Cement Industry

The basic characteristic of cement is that after it has been mixed with water, it will set hard as rock, and will bind together any rock or mineral fragments mixed into it. Mortar is made from a mixture of sand and cement, and bonds together bricks in a wall. Most cement is mixed with both sand and aggregate to make concrete.

In simple term, Cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. Cement used in construction is characterized as hydraulic or non-hydraulic. Hydraulic cements harden because of hydration, chemical reactions that occur independently of the mixture’s water content; they can harden even underwater or when constantly exposed to wet weather. The chemical reaction that results when the anhydrous cement powder is mixed with water produces hydrates that are not water-soluble. Non-hydraulic cements must be kept dry in order to retain their strength.

All of the great ancient civilizations utilized cement, from the Greeks to the Egyptians, the Chinese Empire to the Roman Empire. In fact, the Romans actually named the substance “cement,” although the cement that they used varied a great deal from modern cement. It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that cement would become more modernized and standardized, which vastly improved the final product.

The cement industry is one of the main beneficiaries of the infrastructure boom. In earlier days, there is only one cement was available ‘Portland cement’. Now there are wide varieties of cement in the market such as ;

  • Low heat cement,
  • Rapid hardening cement,
  • High early strength cement,
  • Sulphated cement, hydrophobic cement,
  • Oil well cement, high aluminum cement
  • Masonry cement. Each type of cement has a specific role to play.

The choice of cement depends upon the nature of work, local environment, method of construction etc.

There are many disadvantages are also attached with the invention of cement and cement industry. In recent years, the cement industry has been responsible for contributing large amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Disturbingly, the majority of that carbon dioxide output comes from the chemical processes needed to manufacture the cement, not from the burning of fossil fuels. If environmental scientists are correct and global warming begins to harm the planet, cement production could be largely to blame.

With robust demand and adequate supply, the industry has bright future. According to cement manufacturing association survey, April 2010, Indian is the world’s second largest producer of cement with a total capacity of 224 million tones. Cement is a key infrastructure industry. With the government of India giving boost to various infrastructure projects, housing facilities and road networks, the cement industry in India is currently growing at an enviable pace. More growth in the Indian cement industry is expected in the coming years. It is also predicted that the cement production in India would rise to 236.16 million tones  by 2011and expected to rise to 262million  tones in 2012.

The history of the cement manufacturing in India can be traced back to 1889 when a private firm in Kolkata began manufacturing cement from Argillaceous. But the industry started getting the organized shape in the early 1900s. In the year 1914, India Cement Company Ltd started cement production in Porbandar with an output of 10,000 tons and a production of 1000 installed capacity. The First World War gave the initial momentum to the cement industry in India and the segment demonstrated a geometric growth in terms of installed capacity, number of manufacturing units and the volume output. Industry Expert terms this as the nascent stage in the history of Indian Cement industry. The Concrete association on India was established in the year 1926 to create awareness among the public with respect to the utility of cement in addition to promoting cement consumption.

Cement Company, in any country, plays a major role in the growth of the nation. Cement industries produce Portland cement which is a prime ingredient of concrete for buildings, bridges, canals and roads. There is also an enormous scope of waste heat recovery in the cement manufacturing plants that will give way to reduction in the levels of emission and consequently contribute to environment-friendly practices. Cement industry in India is currently going through a technological change as a lot of up gradation and assimilation is taking place. The recent up gradation of technology across the cement industry segment has helped the industry to enormously conserve fuel and energy and make a huge saving on materials. The industry experienced a complete shift in the technology of production, from wet process to dry process.

The competitiveness among the firms in Indian cement industry has also been evaluated.  Cement industry in India was under full control and supervision of the government. However, it got relief at a large extent after the economic reform. But government interference, especially in the pricing, is still evident in India. Now, cement industry in India has successfully maintained almost total capacity utilization levels, which resulted in maintaining a 10% growth rate.

Some of the regions where major clusters of cement industries located in India are Satna (Madhya Pradesh), Yerranguntla (Andhra Pradesh), Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), Gulbarga (Karnataka), Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh), and Chandoria (Rajasthan).

In a fast developing economy like India, there is always large possibility of expansion of cement industry. In spite of being the second largest cement producer in the world, India falls in the list of lowest per capita consumption of cement with 125 kg. The reason behind this is the poor rural people who mostly live in mud huts and cannot afford to have the commodity. Despite the fact, the demand and supply of cement in India has grown up. The cement industry is experiencing a boom on account of the overall growth of the Indian economy primarily because of increased industrial activity, flourishing real estate business, growing construction activity, and expanding investment in the infrastructure sector.

In every country, the cement industry plays a major role in deciding the growth. The demand and supply of cement has undergone a phenomenal growth in India. Domestic demand is one of the chief reasons for the rapid growth of cement manufacturing in India. One can say that the domestic demand for the commodity has in fact clearly overtaken the rate of economic growth in the country. On the whole, the fact that India is a fast developing nation presents an enormous scope for the development of cement industry.

A number of successful companies are leading the cement production in the country. However, about 20 big firms alone account for over 70% of the total cement production in the nation.

The major players in the cement industry in India are as follows :

  • ACC,
  • Gujarat Ambuja,
  • Ultratech,
  • Grasim,
  • India Cements,
  • jaypee Group,
  • JK Group,
  • Century,
  • Madras Cements
  • Birla Corp

The cement industry is one of the booming sectors in the India.  Developments in the domestic environment and a large number of infrastructure projects have created an unforeseen demand for cement consumption in India, which is bound to increase manifold over the coming years. While concrete steps are being taken to bring down, costs, the cement industry is heading towards a very bright future in India. More than 25 lakh people are employed in cement companies. Some trends of the Indian cement industry which will add to the job prospect in this sector are :

  • It is expected that the cement industry will steadily grow and more than 50 million tons will be produced annually to cater to the high demand in the real estate sector.
  • The annual exports will also significantly increase by around 9 to 10% which will favorably affect the overall Gross Domestic Product of the country.
  • India will become the second largest cement producing country after China.

If one is looking forward to start a wonderful career which can help to climb up the path of success, then the job in cement industry can  be an ideal choice. With the growth in the infrastructure and technological projects, there has been a rise in the cement industries in the country. There are a number of employment opportunities that offer along with good salary package  like site engineer, packaging engineer, sift in charge, surveyor, geologist, contractor, supervisor and other posts. Many distinguished institute in India like Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar National Institute of Social Sciences, (MP), Indore, National Council for Cement and Building Materials, and many more are offering post graduate diploma in Cement technology.

Cement is one of the most important building materials in the modern world. The Roman Empire relied on cement to build its roads, its aqueducts, and all of its other great engineering marvels. Today, modern skyscrapers couldn’t exist without the strength added to modern-day concrete by Portland cement. In other words, human society as it exists today would not be possible without cement.

Exhibition Industry

For many of us the word ‘Exhibition’ is merely limited to visiting a modern art gallery, raving at a collection of paintings by a renowned artist or getting awed by the international auto expo held every year. Surprisingly for some people it is the exhibition at school or college that restricts their thinking to idea of an ‘Exhibition.’

It may be startling to know that the exhibition industry is one of the most booming industries in India and has been contributing significantly to the GDP of the country for the past four years. In the globalised world of the 21st century which has been shrinked by communication, exhibitions and trade fairs underline the importance of face-to-face interaction among the different countries on a common platform.

Fairs and melas in every nook and corner of the country have been prevalent since the ancient times and even now. India being the second largest country in terms of population with 1.5 billion people and fourth largest GDP in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) has emerged as the favourite regional market for exhibition and trade show organizers. It has behind it a rich heritage of Trade fairs – the Pushkar and the Kumbh Mela respectively for just not being trade fairs, but business generation too.
 
Main sectors like handicrafts, food, electrical, automation etc. are growing tremendously and thereby needs focused attention. Due to this business growth requires a platform where interactions can happen and growth prospects can multiply. Trade shows and exhibitions are apt for this and play a vital role in today’s business world.

Every year over 2,000 exhibitions are held in India with on an average, 100 exhibitors each. Of these between 10 to 15 percent are from overseas, bringing with them on an average 5 personnel per exhibitor. This makes between 100,000 to 150,000 international visitors coming to India every year through the exhibitions which results in huge spending on hotels, airlines, restaurants, entertainment, ground transportation, sightseeing etc. impacting the economy of the region in a very significant way.

In the list of countries offering indoor exhibition space, India ranks 16th offering a total of 2,60,000 sqm with USA and Germany topping the list. In the Asian scenario India is being surpassed by China which gives 66 percent of exhibition space.

Our country reflects buoyant growth and this in turn has driven demand for international trade shows as well. But the limited convention space and lack of infrastructure facilities are some of the bottlenecks we need to tackle to make this sector a booming industry. Growth in this sector depends upon new and modern venues. There is a need to find a quick-fix solution as exhibitions and trade shows highlight the social and economic prospects of the industry. Thus, the exhibition industry needs to promote the key role it can play in the development of city, region or industry far better.

India has ventured into the arena of exhibition industry very late. In 2006 the India Exhibition Industry Association (IEIA) was formed that represents the entire country and all segments related to the exhibition industry. It brings together all the exhibition organizers, managers, designers and stand contractors, freight forwarders, services and facilities providers, venue owners etc., so that there is a common platform available to the entire industry to consider ways and means for the sound and scientific development of various facets of the industry.

Thus, IEIA acts a one stop window where all the information pertaining to various exhibitions, trade shows, industry news, various agencies, private and public organizations operating in the exhibition industry can be accumulated.

For an exhibition to be successfully executed the 5P’s that come to fore are : Purpose, planning, passion, patience and persistence-but it is the passion that helps Indian exhibition organizers and service providers to open shows successfully.

The top 10 of B2B Fairs organized in India are : Aahar, ACETECH, Automation, bc India, Elecrama, IIJS, International Horti Expo, IITF, Kisan and Plast.

With growth prospects immense the exhibitions and trade shows in India have a huge potential which needs to be tapped in the right way, and helped to grow with best global practices. There needs to be a harmonious blend of global practices which is in sync with local business interests. Festivals like Diwali serve as the perfect launch pad to introduce ones product and build the brand in the market. As a result the marketing and the sales department benefit a lot.
 
Having said so it is important to know the importance of Trade fairs and Exhibitions :

  • Trade fairs and exhibitions contribute to intensification of competition as well as to an increase in growth and employment. They are the intermediary between producers and buyers
  • It improves the company’s image and increase brand awareness as well as the introduction of new products
  • They attract new customers and cultivate contacts with regular customers
  • Trade fairs serve the development and cultivation of customer relations, the search for partners and personnel as well as the positioning of the entire company
  • They work as test markets for new products and also market research instruments
  • They help to increase the level of awareness of the own company, to analyze the competitive situation and to prepare the sale of product and services.
  • For young companies in particular, exhibitions play a vital role to have an opportunity to gain an overview of the competition, their presentation and their products
  • Exhibitions are proven to generate more sales prospects than almost any other form of marketing or promotional activity.
  • They create a value proposition in a conducive business environment where customers are able to do generate business leads and network – under single roof
  • The knowledge shared and the people interacted with over 3-4days of an exhibition is immeasurable in its value as compared to other marketing tools.

To make India as an attractive destination with a promising market its high time that the exhibition sector should get the much needed industry recognition. The government needs to incentivize the sector the way it is done in China or Germany. Also the exhibition industry needs to be more of a government-funded model with the authorities providing finance for construction of trade fair venues as contrast to infrastructure in India which is being solely done by the private sector. The need of a public-private partnership model, where the government acts as a facilitator and is more actively involved in infrastructure development is the much required agenda.

But there are few bottlenecks and challenges that the Indian exhibition industry has to overcome to become a full-fledged emerging sector :

  • Problem of paucity of space and venue
  • Abysmal quality and high prices
  • Mind boggling array of NOCs and permissions
  • Application of multiplicity of taxes as there is no exemption from taxation and fees and subsidies for trade shows and venue creation
  • Non-uniform policies of the state governments
  • Unfair competition from state-owned venue owners
  • Narrow vision of the private sector

Despite the challenges, the Indian exhibition industry is one of the most exciting in the region. According to research the Indian exhibition industry now generates over 700,000 square meters in net space sales each year- making it the fifth largest in the Asia and clearly one with the potential for substantially more growth. Even in the new age of technology led communication, social media and the mobile internet, face to face interactions are still key to fostering profitable business relationships and that comes with exhibitions and trade fairs.

Thus, we need to grow at a faster rate and post higher returns. It has to be a consistent growth as regards the top-line and also the bottom-line. However, the question is not to realize the potential but how soon we can do it.

Dhoni retires from International cricket: Announced by posting a video on instagram

Former India captain Mr Mahendra Singh Dhoni has announced his retirement from international cricket.

He announced his retirement by posting a slideshow video of his journey yesterday on his instagram. He wrote – “Thanks • Thanks a lot for your love and support throughout. From 19:29 hours, consider me as retired.” The boy from Ranchi, who made his ODI debut in 2004, changed the face of Indian cricket with his calm demeanour, sharp understanding of the game and astute leadership qualities.

One of the most admired and respected cricketers, Dhoni is also among the most successful captains in world cricket. It was under his leadership that India lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 after having led India to triumph in the ICC World T20 in its maiden edition of the tournament held in 2007 in South Africa. With India winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 in England, Dhoni became the first and is still the only captain till date to have won all three ICC Trophies.

While his heroics in the limited-overs formats are well documented, it was also under his leadership that India became the No. 1 Test side in 2009 and the team stayed at the top for over 600 days.

Achievements as a Captain:

He is the only captain who won all three major ICC tournaments.

He captained India 331 times across all formats which is the most by any captain followed by Ricky Ponting (324 matches).

He led India 199 times in ODI which is the highest by any Indian captain and third overall.

In ODI, he has an average of 53.92 as captain which is second highest after AB de villier (minimum 2000 runs). He has the highest average of 70.47 in 2009.

Dhoni is the only captain to lead an international team atleast 50 times in each format.

Under the leadership of Dhoni, India won the 2007 World T20, the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. He led India in six finals of limited-over tournaments involving five or more teams and India won four of them, which is the joint most by any captain for a team in limited-over internationals.

Dhoni won 110 ODI matches as a captain, which is the second most by any player. Ponting is at the first place in the list by winning 165 ODIs.

MS Dhoni scored 6,633 runs as a captain in ODIs, which is the second most by any captain after Ponting’s 8,497 runs.

Dhoni led India in 72 T20Is, which is also the most by a captain out of which won 41 matches which is the most by any captain.

Dhoni hit 126 sixes as a captain in ODIs in his career, which is the most by any player in ODIs.

Indian Cricket team is surely going to miss the best captain who has led the team in very tough situations, a wicket-keeper who was faster than the speed of blinking of an eye and a great batsman.

Freelancing

Amidst this pandemic, everyone whether a fresher or an experienced employee all are suffering. We all are thinking of working from home. So, here I am trying to encompass a topic which is very well known maybe but very less discussed surely freelancing. Now, who are freelancers?

They are the ones that are not committed to one kind of job, instead they can do any job according to the skills they have mastered and are paid accordingly. they are not considered employees by the company rather contractors. This is a field anyone can try hands-on whether he is a student-teacher or learner. Now how they work and what about their monthly income?

According to a survey by PayPal, most freelancers in India are getting 23 lakhs per annum as an average salary. According to Narsi Subramanian, Director – Growth, PayPal India, “We are focused on cross-border trade and we will continue to because that is where a significant opportunity lies for us. But, as far as our growth plan is concerned, the freelancer segment is something that we will focus on”.

Most of the international work comes from the countries UK, Australia, and the US. The report said, “Of the wide range of aspects, freelancers feel that they need external support in aspects such as setting up their website, finding and retaining clients, fee and negotiation advice, protection and insurance”. As an Indian freelancer to get a secured and stable life an average of 15 projects and 13 retailer clients is a threshold.

Now how to start working as a freelancer because this job is not as easy as it sounds and sometimes it’s even scary. But a smooth start can help you a lot.

Decide your skill: Discover your secondary skills do not limit yourself but that doesn’t mean you have to learn everything so make a reasonable list of skills and start working on it. (I had written articles for that too you can check them out. Hopefully, they will surely help.)

Make a portfolio: It could be as easy as making a Facebook page. It could be anything like a blog or a Behance profile, simply make sure your skill is showcased in the best possible way.

Choose what you want from free-lancing: First of all, decide what you want as free-lancer money or experience. Be clear for somethings before starting :

  • How much time you can invest in this field?
  • Mode of contact with the clients
  • types of clients you want to deal with
  • the number of clients, you want to deal with at a single time.

Start pitching: Now when you are clear from your side, start pitching the clients and it’s just a suggestion pitch clients from many ids but do not spam. You can simply forge on google how to pitch clients and all the stuff you can easily find out but do not go with nonsense.

Pre-work communication: It is always recommended to send your clients your terms when they try to hire you and try to be professional in this send them your payment needs, copyright terms, and other related stuff. I highly recommend to not compromise with payment because this sends a wrong impression on the clients. This is a complete myth that free-lancing is free from the boss, your client is your boss so choose them wisely.

Be confident and serious: To be very clear free-lancing is sole entrepreneurship so if you want to establish your business be serious and professional towards your work. Be ready to face criticism and failures. Persist until your industry starts trusting your work blindly.

Hope you guys found this helpful. Happy reading!

MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina quit International Cricket

Former Indian Cricket Team Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from International Cricket. In a social media post, he thanked everyone for their immense support and love throughout his career.  

Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty-Twenty, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. A right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, Dhoni is one of the highest run scorers in One Day Internationals (ODIs) with a formidable score of more than 10 thousand runs.

Suresh Raina, another Indian Cricketer has also announced his retirement from International Cricket. In a social media post, he said, it was always a pleasure to play along with Dhoni and following Dhoni’s retirement, he also chose to retire from International Cricket.

Vaishno Devi yatra to resume today in J&K

The pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir  will resume today. The yatra was under suspension for nearly five months in view of the coronavirus pandemic since March 18.

Chief Executive Officer of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Ramesh Kumar said during the first week, there will be a cap of 2,000 pilgrims each day of which 1,900 will be from Jammu and Kashmir and the remaining 100 from outside.

Mr Kumar said that people will be allowed to undertake the pilgrimage after registration only through online in order to avoid any assembly at the yatra registration counter. The pilgrims will be required to install the Aarogya Setu App on their mobile phones. Wearing face masks and face cover is mandatory and they will have to undergo thermal scanning at yatra entry points.

Children below 10 years, pregnant women, persons with co-morbidities and those above 60 years have been advised to avoid the pilgrimage.

COVID negative reports of the pilgrims from outside Jammu and Kashmir and also from the red zone districts of the Union Territory will be checked and only those with negative reports will be allowed to move towards Bhawan. Ponies, pithus and palkis will not be allowed to ply on the tracks initially.

The CEO informed that booking and sitting of pilgrims in Atka Aarti area and Shradha Suman Vishesh Pooja will not be allowed till further orders. 

Manipur extends complete lockdown till Aug 31 to contain spread of COVID-19

The Manipur government has extended the complete lockdown till August 31 to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state. With 192 more people tested positive yesterday, the tally rose to 4,390. New cases of COVID-19 continue to be detected amongst people who have no travel history outside the state.

A total of 78 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery rate in the state to 55.53 per cent. Manipur now has 1,939 active cases. There have been 13 COVID-19 deaths in the state so far.

Centre to launch projects for Lion & Dolphin conservation to replicate successes of Project Tiger

The Prime Minister announced that the Centre will soon launch Project Lion and Project Dolphin for the biodiversity conservation of these species to replicate the successes of Project Tiger. In his independence day speech, Mr Modi we have successfully carried forward Project Tiger and Project Elephant. The Tiger population has increased in India. In the coming days, we are starting Project Lion for the Asiatic lions. Mr Modi said Project Dolphin will focus on both river and sea dolphins. He said, this will also give a boost to biodiversity and also create employment opportunities.

The Prime Minister also announced that India will soon have a new cyber security policy. He said his government is aware of the threats arising from cyberspace and their potential impact to India’s society, economy and development. Mr Modi said, changing nature of cyber threats and warfare has prompted India to build a roadmap to overhaul its existing cyber security policy with an eye on challenges like social media, securing critical data and the need for new laws.

PM Modi launches National Digital Health Mission; Every Indian to have Health IDs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM). Every Indian will have an Aadhar like ID card containing all relevant information about his/her medical conditions and treatments and tests. Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, Mr Modi said that the initiative which is completely technology based will revolutionise the health sector in India.

The vision of National Digital Health Mission is to create a national digital health ecosystem which provides timely and efficient access to inclusive, affordable, and safe healthcare to all citizens. 

The Bling of Red-Light Areas Lost in Lock-down

When we talk of the red-light area of any city, the image of women being clad in heavy make-up, adorned in shiny and bling clothes, standing on doors or windows, trying to attract customers by using different techniques comes into our minds instantly. Their livelihood depends on the arrival of customers, the more they arrive, the more these women will be benefited.

But what had happened to them during and after lock-down? How did they survive? Has the pandemic affected their business or has it shaken its roots? While reading an article I read that though their life was going on but the business has slowed down to the unimaginable level. They have opened the gates for their customers for the first week of August but only one or two customers are coming to visit.

They are following every protocol, the new customers are not invited and discouraged to come, those who come are made to wash their body in sanitizers, covered in mask and gloves and the whole place is sanitized like beds, door knobs etc to practice hygiene at the place. Because of lock-down many of the women had gone back to their native places and when the men who show up if they see less women, they don’t return back as they know there are less options.

Their essential needs and daily food needs are fulfilled by the local government, they go to government schools to collect essential items and non-essential needs are fulfilled by those clients who have been attached to the concerned brothels.

It looks from their faces that though business is going through dark phases but soon it will catch up and they will be able to live in bling again.

The Casteless Collective

The Casteless Collective is a Chennai based Tamil indie band.   

The band currently consists of 19 members including Tenma (leader and music producer), singers Muthu, Bala Chandar, Isaivani, Arivu and Chellamuthu, Dharani (Dholak), Sarath (Satti), Gautham (Katta molam), Nandan (Parai and Tavil), Manu Krishnan (drums) and Sahib Singh (guitar).  

Formed in the year 2017, the band was started by Pa. Ranjith and Tamil Indie Musician and Composer, Tenma, founder of Madras Records. The band’s name originated from the phrase ‘Jaathi Illadha Tamizhargal’ which was coined by the 19th century anti caste activist C. Iyothee Thass. He was a social activist who urged Dalits across Tamil Nadu to register themselves as Tamils without caste in the first census in 1871. The band makes music to protest and rebel against the age-old caste-based discrimination and violence. Their songs are political which speaks against the inequalities of the caste system and oppression of women and minorities in Tamil Nadu.  

The leader and music producer of the band, Tenma was preparing to put together a group of indie musical artists for the Madras Indie Collective in 2017 when he got the idea from Pa. Ranjith, of training Gaana musicians for it. They prepared auditions for over 150 applicants and looked for artists who had a socio-political motivation in their lives as well as musical strengths. A mixture of Gaana, hip hop, rap and folk musicians were brought together. About 19 singers were selected for the initial ensemble.  

Jai Bhim Anthem (2018), Quota (2018), Magizhchi (2018), Vada Chennai (2018), Thalaiva (2019), Dabba Dabba (2019) are popular singles of the band.  

It has broken caste boundaries by engaging with the current social and political issue in the state. Instead of making music for entertainment alone the band has tried to eradicate discrimination through its music. Their main intention is “to create political awareness through music and art” because “art which makes us question discomfort is beautiful”. The band is a collective without caste which aims to eradicate caste based and religious discrimination through music.  

The Casteless Collective had their very first concert on January 2018 in Chennai. It was their first performance in front of more than 4000 people. The 19 members including one female artist, all dressed in identical grey suits gave a wonderful performance. Their cries of “Jai Bhim!” would be greeted with thunderous applause. They did not expect such a big entusiastic crowd and it was a very emotional experience for all of them. This was also because most of the artists came from small backgrounds and they had mostly performed in one or two funeral processions. The instumentalists who played katte and chatti were really overwhelmed as these instuments were restricted to only funeral events. 

It was not a concert that had people head-banging or jumping to the beat of drums. Instead, the audience listened to the songs with rapt attention. They broke into applause and shouts of agreement whenever the lyrics hit home. The Bhim Rap, a song on BR Ambedkar’s life and work, was met with a very enthusiastic reception. So was the rap song that condemned honour killings in the name of caste pride which was a major social evil in Tamil Nadu. Another popular track, Madrasin Magizhchi, spoke about the small joys of living in Madras, despite being poor.  

They say that people often ask them about the song lyrics and the stories about their experiences, so a discussion has begun. The band believes that social problems cannot be solved unless it is spoken about. Without discussions around caste-based discrimination one cannot attempt to eradicate the social evil. Their songs have already fulfilled their aim and created a stir among people. We hope that the band achieves greater heights and reaches out to everyone out there who has been a victim of caste discrimination and that it becomes successful in eradicating the malpractices of the system.  

A Health Card

Today Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has declared about ‘One Nation One Health Card’ scheme on the event of 74th Independence Day in his ceremonial speech. This was on cards since long and is going to be implemented in order to transform the health care system of our country. A person’s medical history records including all the treatments, tests etc which the person has undertaken will all be stored at a digital database. The data can be accessed from anywhere by authorised personnel only in the country and now s/he doesn’t have to carry all his/her report files.  

It is not mandatory for now as those who don’t want can opt out from the service, same goes with the hospital as well. Those who want to have an experience of the service will be issued a Unique ID to log in into the portal. This scheme will run in different phases. For starters, Rs 500 crore budget has been allocated for the first phase.

The major issue which people are worried about is the possibility of data breach as the topic of data safety is selling like a hot cake nowadays. But officials are saying that strict privacy features are going to be incorporated to save people’s private data. They clarified more by saying that without permission of willing citizens none of the doctors or hospitals can access the data of health cards.

An insight into Indian Packaging Industry

Indian packaging industry accounts for 4% of the global packaging industry, making it the sixth largest
in the world. The increasing demand for packaged food products, coupled with the convenience
offered by plastic packaging material have helped in the growth of plastic packaging as well as flexible
packaging solutions.
According to Packaging Industry Association of India (PIAI), the flexible packaging industry in India is
growing by a CAGR of nearly 25%, Food & beverage industry is the largest consumer of flexible
packaging products, accounting for nearly 70% of the total consumption.
The demand from pharmaceutical industry for flexible packaging products has been growing by a
strong rate and is expected to continue in the coming years.
Bottle grade PET chips are used in manufacturing PET bottle, which finds application in food &
beverage industry for packaging purposes. The demand for pet bottles has experienced remarkable
growth as their consumption and application have dramatically gone up in various consumer goods
segment for food and non-food application.

Competitive Scenario in Indian flexible packaging industry is fragmented with large number of small and medium sized players and few large players. These large players are characterized by conversion capacities above 5000 tons
per annum, equipped with modern facilities, as well as offer printing solutions to films ranging from
co-extruded to sophisticated multi-layer laminates. India PET chip manufacturing industry comprise of few large players like Reliance Industries, Filatex India Limited, JBF Industries, and Dhunseri Petroleum. These large players account for a significant majority of the total production in India, with Reliance Industries being the clear leader. The
dominance of Reliance Industries could be attributed to the ease of availability of raw materials (which
is produced internally, as Reliance Industries has strong backward integration capabilities).

Rapid growth in demand for packaged food products coupled with increasing shift to flexible packaging from other traditional packaging have helped in increasing the demand for flexible packaging products.Considering the growth potential inherent in Indian packaged food industry, the future demand for flexible packaging products from food & beverage sector looks strong.The demand from pharmaceutical industry for flexible packaging products has been growing by a strong rate and is expected to continue in the coming years.The demand for pet bottles has experienced remarkable growth as their consumption and application have dramatically gone up in various consumer goods segment for food and non-food application. This growth in PET bottle usage has directly resulted in higher demand for bottle grade PET chips manufactured in the country.

Edge Computing

Edge computing is a networking concept that seeks to get computation as close to the database as possible to reduce latency and bandwidth utilization. Simply put, edge computing involves running fewer cloud operations and transferring those operations to local sites, such as on a user’s phone, an IoT system, or an edge server. Bringing computation to the edge of the network minimizes the amount of long-distance communication between a client and a server that must occur.

Imagine a safe house with dozens of high-definition IoT video cameras. Those are ‘dumb’ cameras that essentially emit a raw video signal and send it continuously to a cloud server. On the cloud platform, a motion-detection program takes the video output from all the cameras to guarantee that only clips of action are transferred to the file archive. It ensures there is a persistent and substantial burden on the building’s Internet connectivity, as a large amount of video content being transmitted absorbs considerable bandwidth. Besides, there is a very heavy load on the cloud storage which will concurrently process the video footage from all the cameras.

Consider now that the processing for the motion sensor is pushed to the edge of the network. What if each camera used its internal computer to run the application for motion detection, and then submitted footage as needed to the cloud server? That will result in a substantial decrease in the usage of bandwidth, as most of the video footage would never have to move to the cloud server. The cloud service will now only be responsible for maintaining the relevant video, ensuring the system could connect with a greater range of cameras without overloading. And it feels like edge computing.The cost reduction alone will be a catalyst for several businesses to implement an edge-computing architecture. Companies who adopted the cloud for many of their applications may have noticed that bandwidth costs were higher than anticipated.

However, the main advantage of edge computing is potentially the potential to process and store data more efficiently, making for more effective real-time applications that are vital to businesses. A smartphone scanning a person’s face for facial recognition will need to run the facial recognition algorithm via a cloud-based database before edge computing which will take a lot of time to process.

For an edge computing model, considering the capacity of smartphones, the algorithm may be operated locally on an edge server or gateway, or even on the smartphone itself. Applications like virtual and augmented reality smart cities and even construction-automation systems need fast processing.Worldwide, 5 G broadband systems are introduced by networks that offer the advantages of broad speed and reduced latency for devices, enabling businesses to switch from a garden hose to a firehose for their network bandwidth. Instead of merely providing quicker speeds and advising companies to start storing data in the cloud, several providers are focusing on cutting-edge computing approaches in their 5 G implementations to provide quicker real-time processing, especially for mobile devices, connected cars, and self-driving cars.

It’s obvious that while the original aim for edge computing was to minimize IoT system latency costs over long distances, the proliferation of real-time apps needing local processing and storage resources would push the technology forward in the coming years.

So I am concluding this article here. Hope you guys enjoyed this!