Category: communication

Endless Celebration – Christmas

Christmas is a well-known Christian holiday set in December, celebrated the world over and famed for its decorations and Santa Clause. The Christmas means “Feast day of Christ”.It is a yearly celebration marking Jesus Christ’s birth; it is observed on the 25th of December as a cultural and religious celebration among a lot of people all over the world. Christmas is celebrated in all Christian countries but there are differences in the way each nation celebrates this date.

History Behind Christmas

The history of Christmas is one that dates back to a very long time; the first Christmas was celebrated in 336 A.D. in Rome. It played a very important role during the famed Arian controversy that took place in the 300s. During the early years of the middle age, epiphany overshadowed it.

Christmas was brought back to limelight around 800 A.D. when the emperor Charlemagne received the crown on Christmas day. During the 17th century, the Puritans had Christmas banned because it was associated with drunkenness and different other misbehavior.

It was made a proper holiday around 1660 but was still quite disreputable. Around the early 1900s, the Oxford movement of the Anglican Communion church started and this led to the revival of Christmas.

Preparations for Christmas

Christmas is a cultural festivity that entails a lot of preparations. It is a public holiday and so people get a Christmas break to celebrate it.

Preparations for Christmas start early for most people so that celebrations begin on the eve of Christmas. Preparations for Christmas involves a lot of activities. People usually buy decorations, food, and gifts mostly for children in the family and friends. Some families shop for matching Christmas outfits for everyone.

The common preparations include decorations of the place with Christmas trees, lighting. Before decorations begin, the house must be deep cleaned. The Christmas tree brings the Christmas spirit in homes.

Presents are placed under the Christmas tree in wrapped gift boxes and are not to be opened until Christmas day. The church is also decorated for the special event. Thorough cleaning of the churches is also done to usher in Christmas. Songs and skits to be performed on Christmas day.

People usually spend a lot on Christmas and so saving money for these plans should be the earliest preparation among all these. Families also plan to travel to stay together during this celebration period. Traditionally turkey is the common meal across the world in this day. Cards are also written to friends and family to wish them a happy holiday and to show love.

Christmas Day Celebration

Christmas carols are played on radios and televisions to mark the day. Most families start by going to church where performances and songs are done. Then later, they join their families to exchange gifts and celebrate with food and music. Happiness during Christmas is like no other.

Homemade traditional plum cakes, cupcakes, and muffins are the special treats on Christmas. Kids are showered with lots of presents and new dresses. They also get to meet the ‘Santa Claus’, dressed in a fluffy red and white costume, who greets them with hugs and gifts.

Conclusion:

Christmas reminds us of the importance of giving and sharing with friends and family. Through Christmas, we know that Jesus birth is the beginning of great things in the world. It is generally an opportunity to think about nature and the reason for our existence. Christmas is such a festival which people from all religions and faith celebrate worldwide despite it being a Christian festival. It is the essence of this festival which unites the people so much.

What is Christmas?It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present,hope for the future.

—AGNES M. PAHRO

BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS: Mobile Banking

Advantages 

On these days we do our daily stuff with the help of our mobile phones, that also includes banking. Mobile banking is a free, convenient way to keep up with your finances.

Some of the advantages of using mobile banking are the following:

AVAILABILITY

There are no working hours or operations or particular requirements for mobile banking, customers can check their account, move money, pay bills and various other banking processes with the help of mobile banking. It is available 24*7 for the customers.

PAPERLESS

No one enjoys getting bank statements in the mail. With the help of mobile banking, there is no need for the customer to receive junk mail from the bank. It’s also safer because you are no longer having to get away from sensitive information into the trash.

CONTROL

Mobile banking makes it so easy to have complete control over your finances. You can monitor your balances and move money between accounts to avoid overdraft fees. With bill pay you can alert when it’s time to pay to avoid late fees, or set up recurring bill payments and not have to think about it.

SAFE

Mobile banking is safer and secure. All reputable banks and financial institutions use encryption to safeguard and protect your privacy and identity information on mobile apps.

TIME SAVING

It is time saving because we don’t want to visit the particular bank to do our banking process. We can do it with the help of mobile banking.

HELPS YOU TO TRACK YOUR FINANCES

Managing an account through your mobile also puts you in charge of your money and helps you better to know your financial standing. You can always monitor your account balance and transfer money from a different account if needed be. You can check your balance and statement at any time.

MINIMIZE ERRORS

A comprehensive mobile banking will reduce errors that users make. There hasn’t been a better time to get familiar with mobile banking as indeed, this is the only way forward. 

DISADVANTAGES

OPERATING EXPENSES

It tends to be high in traditional banking, since in addition to having administrative offices, they also have offices to serve their clients in person. Among its main operating expenses are: 

  • Paying rents from the premises where they operate
  • Payment of public services and security
  • Expenses in stationary and issuance of the plastics (for making debit and credit cards)

MOVE TO OFFICES AT CERTAIN TIMES

In case of making a transfer or other type of management, in many cases physical presence must be made in the bank’s office and within the business hours established by the bank, which is considered as a great disadvantage. 

SLOW PROCESSES

Another disadvantage is the slowest process held in the organization. Another demonstration of the slow process time that transactions between different banks usually take.

HIGH COMMISSIONS

In general, traditional banking commissions are high due to higher operating expenses, which makes many of their products or services more expensive compared to other products or fintech companies.

LOW STIMULUS TO SAVINGS

Due to lower interest rates that traditional banks usually pay their savings to the clients if there is a low saving stimulus. This is because traditional banking promotes more bank loans and they are the ones that generate more interest and collection fees, which allows them to create more fiat money and have more profits.

LIMITATION IN ONLINE BANKING

Although traditional banking is using some functions of online banking, the latter is still limited. For example, in many cases this service is conditioned to the use of some of its product. There is also the problem of limits on amount to be transferred in addition to difficulties or restriction in transferring money to other countrie

CONCLUSION

As smartphones become more commonly used, and their capabilities expand, they may increasingly be the means consumers use to access financial services and manage their finances. Their constant presence also makes them a potentially useful tool for the delivery of just in time financial information or as in decision making. 

Given the prevalence of mobile phones, particularly smartphones among minorities, low-income individuals, and younger generations, mobile technology has the potential to empower consumers and expand access to financial services for underserved populations.

The use of mobile banking has increased by more than a third in the past year, and it appears likely to continue to increase as more and more consumers use smartphones. While still small, the use of mobile phones to make payments at the point of sale has increased even more rapidly. Over a quarter of mobile phone users express some interest in using their phones to make payments at the point of sale, giving mobile payments substantial growth potential as the ability to make these payments becomes more widespread.

The two factors limiting consumer adoption of mobile banking and payments are concerns about the security of the technology and a sense that they don’t offer any real benefits to the user over existing methods for banking or making payments. With regards to security, consumers have actually become more likely in the past year to report that they simply don’t know how safe it is to use mobile banking, suggesting that consumers need to be provided with reliable and accurate information on the level of security associated with the various means of accessing mobile banking. In terms of the value proposition to consumers, the significant number of mobile users who reported an interest in using their phones to receive discounts, coupons, and promotions or to track rewards and loyalty points suggests that tying these services to a mobile payment service would increase the attractiveness of mobile phones as a means of payment.

Challenges Faced : Mobile Banking

Challenges Faced 

  • Customer awareness: because of lack of data and awareness regarding mobile banking is  a reason for less trust in mobile banking services and it’s conjointly one more reason for risk and security issue in mobile banking which is a result of this can be new technology in banking and financial set-up therefore all banking client aren’t aware of it and feel risk to adopt it therefore it’s conjointly a big challenge before of mobile banking services in India.
  • Security problems & privacy: there’s security of mobile banking services is massive issue and challenges. In mobile banking for the safety purpose PIN or countersign is employed which can be steal by the offender or unauthorized user if mobile device has loss or steal therefore user got to aware about it. Customers are use sensitive information and data in mobile therefore here risk with pass of a legitimate application as a result of application service are provided by third party it’s going to steal our info and send it to a different third party therefore we’ve to aware of applications used for WAP mobile banking services and transfer a legitimate and authorize application for group action with mobile banking services.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
  • Virus & malware attack: there’s conjointly risk with virus and malware attack it’s going to access your account info equivalent to username, countersign and alternative info like in computing system there’s conjointly risk on virus and malware attacks on mobile banking services some  codes are written to default mobile banking like Zeus has used for attacks on SMS banking and Zeus used for steal mobile group action authentication equivalent to password and pin number. therefore it’s a conjointly massive security issue and challenge in mobile banking services.
  • Wireless network: All method of mobile banking service is finished in wireless mode therefore there’s conjointly a security risk in mobile banking services mobile device element contact with cell website and dedicated circuit and microwave for the communication services therefore if there’s any weakness in any a part of this network then risk of attacks is will increase therefore we’ve to secure of these network and network devices for an honest security services.
  • Risk in SMS mobile banking: Format of SMS is in plain text. presently end to finish secret writing isn’t available. The sole encryption is out there in the base station at transceiver and at the SMS server during transmission time. Because of this there’s a risk in SMS banking equivalent to SMS spoofing attack where the offender will send a message on the network by manipulating the user’s number.
  • Authentication issue: In mobile banking there’s authentication risk at the login time or once we access our account through the mobile system as a result of in mobile banking for the authentication PINS numbers are used however PINS authentication technique is associate degree recent method and lots of security problems such as countersign and id thievery were by stealing the password and id unauthorized access is also potential by obtaining the countersign offender might access our account. Another risk regarding authentication in mobile banking as if the mobile has been stolen then the offender may get the countersign through the mobile and might access the account by exploiting your id and password.

8 Hardest Languages to Learn In The World For English Speakers

Which languages are the most difficult to learn? You can see where different languages broke off as you peel back the onion to the beginnings of language creation, often known as the ‘Old World Language Families.’ You may now see why Spanish has parallels to languages such as German, Italian, and French. And why Korean is comparable to Mandarin, Japanese, and other Asian languages. We’ll concentrate exclusively on the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

1. Mandarin: Why it’s so difficult: English may be the most widely spoken language on the planet, but it comes with its own set of challenges for native speakers. Because Mandarin is a tonal language, adjusting your tone can give a word a whole different meaning. Thousands of letters, intricate systems, and a wealth of homophones make it one of the most difficult languages to learn in the world.

2. Icelandic: Why it’s difficult: The Icelandic language has remained unchanged since the ninth and eleventh centuries, but it continues to add new meaning to old terms. It also doesn’t help that there are only about 400,000 native speakers with whom you can practise.

3. Japanese: Why is it difficult: There are three distinct writing systems in Japanese: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Japanese students must first study thousands of distinct characters in these writing systems before they can begin writing. It is, nevertheless, much less difficult to learn than Mandarin!

4. Hungarian: Why is it difficult: As previously stated, most languages are descended from the Indo-European language family. Hungarian, on the other hand, is a Finno-Ugric language in which words are produced separately. To put it another way, it’s not the way English speakers generally construct words or phrases. ‘With my [female] friend,’ for example, is shortened to to ‘barátnőmmel.’ Are you perplexed yet? We’re in the same boat.

5. Korean: Why is it difficult: Korean is an isolated language that is not related to any other language family. There’s more, though. There are seven main speech levels in Korean, which native speakers switch between, depending on the formality.

6. Arabic: Why is it difficult: Despite the fact that there are 221 million native speakers from whom you can learn, Arabic remains one of the most difficult languages to master. First, when writing, vowels are not included. To make matters even more complicated, most Arabic letters are written in four distinct ways depending on where the word is placed.

7. Finnish: Have you ever seen The Lord of the Rings? The Elvish language was founded on the Finnish language by author J.R.R. Tolkien. Finnish, like Hungarian, is a Finno-Ugric language with a lot of grammatical intricacy. And just when you think you’ve figured out how to translate Finnish to English, you’ll discover that current Finnish speakers have their own method of expressing emotions that differs from the standard translation!

8. Polish: Making pierogies is one thing, but speaking the language of the country that produces them is another. The Polish language’s complexity can be divided into two categories. First and foremost, the pronunciation. For novice learners, simply saying ‘hello’ (cześć) is a headache because the ‘c’ and’s’ are pronounced significantly differently than in English. The other is that the Poles have seven different gender-affected grammatical cases and seventeen different cases for numbers. Yes, there are seventeen distinct ways to say ‘ten.’

The main crux is that the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers are determined by a variety of criteria, not just one. The number of speakers, linguistic origins, resemblance to English, and other factors all contribute to how difficult it will be to learn. Every language will have its own set of difficulties, but it will also have its own set of rewards, joys, and fulfilment. Remember that whatever language you choose to study, your time will be well invested.

Chilly memories -winter

Winter is one of the most important seasons in India. It is a part of the four seasons that occur in India. Winters are the coolest season that starts from December and last till March. The peak time when winter is experienced the most in December and January. In India, winters hold great importance. In addition, the essence it has is admired by many people. Winters give you the time to indulge in various activities like snowball fighting, building snowmen, ice hockey and more. It is a great time for kids to enjoy their vacations and get cozy in their blankets.

Essence of Winter

During winters, schools usually take a break and close down. The days are shorter and the nights get longer. The chilly mornings give you a different sense altogether. Hot drinks like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate are enjoyed more during winters. The sun rises quite late and sometimes it does not.

Even when it does, it doesn’t get a bit hot. People long for a little sunshine as the cold weather sends chills down the spine. You see people on the roads burning woods and paper to get a little warmth. However, not many people prefer going out in winters. They like sitting by the fireplace or heater all day.

In the hilly areas, people experience snow during winters. They have to shovel it out of the way to make way for walking. The essence of winters is enhanced by Christmas as well. It sets the holiday mood for people and is admired all over the world.

In the hilly areas, people experience snow during winters. They have to shovel it out of the way to make way for walking. The essence of winters is enhanced by Christmas as well. It sets the holiday mood for people and is admired all over the world.

As the animals do not have proper shelter, they too lose their lives. In addition, many flights are also canceled during this season. Nonetheless, this does not make winter any less important. It is quite essential to maintain balance in the weather of our country.

Why I Love Winter?

I personally love winters. This season brings a lot of healthy fruits and vegetables. People get the chance to eat fresh grapes, apples, carrots, cauliflower, guava and more. Furthermore, so many beautiful flowers bloom during this season. These flowers include roses, dahlias and more. This makes winter even more beautiful than it already is.

Other than that, no lizards are to be found as they go in hibernation. This makes me very happy and lets me live fearlessly. Most importantly, winter mornings are the best part of this season for me. I like getting up early in winters and witnessing the morning dew on flowers. There is a different vibe altogether that comes with winters.

Also, our school organizes bonfire which is one of the most awaited events of the year.

In short, winter is as important as any other season. Sure, it may have its negative sides and positive sides, but that happens with every season. Winters helps you enjoy long morning walks and fresh air.

“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold”

—ARISTOTLE