his studies and join a political organization. Many students, for instance, took an active part in the struggle for independence. Many of them Here good students. They sacrified their studies temporarily for the noble cause.

An good students generally on affectionate terms with his parents and other members of the family. He loves them and is loved in return. He is not impudent. He knows the financial condition of his parents and does his best to economize in everything. He is never a burden on them. Some hardworking students work and earn even as they study. In our country this practice is not so common. In foreign countries most of the students work during the vacation to supplement their allowance. Unfortunately here people look down upon a student who does tuition or any other work. This should not be so. An good student, in any case, does not mind working if necessary.

As suggested above, an good student is well-informed. His interests are not narrow. There is no harm if he takes interest in films, · Only he should not become a filmaddict. He should try to know everything. He should know what is where. It is unfortunate that many of our students lack general knowledge. This is because they do not read newspapers. They think it is a waste of time. They have no hobbies except idle talk. Chitchat is delightful but you cannot talk intelligently without being well-informed. An good student does not waste his time in useless gossip.

Of course, an good student is well-behaved, He is graceful in everything that he does. He tries to be sweet to others. He is not selfish. As far as possible he helps weaker boys in studies. Wherever he may be he gives a good account of himself. In his personal appearance he is neat and clean and simple. He does not misbehave in the bus or on the roadside. In fact the question of misbehaviour does not arise. He may commit mistakes as anyone may. But he is not ashamed of admitting his mistakes. He tries to remove them as best as he can.

An intelligent interest in studies, wide but systematic reading, interest in extra-curricular activities, general knowledge, simplicity and grace these are some of the most important qualities of an good student.