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#GBS ( Give Back to Society ) - I

Two things have suddenly changed my mind on the topic for today’s post.They are :1. The photo of a tall and slender beauty queen distributing meals on her own to a few hungry hundred and 2. An article I read in Scroll.in It says that over 80 millionaires wrote an open letter urging the governments across the world to substantially increase the taxes on them to help accumulating more funds to fight the pandemic. Sounds incredible ! Is n’t it? The signatories were from United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany and New Zealand, who under the umbrella name “Millionaires for Humanity” called    for an “immediate and permanent” imposition of higher taxes on them. Among the signatories were Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield and filmmaker Abigail Disney.The letter went on to say that millionaires like them have a critical role to play in healing of our world !   We are following the stupendous work of Sonu Sood as a one mam army ! Also...

The twin demographic dividends?

News of India’s fatality rate at 2.25% and recovery rate at 64%   has prompted me to choose this for today’s post ! Indeed the news cheers all. India is a country with a high demographic dividend with one of the youngest populations in the world.India’s working age population (people between 15 and 64 years of age ) has now grown larger than the dependent population (below 14 and above 65 years)  The term demographic dividend means the economic growth potential as a result of shifts in a population’s age structure.Now probably the nation is blessed with another kind of demographic dividend in terms of immunity (vital for potential health).the young population has contributed to. Apart from various measures adopted, a number of factors like the age of the affected, that of succumbed, morbidity factors, region they (patients) belong to, gender, blood groups, time lapse between the detection and initiation of remedies, food habits etc are believed to play key role in ...

Rush for gold-sane or insane ?

The yellow metal has been a source of attraction in terms of its lustre, safe haven status,and easy liquidity and more than anything else, the traditional attachment to it in countries like India.The metal has rallied aggressively of late.After a historic high of about $ 1917 an ounce in Aug 2011, it has touched a high of about $ 1880 now!   [One (troy) ounce=31.1 grams and $1~Rs.75/].Since silver is a by product,its price follows in tandem with that of gold and also because it has several uses in different industries.   In India, gold attracts an import duty plus GST with   a total tax incidence of  about 15%..The same tax incidence holds good for silver too. Back home, the price of pure gold (24 ct)    has crossed Rs 51,000/-per 10gm and that of ornament gold ( 22 ct) has crossed Rs.48,000/- per 10 gm , though the prices change somewhat from place to place.The prohibitively high price has kept the retail demand subdued. Gold is continuously tr...

The Joy of learning & the role of Medium

There   are two things a learner must be comfortable with; the meaning ( of what is written or explained) and the concept involved.If the former is not clear, the latter can not be grasped.This is more so in subjects like basic sciences, mathematics etc.In many cases it so happens that the student is stuck at the meaning itself unable to understand what the sentence means ! The MT ( mother tongue ) is the channel through which we   imitate  sounds, repeat them, frame the words, stutter sentences initially, then build up the skills to express, communicate and interact with every one we comes across ! Such is the rock bed of platform on which the edifice of learning is built. We can not do away with English, as text books in many subjects from college level are in English and more so at higher levels in pure science and streams of applied science like engineering and medicine ! The teaching at lower levels may use English terms but medium of explanation,expression and...

The Dark Side of the Lockdown

News of cities and states going into lockdown again ( in many parts of the globe too ) should make us introspect ! In any crisis of such dimension, public   participation is equally important.Undoubtedly, more number of tests is the need of the hour now.With air borne transmission too being almost confirmed the need for social distancing, wearing mask and frequent hand wash form the most important strategy ! No doubt, awareness through media and alerts through caller tunes on mobiles etc played an important role ! But     greater awareness explaining why caution is needed     for the safety and economy of the individuals and that of the nation too may be promoted aggressively!. Reports from various sources indicate that the coronavirus outbreak has caused losses to the tune of about Rs.30 lakh crores to the national economy. . One can guess how long it takes to make up this loss.Making up such a loss would inevitably lead to a higher cost of living, highe...

My Experiments With Laziness

It is well known that obesity is one of the manny problems having health implications and is a growing menace ! Well, compared to the life style people used to have about 2 to 3 decades ago,our lives today are more mechanised and are devoid of the need for physical labor.Inother words, we are rather    propelled into a sedentary lifestyle,while the technological advances have made life easier ! All these in a way are driving our lives to be sluggish and lazy.Naturally, with no major chances of the energy consumed being spent, we may put on weight and even may dive ourselves in to obesity too ! Well, a suitably    framed message that can stir,trigger and prompt an individual to dive into physical activity is a good solution ..The message may be some thing like “be active to avoid hefty health bills” OR “‘think of a while, of those dependent on you” OR    “your family needs your care for a longer time” OR “you should be an inspiration to your children” ...

Fear is the root cause of all Evils

Fear is an unpleasant emotional response to a perception of harm or danger either real or imaginary! The perception of threat may be physical or mental or both ! If we dive deep into the past and introspect, we find most of the fears we had were often not real and or even baseless.Fear   prevents  the individual from his or her abilities being put to optimum use.Also there will be a lot of difference in the quality of outcome from a task performed with and without fear.It is not an exaggeration to say that many students do not score well in the written exams and     interviews     just because of fear but not not because of the needed talent or potential. There are some strategies which are of help at least in select situations.One important strategy is to focus less on the result and more on the effort.Another one is to assert yourself that you are unique, in the world in the     sense that, there is no one else like you.You may be shocked to ...