"College life was a lot of fun, though problems come as fast as the cheetah runs, but its what motivates me to do the best I can"

One of the most interesting stages in life that gives you an opportunity to explore is the ‘college phase.’ Life at college is the time when the teenage years end and we all dive deep into the ocean of new beginnings and possibilities. This golden period better equips you for all the challenges you’ll face in life and creates a strong foundation of knowledge. 

My experience as a first year student of LSR and the experience of bring bubbled at home due to COVID-19 taught me one thing ,“Life is unpredictable.”

You can be sunflowers as college might be good, it might be bad, it might be weird, and it might not interest you, but expect anything to happen. 

For example, you might have a wonderful internship this moment, and be fired the very next moment. College life prepares you for all of this. It is a Melting pot, with perfect blend of joy and hardships. A melting pot where all cultures melt to give you “Exposure”.  You meet different people, you interact with them, you learn about their cultures and grow as a person. You will understand how to talk to different people, how to judge their behaviour, thus helping you with important life skills.  

You learn to sit through a boring lecture; you try to cope up with the surprisingly strenuous syllabus, and you have the opportunity to learn from some great research minds. Academia, as they say, never lets you go free. People might try to motivate you by telling that you need to study only through your school years and chill during the college life, but that isn’t true.

Another life lesson you will remember – the learning never ends. You find campus groups or student groups where you can explore your co-curricular skills along with many other students like you. You share common interests, and thus you share common ideas. There might have been a time where you would have had to give up drawing for your Board Examination Preparation. 

Trust me, once you get into a good college, you will get an opportunity to be the artist you always wanted to be through probably a fine arts campus group. You could be that director, you could be that vocalist, you could be the dancer of your dreams – college is the Santa Claus that keeps on giving all these wonderful opportunities while you’re in it. There are also campus festivals, which draw a lot of fun crowd from other colleges and let you show off your skills. You could also enjoy with the celebrities who are invited to perform, or even show off your technical prowess in a tech festival.

And obviously, the seniors. If I were asked to play a icebreaker round and had to choose between Friends and Seniors. SENIORS!, I would scream that. Seniors of your societies or even departments are the people who mould you. Seeing them is learning as they are the best influencers in College life. Even in a party, they teach you lot. How to balance everything ? 

So, one fine day when you see pictures from the college of you and your friends having a good time, you’ll definitely land up smiling silently. That’s the beauty of college life. It stays with you long after you’ve climbed those ladders of success and forgotten the name of that cute crush you used to drool over.

Life at college is a wild mish-mash of experiences, what with all sort of hilarious stuff going down in the hostels!

The life at college is a time when you can decide your career. It’s a time of dreams and innumerable paths. You can work for a non-profit organization and even gain the satisfaction of being a humanitarian. The point is that you are free to try out these new things and no one is going to forcefully control the decisions you make. Every nook and corner of the college you’d find a peaceful spot full of natural surroundings, who’s value you will only realize once you graduate from your campus. You will always remember the early morning fog, your hostel’s adorable “puppy” or even your grumpy stationery shopkeeper and the morning ice teas of Nescafe as I miss it right now.

Uncertainty: The COVID and answer to all our questions

New sessions, results, new college, societies, new city. All the dreams and hopes were shattered due to the Pandemic. And the only answer to our questions is ‘ Uncertainty’.  The on field experiences of college campus can’t be fulfilled by online classes. The loss of  morning chit chat session about politics and fashion with cheese sandwich and  ice tea can’t be fixed.  

Circumstances and Human Race has always been close relatives as we “ HOOMANS” can fight all odds and still be productive. Colleges have offered students hell lot of opportunities with work from Home culture, which made the productivity race a proton factor.

Well, we need to understand that the ‘new normal’ has to be the reality and the race of productivity sometimes needs to be balanced.  

So, remember that there will be moments that carry a lot of sentimental value and you can’t help but procrastinate about the normal life. But even the friendships you make in college life and through the online classes is the most important aspect. These people will give you strength and be your knights in shining armor all your life. The time you spend with your friends, playing Mafia, Poker, or arguing about any random topic, your regular lecture “ online bunking” to watch a new release of your favorite star, will always stay in your heart. Planning road trips for post covid, and impulsive binge watching —all these things make you more emotional. So, just adapt to situations now and hope for the best.

 

Reality and movies?

There are moments when the realism on screen is so wonderfully complex yet simply presented that you laugh , cry , move and grow with the charachters. There is however an important question to ask oneself on what comprises as a story and the process of creating movies based on real life . Real life inspired movies evoke emotions and heighten human feelings but is there overcompensation for creativity by picking up anecdotes from lives , war ,and battles ? Is the idea of a biopic or a movie like Uri so appealing that there is hardly any space for other films left . The brutal way in which filmmakers today takeover someone's loss, tragedy or shock and create a business around it is heartbreaking more often than less. Yes some biopics are truly moving and a absolutely beautiful but is it truly a celebration of life or a success formula. With recent events in the lives of the army at Galwan where more than 20 soldiers were martyred in a court somewhere filmmakers were getting copyright patents finalised. Is this commodification of lives truly what viewers intend to see, most wouldn't. It doesn't mean that real life incidents shouldn't be displayed, they deserve the attention and representation but they have to remain to be art .It is extremely essential for the things around us to be portrayed, reflected and represented but it in no way means that every incidents as soon as it happens need to be processed into a film before those who have suffered have even processed that grief. It is a voluntary act to be comfortable with letting the world see you through your biopic but shouldn't creative realism transcend the over use of people's lives and move towards a more content generated wave of cinema that we see today. Today more and more filmmakers want to let content drive their films and not the larger than life fantasy. So its it's an act of introspection that a film enthusiast has to do , towards the kind of stories that they seem important and want to see while at the same time being sensitive to what those films represent .

Taking a strict action against the country's online security matters, India has recently banned around 59 Chinese origin apps which included popular apps like TikTok, Cam Scanner, Xender etc.

This has triggered a sort of digital cold war between the two countries who are already having tension on the borders. 

Weibo was one such app to be banned by the Indian Govt. To give momentum to the drive, The Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi has deleted his personal Weibo account.

PM Modi's Weibo account was created back then in 2015 and he was quite active on the platform with around 100 posts and 200,000 followers.

It is to be noted that China has negligible presence on Non-China based apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp etc.

PM Modi was one of the few international leaders who was using this platform apart from some of the Chinese leaders.

 

It was a proud moment for all the Indians, when United Nations, honored K. K. Shailaja, The Health Minister of the state of Kerala, India for her great efforts to fight against the pandemic COVID-19 in her state.

It was on the 24th of June that Ms. Shailaja was honored and was amongst several esteemed leaders across the globe to be speaking on the ocassion of United Nations Public Service Day.

K. K Shailaja had presented the Kerala model for the fight against COVID-19 in a webinar organized by the UN, on the 24th June.

The webinar was on Pandemic and Public Service Delivery, examining the critical role of public servants at national and local level.

With this great achievement, the Kerala Health Minister has received appreciation and accolades from various parts of the world and Kerala Model is being recognized in the fight towards COVID-19.

The government of India on Monday, June 28, 2020 announced yet another astounding news across the country. All Chinese app which are available for android as well as iOS users will be banned, effective immediately, as a result of which a day later, one of the most installed apps; Tik Tok has been taken down from Google Playstore and Apple’s Appstore.

Considering the uproar against Tik Tok which was a result of the CarryMinati’s video which has been eradicated from the popular platform of YouTube, titled “YouTube vs Tik Tok.” The war between content creators comparing the mediums and unity within the community while CarryMinati’s video was reported for harassment and cyberbullying. Following this, the content was critically analysed on the app and hence, brought on a huge negativity on the platform. All this while the apps functionality was also analysed which revealed the Chinese apps were engaged activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and of India, Defence of India and security and state of public order.

For those who have installed the app “Tik Tok” have received an alert which read “Dear users, we are in the process of complying with the Government of India’s directive to block 59 apps. Ensuring this privacy and security of all our users in India remains our utmost priority.” It has also been claimed by some users that they’ve been facing difficulty whilst scrolling through their feed or they’re unable to it at all and some are even unable to upload videos and a pop-up flashes “network issue.” One explanation to this can be that the telecom operators must have blocked Tik Tok until the government’s next order.

This has also resulted in a moment of cheer for Carry’s fans who had helped trend a hashtag fancied in his name #justiceforcarry  following the removal of the video. Many also felt that the 21-year-old YouTuber predicted the End of Tik Tok.

According to the Digital Forensics, an Open Technology Fund contracted Cure53, which a Germany based cybersecurity firm, examined the Chinese apps by disuniting the app and determining its capabilities. The researchers investigated the Android version of the app, used in smartphones manufactures by Oppo, vivo etc. as in iOS does not allow the type of “superuser” surveillance to be conducted. Although it wasn’t possible to assess the apps functionalities due to the code designed to thwart the attempts to dissect the app, It managed to expose that the code manages to open a back door to the users phone, this, in turn grants the developer of the app tantamount right to the users phone, allowing to download any software, modify files and, install a program to log key strokes, have access to all the messages as well as pictures and even allows them to turn on the microphone as per their will.

This study was reported in the United States of America.

In India, the recommendation of the intelligence agencies backed by the National Security Council Secretariat supported the take of the decision which could be detrimental to the country’s security, a report which was claimed by an unnamed government official. The Ministry of Information Technology received complaints from various sources regarding the misuse of some application in transmission of data in an unauthorized manner to servers with location outside India. The Indian Intelligence agency red flagged these Chinese apps as it challenged the privacy concerns of the users. They were left with two choices, either advice people to not to use the apps or ban the use of it once n for all.

Official press released on the ban of these apps, the Ministry of Information Technology claimed, “invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps ( see Appendix) since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” Adding to their statement, “upon receiving of recent credible inputs that such Apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the Government of India has decided to disallow the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet enabled devices. This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace.”

The step has proved to the assurance that India is not only on the verge but it is going to prove it is “atmanirbhar.” The ban on the applications also imply the intensive invasiveness is unacceptable by India and that the relation between the two countries cannot be mended. India has officially made it’s relations with the country loud and clear.

The list of the apps banned is as follows-

#dbdbdb ; border-left:1px solid #dbdbdb ; border-right:1px solid #dbdbdb ; border-top:1px solid #dbdbdb ; vertical-align:top"> Tik Tok Shareit Kwai UC Browser Baidu map Shein Clash of Kings DU battery saver Helo Likee YouCam makeup Mi Community CM Browers Virus Cleaner APUS Browser ROMWE Club Factory Newsdog Beutry Plus WeChat UC News QQ Mail Weibo Xender QQ Music QQ Newsfeed Bigo Live SelfieCity Mail Master Parallel Space

#dbdbdb ; border-left:none; border-right:1px solid #dbdbdb ; border-top:1px solid #dbdbdb ; vertical-align:top"> Mi Video Call – Xiaomi WeSync ES File Explorer Viva Video – QU Video Inc Meitu Vigo Video New Video Status DU Recorder Vault- Hide Cache Cleaner DU App studio DU Cleaner DU Browser Hago Play With New Friends Cam Scanner Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile Wonder Camera Photo Wonder QQ Player We Meet Sweet Selfie Baidu Translate Vmate QQ International QQ Security Center

Which on-screen couple do you think was the best amongst the following?

The Australian cybersecurity attack spanned government, industry, political organizations, education, health, essential service providers, and operators of other critical infrastructure.

Australia refused to give any further details regarding the attacks. Previously, defense manufacturers, government contractors, and accounting firms have been among those to report data breaches.

According to Prime Minister Morrison, Australia's government and institutions are being targeted by ongoing sophisticated state-based cyber hacks, for a long time. But the Cyber intelligence experts have long linked various hacks in Australia to China.

Australia is reluctant to name the culprit or suspect because relations between the countries have grown tense in recent years.

Investigations are going on, but what we know is that Australia's leadership has chosen a moment when its relationship with its powerful trading partner is at an all-time low to announce publicly that it is under cyber-attack from a powerful state.

HOME SCHOOLING: Rejection of the cookie-cutter approach to education

“The philosophy of Home Schooling is, you take real life and then you turn that into schooling.”

“Tota Kahani” by Rabindranath Tagore narrates the story of a free-spirited parrot who would hop, skip, fly and sing all day. A king ordered that the bird be 'civilized', and so it was put in a golden cage. In the flood of restrictions and instructions, it soon forgot to sing, and then, couldn't even squawk. When it tried to fly, its wings were clipped. Soon the parrot died, with not a sound except for the rustle of books in its stomach.

The same story is painted on the walls of Shikshantar in Udaipur, which calls itself a people's institute for rethinking education and development. In the mural, trapped in its gilded cage, this parrot, too, forgets how to sing. But unlike in Tagore's story, the narrative in Shikshantar has been tweaked to accommodate hope. Here, the parrot breaks free instead, snapping, as it were, the shackles of 'formal schooling'.

Homeschooling is home education. In many ways, homeschooling is a more organic form of education that focuses on getting out of traditional classrooms that focus on a one-to-many, generalist education. A homeschool-styled learning environment is more personalized to the student, with individual attention. If your son is struggling in reading or writing, parents can take the time necessary to make sure he masters the concepts. In fact, unlike a traditional classroom where curriculum and resources are predetermined, a homeschool program can change curriculum and tactics to ensure a successful outcome. Likewise, if your daughter is excelling in math or science, there is no need to proceed at a slow pace or continue using a curriculum that may not be challenging enough.

In short, homeschooling is about one-to-one learning.

Homeschooling has gained popularity in the new millennium with a small minority of households abandoning the rote learning and exam-obsessed mainstream school system to provide their children individualized primary-secondary education at home to develop their creative, critical thinking and problem solving cognitive capabilities.

Broadly speaking, home educators divide into three major groups: those who are motivated by religious and moral reasons; those who have philosophical or pedagogical reasons; and those who turn to home education because of problems their children experience in school, both academic and social.

Home Schooling in India lays down its root from the ancient gurukul schooling system which was based on parent/teacher-led education in home environments. Rabindranath Tagore's Visva-Bharati University, Sri Aurobindo's Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education and Mahatma Gandhi's ideal of "basic education had the element of home-schooling.

Homeschooling in India does not require any registration, recognition or regulation by any agency or authority. Most parents who choose to do so either follow the CBSE curriculum or opt for the state board syllabus. Home schooled children can appear for the IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams as private candidates, or write the Class 10/12 examinations of the National Institute of Open Learning (NIOS), which gives students the option to get a degree or certificate and is conducted at centres across the country. Sahal Kaushik, the youngest pupil to not only crack IIT but also topple in Delhi with AIR 33 at the age of 14 is the gift of Home-schooling.

In the United States — inevitably the pioneer of homeschooling — an estimated 2.3 million children are being educated at home with this number growing by 7-12 percent annually. According to Brian D. Ray, president of the Salem (Oregon)-based National Home Education Research Institute, homeschooling “may be the fastest growing form of education in the United States”.

Expansion of the notion of learning

The truth is, children are born learning; it’s a survival skill that comes naturally to them. Genuine learning can go beyond core educational topics. The proponents of Home Schooling argue that school is a monoculture which limits the learning process of children and formal schooling forces to study only specified subjects, play prescribed sports, and mingle with children in their own age groups in strictly controlled environments. Such regimentation is contrary to the natural growth cycle of children. Home Schooling children learn socialization skills by interacting with people of all age groups and elements of nature such as animals and plant life.

 Following interests

So, if your kid loves video games, play with them. Read a graphic novel on Minecraft. If they’re interested in knights and superheroes, read books on the subject. Draw them on construction paper, or in sidewalk chalk outside. Talk about what it means to be a hero.

Flexibility.

If your child is struggling with a subject or a specific concept, you do not need to skip it and move on. Instead, you can work with your child until she/ he has mastered the material. Homeschooling allows you to take all the time you need to ensure learning is taking place. Likewise, if your child is ready to move on, you do not need to waste time on redundant or repetitive lessons. Homeschooling children can move through educational materials at a faster pace than their peers.

Practical Learning

Kids who are homeschooled also may get out in their communities more than other kids. They might get to experience hands-on education at museums, libraries, businesses, marinas, and other community resources. They also might volunteer or participate in "service learning" where they take on local projects.

 The pathway to unlocking your child’s potential.

Teach for India fellow Harshad Tathed, who worked on a documentary film titled Project Nomad about alternative education including homeschooling in India, believes this alternative schooling system is becoming increasingly popular because of its mix of basic elementary education and propensity to develop the special intelligence of children. “Children learn best when they are encouraged to question, investigate and research. This transforms them into creative and innovative problem solvers. According to a study conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA, in 2017, at age three, 98 percent of children are creative, but by the time they reach the age of 15, only 2 percent remain creative. This shocking revelation prompted me to work on the documentary film to educate parents about the benefits of homeschooling and other alternative education options,” says Tathed, chief executive of Swayam Bodh Gurukul, a learning centre in Pune which tutors children who fail in school or “don’t like going to school at all”.

Special Care

Parents of children who have learning disabilities are another set who opt for homeschooling because they feel schools are unable to cater to the special needs of their kids.

 Lack of Socialization

The standard notions that home-based education leads to socially ill-adjusted children and limited career opportunities for them. Effects on social life can be another possible disadvantage for homeschooled kids. All kids need to have friends and be around other children. Some homeschoolers may feel cut off from kids their age or feel like they spend too much time with their families.

Lack of Infrastructures

 A kid who's homeschooled doesn't have the convenience of school facilities, such as a gymnasium, science lab, or art studio. The child may be taught at the kitchen table or at a "school" area in the home. He or she might do science experiments in the kitchen or go outside to work on an art project. Some parents who homeschool their kids form groups so their kids can go together to take art classes and take part in other group learning activities, like field trips.

With home education gaining momentum and respectability worldwide, suspicion about the academic proficiency of homeschooled children is waning.

Some of the disadvantages of homeschooling include, homeschooled children tend to be pampered mother’s darlings who can’t take the heat of competition in adult life. There’s also a good chance of their transforming into self-indulgent and undisciplined spoiled brats grown fat on extravagant meals.

Home Schooling has washed up on Indian shores, it’s a tiny minority movement because it requires extraordinary investment in terms of time, dedication, patience and relearning capabilities on the part of one or increasingly, both parents — a difficult proposition for two-income households.

At least one parent has to sacrifice her career ambitions or place them on hold. Therefore, despite widespread dissatisfaction with factory-style exam-oriented primary-secondary education, the overwhelming majority of the country’s 60 million middle-class households can’t afford to homeschool their children.

How is homeschool socialization different?

For one thing, homeschoolers do not have the same exposure to peer pressure and bullying, both of which are tied to poorer academic performance and lower self-esteem.

Homeschooling also means less daily interaction with large numbers of kids in a child’s age group. And homeschoolers can end up spending less time each day participating in organized sports and activities with their peers.

However, this does not mean that homeschoolers have no access to their peers, or have no ability to play sports or socially interact with others outside their family. In fact, on average, homeschoolers participate more in their community, are less sedentary, and socialize with a wider mix of adults (especially professionals) than their public school counterparts. As part of its flexible nature and focus on one-on-one / personalized learning, homeschooling involves more field trips, real-life experiences, and hands-on learning. When it comes to sports, homeschoolers often participate in recreational leagues or homeschool sports classes offered in their community. Some students are homeschooled because their athletic or artistic talents have them engaged in sports and activities at a higher level.

While governments across the world still dwell on the nature of life and the post lockdown measures with people continuing to cope with life in a pandemic the news of a plane crash from Pakistan shook many.Around 09:45 GMT on Friday Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-8303 from Lahore to Karachi went down.With 99 people aboard the flight was said to be rapidly losing altitude. 

An investigation has been launched to piece together how the plane developed a fatal technical fault that led to the crash with the black box, or the light data recorder and cockpit voice recorder recovered from the site. It brought light to the events that led to this crash.The pilot had contacted the air traffic controllers regarding the engine power failure on both the plane engines. The last audible message from the pilot were Mayday calls.The controllers gave the clearing for both landing strips while enquiring whether the plane would have a belly landing. After trying to land twice at the airport it crashed short off the runway into Model Colony neighbourhood, a crowded residential district. 

The fuming black clouds and the burning smell covered the region with parts of the plane scattered on the streets with building damaged and burned with more than 25 affected houses already cleared the damage is quite a lot .One of the survivors awoke to these surrounding before jumping out towards a beam of light as the only ray of hope amongst the dark fumes and screams that surrounded him in that moment. The other survivor remembers the turbulence and then he had lost much of his senses. Two male survivors had been identified after the crash with at least 97 dead amongst crew and passengers. Interestingly both the survivors were at the front of the plane. 

With what had seemed to be a journey towards Eid al-Fitr celebration it turned into a day of remorse for the country which had only opened air transport the previous 

week. The accurate cause of the crash is still under investigation with prayers for the ones lost and battling being said across the country.