In a surprise visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Leh early this morning. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief MM Naravane also accompanied the PM on his day long visit to Leh.  The Prime Minister was briefed by Personnel of the Army, Air Force and ITBP at a forward position in Nimu amid ongoing tension with China.

Located at 11,000 feet, the region is among the world’s toughest terrains, surrounded by the Zanskar range and located on the banks of the river Indus.

AIR correspondent reports, with an aim to  boost the morale of soldiers, PM Narendra Modi is in Leh. Without any information to many, PM Modi landed in Leh. Immediately on his arrival PM Modi took off to Nimo, a nearby village where Military engineering services have given him a demonstration of equipment that meets the requirements of Army personnel along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Ladakh.

At the technical area, the PM is being received by the Ladakh Lieutenant Governor RK Mathur and MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal. PM Narendra Modi ‘s visit definitely sends a strong signal across the border about preparedness.

PM Modi will be briefed by the senior Army officials at Hall of Fame in Leh. 

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the  visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ladakh and his meeting with army soldiers and encouraging  them, has certainly boosted the morale of the army. In a tweet, Mr Singh said, the borders of the country have always remained  secure in the hands of the army. He  thanked the Prime Minister for this move.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also said in a tweet that India is so proud of Mr Narendra Modi who is in Leh today to encourage our brave soldiers.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ladakh will tremendously bolster the morale of our armed forces. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the  visit of  Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Leh will surely boost the morale of our valorous soldiers. In a tweet, Mr Shah said that Mr Modi is  with our brave and courageous personnel of Army, Air Force and  ITBP at a forward location in Ladakh.

does it happen to you, too? this unnamed feeling that comes quietly and leaves you feeling empty? you’re doing nothing, and suddenly, you feel terribly sad. this sadness that you feel suddenly and you don’t know where it’s coming from?

you’re sitting with your family and the spirits are high. you are laughing with them and everyone is happy. but suddenly, you go quiet, as if someone said something mean to you. but no one spoke a word. you can still hear everyone talking and laughing, it’s just you who has changed from within.

it’s like someone or something unplugged your “happy-fuse”. you no longer feel the way you were feeling moments ago.

you’re out with your friends, celebrating, and this feeling returns. you start to feel lonely and want to get back home as quickly as possible. you’re suddenly annoyed by the little things everyone around you does.

you don’t have tears in your tears. you want to cry, but tears don’t come to you. you’re so lost inside your head, trying to look for a reasonable explanation to what just happened? you cannot shake this unnamed feeling.

inside your head, you start searching for a reason, for that moment where it went wrong, but there’s nothing. to your friends, you have zoned out.

and then, someone brings it up, “something happened?”, or “are you lost?”. how do you explain someone something when you don’t even understand it yourself? how do you explain that you need a moment alone, away from everything, and this unnamed feeling is an uninvited guest that’ll leave you empty for minutes or weeks?

do you feel this way, too? if you do, i hope whatever is hurting you, i hope you make peace with it.

when was the last time you felt terribly alone? last week? yesterday?

we all have been there. the last time when you wanted to talk to someone and you reached till the end of your contact list and didn’t find a name?

you have so many unread messages in your inbox. you have so many conversations, every day. but you just don’t ‘vibe’ with anyone. you don’t find that connection. you just can’t let your guard down and share everything with someone.

and when you do, you end up blabbering. you end up oversharing. you end up saying things you shouldn’t have.

how long has it been since you had a ‘deep’ conversation with your friend over beer that lasted until 2 am? that’s the thing with loneliness. it hits differently when you have some happy news but you don’t have someone who would listen to you.

and maybe gotye was right when he sang, ‘you can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness.’ after a point, you just accept it. you accept that this is your life where you have ten friends who you can chill ‘with’. and no one who would want to listen to your sob stories on the days when you feel low.

then there are days when you don’t even need anyone. you sit down with a cup of chai and you play some nice music. in those moments, it feels a little less lonely. but then the song ends, or you finish your cup of chai. and then loneliness comes knocking on your door like an uninvited guest. it sits down on your couch and refuses to leave your room until the next morning.

to be honest, the feeling of being ‘lonely’ sucks. on some nights, it sucks more. so you just pull your pillow close. hug it tight. and wait for all of it to pass.

sadness is a perpetual feeling and we all are born with it. there is no escaping or hiding from it. when you feel sad, remember, this feeling is a part of you. and it’s okay.

it’s okay if your parents didn’t understand you. if they made a ‘joke’ that hurt you. or your sibling snitched on you. remember, people you grow up with – they have your best interest, even when it’s twisted.

it’s okay if you feel you’ve no one to tell a funny story to, to have a friend over for sleepover, to have a 3 am friend. like me, keep a journal. or sleep through your problem.

love doesn’t always have to love you back. it’s okay. there is nothing wrong with you or them. you can only love someone so much. sometimes, acceptation of rejection is all you need to love again.

i get it if you’re tired of being a nice friend who listens to everyone’s problem. you don’t owe your life to people you spend time with. you can and should be with yourself and listen to some of your favourite songs.

it’s okay if they didn’t text back. try not to overthink things, okay? sometimes, you got to be patient and give them space, too. even if it’s your best friend.

it’s okay if you couldn’t complete the book you’d been excited about. something has been eating you from within, i get it. write about this feeling.

it’s okay to have an existential crisis. just a friendly reminder: no one can give you a map to success and happiness. you’ve to find it yourself.

people leave. this world is a sad place. we all are wanderers. when you are sad, remember, you’re not alone in this. things get worse to get better. and then, it’ll get worse again. it’s a complete cycle. your happiness didn’t stay. neither will your sadness. as they say, this too shall pass, as all things do.

of all the people i know, you all are the only people i can be honest with about my feelings. you’ve seen my cry about boys who don’t matter anymore and friends who are long gone. yet, i never got a chance to say how blessed i am to have you guys in my life.

this is a letter of that sort that ends with i love you.

you’ve known me the longest and you know about my emotional unavailability. you know everything about me – from how i prefer pyjamas to the type of music i listen to.

you were there when i was going through a phase of short hair and “discovering” myself. you have seen my discover myself – everything i am and couldn’t be. you were there when i wrote my first poem, and when i thought overdoing the kohl in my eye would make me look like Avril Lavigne.

you might not have witnessed every family drama, but you sure knew every story, every detail. and you had your own theories about my uncles and aunts.

you all have roasted me in our whatsapp group, surprised me on my birthdays, and stopped me from talking to that fuccboi. you’ve forgiven me and guided me.

this letter is a reminder of how much you all mean to me. it’s a reminder of how many times you’ve let me make my choices just so i could learn. you were always there to pick me up when i fell. and this is a letter we will never, ever talk about again, okay?

thank you for being calling me out when I need it. i am grateful that I have you. I love you.

do you have any idea how difficult it is to love anyone after you left? my friends kept telling me to not trust you so soon. but i was this naive person. i believed in every lie that came out of your pretty mouth as if they were verses straight out of the bible.

i remember taking you to my favorite cafe where we sat down for hours and tried to study. i remember those bus ridess which used to be my favourite, on our way back home. i remember waking up and not finding you in bed. how was i so stupid? and you know, i wouldn’t hate you so much if it all ended with you.

you’ve scarred me in ways that nobody can see. you know, there’s this person who’s always around. he knows how i like to hog the entire blanket when i sleep. he knows so much about me. things you never even tried to know. things which really mattered to me.

and it really breaks my heart that i am not able to love him like i loved you. deep down, i know he doesn’t deserve my second-hand love. do you know how difficult it is to let go of love just because you have lost the capacity to love someone?

i remember, whenever you’d hug me, you’d whisper in my ears, “you’re beautiful.” and i’d melt. and now, i fucking hate it when someone calls me beautiful. it’s like reliving a memory that’s so scarring. a memory that i so badly want to wipe away like it never existed.

you know, there are so many terrible things in this world but making someone fall for you without any intention of loving them back has to be the worst thing you can do to someone, emotionally. it’s as if your kisses never meant a thing. it’s as if, we never meant anything. our promises were just words for you.

now, i don’t have it in me to trust people. you’ve made me hide behind a wall. i am now scared to love because of you. you know, i hate you. but i hate myself more for believing in everything that you said.

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”
Lao Tzu

Today I’d like to focus on a negative habit that creates insecurity within, erodes self-esteem and can make you feel quite unhappy with your own life.

It’s something that has sprung up as we have moved a part of our lives on to the internet and social media.

And that habit is to compare yourself and your life to other people’s highlight reels.

What do I mean by that?

That it’s so easy to start comparing your life to the lives of friends, old classmates or celebrities of all sizes as you each day see how perfect their homes, kids, love lives are and how filled their lives are with wonderful moments.

But is that their whole lives that is shared on Facebook and instagram?

Usually not.

It’s just the highlight reel of that person’s life. The positive moments.

And it’s natural thing really, to want to share such moments or days with your friends or followers.

Now, for some people this may develop into something destructive.

Into a way of creating a more perfect image of one’s life to get that hit of instant gratification as people add positivity via comments, likes and upvotes.

But everyone has problems at times.

They fail. Get sick. Have flaws, bad days or negative habits.

No matter who you are or what you look like or do.

I have those issues too. Just like anyone else.

I still stumble and fall on some days. Doubt myself or am pessimistic from time to time. That’s human.

So don’t strive for being perfect or measuring yourself against someone else’s highlight reel.

Here are three healthier steps you can take instead:

Step 1: Compare in a smarter way. 

There will always be people who have more or nicer things than you.

Or are better than you at something. No matter what you do.

So if you want to compare then do it in a way that won’t make you feel envious and inferior.

Do it by comparing yourself to yourself. See how far you have come. Look back at the obstacles you have overcome, what you have learned and how you have grown.

Step 2: Spend your energy and time on what matters the most. 

Step by step spend the hours in your day and week on building habits that will make you a better person and a happier one too.

For example, aim at being optimistic 70% of the time if you have been it maybe 50% in the past month.

Or spend more of your weekly free time on your favorite hobby or on sharpening a valuable skill. 

Step 3: Let go of what drags you down. 

If necessary unsubscribe or remove social media accounts from your flow if you feel they are dragging you down and lowering your self-esteem. Even if those things might also be entertaining right now.

Life isn’t just a highlight reel no matter who shares it.

So look beyond that, remember that everyone is human and stop comparing yourself to that limited view of someone.

In the long run you’ll be happy that you did.

In Delhi, the season temperature was in average 40-50 degree celsius in all the June month. But the july comes with a starting relief pack of rainfall in which heavy rainfall recorded over regions of NCR. Everyone in the NCr region was suffering from summer loo attack in June with the uncontrolled heatups of sun. But today’s rainfall really making everyone happy. Because it will sure drop down the temperature.

Rainfall is always welcome in Delhi as it’s really needed to nourish the whole environment and also makes the air super clean. But the problem appears when this rainfall deposit over the corners of road due to which traffic is very much disturbed. For this the municipal corporation should go ahead and check all the water flow holes on the road and also ensure it’s not blocked.

But Afterall it’s the first rainfall and everyone should enjoy it and try to avoid taking cold food items because that can make some problem in throat and specially this time where coronavirus is spreading across the whole nation…

The main purpose of education is to set us free from the societal and psychological preconceived notions. Education is one of the greatest tools that enables human beings to understand the world on different levels and from different perspectives. Being able to be educated is a privilege that many people don’t happen to have which is extremely saddening and disheartening.

However, the way formal education has been turning out to be over the past few years has brought about a lot of problems in the educational field which affects every one in some way or the other. Some of the drawbacks that the formal educational system seems to have are mentioned below.

1. No freedom of explanation:

Formal educational system focuses on a few concepts that are to be followed in the same way for years and decades. This system has led to a confined space within which the students are trapped. They do not get the scope and time to explore different domains of education due to their fixed syllabus coverage prescribed by their institutions no matter where their interests lie.

2. Conventional methods of teaching and learning:

The formal educational programs are conducted does not really leave much room for trying different experimentative methods. It not only hampers the creativity of the students but teachers also happen to be trapped within this conventional pedagogical process.

3. Extracurricular activities are limited:

Formal educational systems do not really allow students to go beyond their fixed domains of activities. They even prescribe a concrete syllabus for subjects like Arts, Music, Theatre, Sports, Physical Activities so on and so forth. Due to this obnoxious confined zone of prescribed courses students do not get to explore other horizons of creativity on their own. Even if some of them manage to do so, they are not really appreciated to continue further.

4. Overburdening syllabus:

Students are required to finish a huge range of subjects and topics according to their prescribed syllabus within a very short and limited period of time. At times it becomes really hard for them to cope up with the pressure and breaking through this whole process to pursue their creativity becomes a difficult challenge for many.

5. Flawed evaluation methods:

Each and every student according to the formal educational system is supposed to go through the same evaluation process that most of the time fails to judge their creativity in a proper way. The same old system of evaluation based on written tests is baseless since many students are as articulate and as expressive as some of the other students are. That does not necessarily mean they do not have creative ideas. Sometimes those who fail to express what they know in words, turn out to be the most intelligent ones. The formal traditional evaluation methods totally fail to measure the cognitive and creative aspects of students and just go on judging them based on some average stereotypical procedures. It not only fails to evaluate them properly but also ends up being a failed and flawed system itself.

Students and their parents also tend to measure their creativity by these so-called traditional evaluation techniques and end up being totally disappointed and heartbroken. are some of the major issues about formal education that not only discourage creative minds but also leave some deep emotional scars which lead to long-term psychological issues that the students have to deal with throughout their whole lives.

-Suvasree Bandyopadhyay

• 

In a new research, scientists from China, have identified a “recently emerged” strain of influenza virus.

Virus is infecting Chinese pigs and that has the potential of triggering a pandemic. scientists named it G4, the swine flu strain has genes similar to those in the virus that caused the 2009 flu pandemic.

The scientists suggest that controlling the prevailing G4 Eurasian-Avian like (EA) H1N1 viruses in pigs and closely monitoring human populations, especially workers in the swine industry, should be “urgently implemented”.

China has the largest population of pigs in the world. whole world is already suffering the novel corona virus badly.

In such situation, these type of news creates an awful atmosphere. If the mistake is made by China same as with Corona, the condition would go to be very severe.

We need to prepare ourselves for this flu along fighting with Corona pandemic.

If this flu is not treated well and another pandemic is established anyhow, then it would indicate the end of world gradually by all means.