Student population rises 30%, Muslims beat national average Subodh Varma   Christians At 80% But 1 In 4 Without Jobs India's student population in the 5-19 age group has in creased by 30% between 2001and 2011but the rise is unevenly distributed among religious communities, with lagging sections playing catch up.Among Muslims, the number of students surged by 44%, and within that, girls recorded a staggering 53% rise. As a result, students now make up 63% of this age group among Muslims. This is still behind the 73% among Hindus, 80% in Christians and 88% in Jains -the highest student ratio in the 5-19 age bracket. Details of student populations and employment among various religious communities are available in freshly released Census data. In the 20-29 age group, the share of those seeking work was 20% nationwide. Among Christian youth, unemployment was strikingly higher at 26%. This is worrying because Christians were among the highest educated communities in the last Census, with 71% of those aged 5-19 studying. Religious communities that had embraced education more widely in the past, like the Christians, Sikhs, and Jains, understandably show much smaller changes since the last Census in 2001. In fact, among Jains, there is a 10% decline in the number of students, a result of slow population growth, leading to fewer children in the studying age group though the student-population ratio is the highest. A significant increase is also seen in `other reli gious persuasions', which mainly comprise various tribal communities and faiths with fewer adherents like Parsis and Jews. The number of students increased by 64% for these communities as a whole. Another feature of the changes in student populations is the high pace of growth of girl students. Barring Sikhs and Jains, the rate of increase is higher among girls in all communities. Among Hindus, the number of male students increased by 22%, compared to 36% for girls. Among Muslims, the corresponding figures were 37% and 53% and among `other religions', 48% and a phenomenal 86%. All this points to the tremendous urge across faiths to attain education. Those with limited access to education earlier, whether as communities or as women across communities, are now embracing it. Hence, Muslims, tribals and women show the highest degree of change over a decade. Just over 2% of students are working part-time as marginal workers. This proportion reaches nearly 4% for Christians and crosses 6% among `other religions'. Source: Times of India, 10-06-2016  

Live IIT lectures to be aired on TV via HRD channels

Going a step further with ‘Digital India’ mission, the Union Human Resource Department (HRD) would be soon starting 32 Direct-to-Home channels for catering to the needs of students.

With this development, students across the country would be able to watch live telecast of lectures from six IITs and some other top institutions while seated comfortably at their homes. To make this progressive project a reality, the department of space would be allotting two transponders on a GSAT series satellite. Moreover, MoUs have been signed with many institutions, for providing lessons and content that will be aired  on these channels

With this project in place, the government wants to utilise space technology to expand the reach of high-quality education. Through the 32 DTH channels, the aim is to ensure that live classrooms can be transmitted from ten ‘Teaching Ends’ out of which six will be IITs located in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur and Guwahati. Additionally, lectures of over a dozen other premier institutions will also reach students on their TVs.

These channels will be freely available on Doordarshan’s Free Dish DTH platform and all that the students will need is a Set Top Box to receive them.

Source: Digital Learning, 9-06-2016

Overcome Burnout

LINESH SHETH





What is `burnout'? It is the exhaustion produced from continuous and disproportionate strenuous work in any field. Burnout occurs when one is driven by compulsion to achieve what you are expected to achieve. You compete with yourself or with others to compensate for what you believe is lacking in your life.The main reason for burnout is overspending of energy without learning to renew it on a daily basis. This phenomenon is increasing by the day in every field of life, because our goals are set by others rather than by our own judgement of what we truly need. Again, these goals are becoming more difficult to attain while many of us are not aware how to recharge ourselves.The burnout process is reversible. The first step is to pause, review the direction of what you are doing to your body and mind and check whether you are achieving finally what you want to. Cultivate the attitude to begin to slow down and learn to relax. That means to be available to your own self in terms of free time and to be available for certain practices that help you get in touch with your inner core.
If we compare our body-mind with a car, we can understand the proposal easily . The car runs on a battery subject to two processes: operating the car functions and getting continuously recharged from within the car. If there is no recharging, the battery burns itself out. It is important to learn how to remain joyful in everything we do as joyfulness in life is the antidote to burnout.

70% of Indians eat non-veg, but veg diet getting popular

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Health Issues Are Changing Palate: Experts

Even as India is rapidly growing as a major market for chicken and fish, awareness about health benefits of a vegetarian diet may also be catching up fast among people. Though 70% of Indians above 15 years of age are still non-vegetarians, the numbers are expected to decline, a nationwide survey conducted in 2014 and released recently by the Registrar General of India (RGI) showed.In 2004, the prevalence of non-vegetarianism was pegged at about 75%.
Experts said increasing health awareness, coupled with rising burden of lifestyle diseases like heart disorders, diabetes and cancer, may be influencing the Indian palate.
Several international researches and studies have found vegetarians leading a healthier life compared to meateaters. Incidence of diseases such as pancreatic cancer and respiratory problems are also less common among vegetarians than in those who consume meat regularly .
Besides, religiosity and changing lifestyles could also be contributing to the changing trend, experts said.
“It is possible that the purchase wallet for non-vegetari an foods is now being diverted towards ready to eat, processed or packaged foods because there is an increasing trend of cooking less at home,“ said Dr Shikha Sharma, a leading nutritionist and founder and managing director of NutriHealthSystems.
However, food consumption data from NSSO as well as OECD-FAO (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) Agricultural Outlook 2014, showed that growth in per ca pita consumption of chicken and fish outpaced the growth in consumption of wheat, rice and sugar. Chicken consumption grew the most with India becoming the fourth-fastest growing market for the product in the world. According to the OECD-FAO 2014 data, chicken consumption in India grew at an annual growth rate of 5.9% between 1992 and 2013.
The latest RGI data also highlighted a contrast with rising purchasing power which should otherwise allow more consumption of non-vegetarian meals. The latest NSSO data showed that at higher ends of the income table, consumption of milk, eggs, meat and processed foods rose. In urban India, the richest 5% consume the fewest cereals and the most derivatives of cereals like bread and noodles. However, in rural India, the richest 5% still consume the most cereals.
Recently , health minister J P Nadda had made a pitch in Parliament recommending vegetarian food.

Source: Times of India, 9-06-2016

Noise pollution is a killer too

TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The busy ITO junction in Delhi registers around 74 decibel (dB) of sound on a typical day , almost 10db over the limit for commercial areas. The level near Acworth Hospital in Mumbai's Wadala is usually 70dB, almost 20dB more than what's permitted in such a zone.Noise pollution is now linked to many ailments ­ from irreversible hearing loss to anxiety attacks to hypertension and heart disease. Considering that every 10dB increase makes the sound twice as loud to the human ear, the health implications for a regular commuter are serious. The situation is so bad in cities that ENT specialists now say a 20dB loss in hearing among urbanites is “normal“.
TOI had earlier published findings from a four-year study on noise pollution in which Mumbai emerged as the noisiest city, just ahead of Lucknow and Hyderabad while Delhi stood fourth and Chennai fifth. Over the coming weeks and months, we hope to initiate a debate that will examine the crucial aspects of this growing problem. If an audiogram of a person living in Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkata shows 20dB hearing loss, we will disregard it as normal. But we would be worried if the patient with such a hearing loss hailed from a rural area,'' says ENT specialist Dr Divya Prabhat who is attached to a teaching hospital in central Mumbai.
That's the impact of the constant onslaught of noise on our ears, say experts.It's a subject on which there is limited research and little understanding.
“People don't realise that noise is the hidden enemy of man. It affects your en tire body ,'' said Dr Yeshwant Oke, who brought noise pollution into the public consciousness when he filed the first noise pollution-related petition in the Bombay courts in 1985.
Sumaira Abdulali of Awaz Foundation echoes a similar sentiment: “People will adjust to living next to a railway station despite the disturbance caused by loud announcements and honking. Loud music is one of the leading cause of police complaints the world over, including India, but we never think too much about the harm of constant honking by cars on the roads just outside their house.'' Clearly , the main sources of noise in the main urban centres are vehicles,

Source: Times of India, 9-06-2016

Whistling Woods International introduces LATA MANGESHKAR SCHOLARSHIP

Mumbai: With his Film & Media Arts institute Whistling Woods International (WWI) entering its 10th year, and having had the success of it being rated as one of the ten best film schools in the world, Founder & Chairman Subhash Ghai is delighted to announce a scholarship for meritorious yet indigent students in the name of Padmashri awardee Lata Mangeshkar ji.

                                                                                                                                                                                      

The LATA MANGESHKAR SCHOLRSHIP will carry a 100% fee waiver for a 2-year / 3-year programme at Whistling Woods International.

                                                                                                                    

Subhash Ghai and Meghna Ghai-Puri, President of Whistling Woods, accompanied by a few students, met Lata ji at her residence yesterday. The purpose was to invite her to receive the ‘2016 Whistling Woods Maestro Award’ for her legendary contribution to Indian Cinema, at its 9th Convocation on July 18, 2016. She gracefully accepted the invitation, and had all praise for the vision of Subhash Ghai & Mukta Arts in setting up of Whistling Woods International in 2001, as an institute of global standards in the education of the art, commerce and science of Cinema. As she said in her video message that she recorded for the institute, “I am honoured to receive such a prestigious award from a world-class institute like Whistling Woods International and I bless them for a great future.”

 

During this meeting, Lata ji also happily accepted a proposal from Meghna to institute an annual scholarship at WWI in her name. Lata ji said “I am deeply touched by this great gesture of Subhash ji, Meghna and their team. It’s an honour for me.”

 

Subhash Ghai added “It is our great honour to have Lata ji’s acceptance for our attempt to inspire the next generation of Indian filmmakers. This scholarship in the name of India’s pride and an institution for us all, Lata ji, will continue to benefit students for decades to come.”

 

Subhash Ghai also revealed that while WWI does provide scholarships to meritorious yet indigent students every year, this is the 2nd special 100% scholarship instituted in the name of a legend of Indian Cinema. Three years ago, Whistling Woods International had announced the DILIP KUMAR SCHOLARSHIP and over the past 3 years, three students have availed of this scholarship (2014 – Amit Hegde, 2015 – Rohit Valecha & 2016 – Amol Srivastava).

 

Whistling Woods International, currently has over 700 students in several schools (Filmmaking, Acting, Animation, Music, Media & Communication and Fashion & Design) at its Filmcity campus. WWI has collaborated with TISS for its degree courses and is privileged to host a YouTube Space, a Sony Media Lab & RedEducation, within its campus.

source: Indiaeducationdiary, 3-06-2016

A thousand plus top level domain names added to the Internet, and counting

The Internet web address regime saw a milestone being reached a few days ago, when the number of names available for use in the concluding part of web addresses, like .com or .org, crossed the 1,000 mark. These generic top level domain names (gTLDs) were just 8 in number till 1988.

A new programme to massively boost the number of gTLDs was launched in 2012, by which time their number had increased to more than 20. From October 2013 onwards new gTLDs were added to the Internet month after month, in batches - a process that still continues.

It was after a long process of consultation and study that the organisation dealing with the use and deployment of internet address resources, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), started accepting applications for new gTLDs. It was seen as a business opportunity by many applicants, especially companies operating Internet registry services. Many other companies thought of using it to protect and promote their business space. ICANN received 1,930 applications for new gTLDs during the period the application window remained open in 2012. The largest number of applicants were from North America, followed by those from the Europe and Asia Pacific regions. The few applications that came from India were mostly submitted by companies to uphold their brands.

Other types of applicants too had an opportunity to secure different kinds of gTLDs. For instance, municipalities or public authorities could apply for geographical domain names, like .dubai or .paris. Community-based applicants, like professional associations or other organisations could also leverage this opportunity to apply for gTLDs as well. Many top level domain domain names in different languages, including Hindi, have also come into being as a result of this process. ICANN had also put in place an elaborate mechanism for processing the applications and resolving disputes, as in the case of trademarks, for instance.

As ICANN explains: “An applicant for a new gTLD is, in fact, applying to create and operate a registry business supporting the Internet's domain name system.” The processing fee to be paid by gTLD applicants works itself out to 1,85,000 dollars. And this is an entirely different proposition from the commonplace and usually inexpensive process of acquiring a domain name (a unique website address) - thousands of website addresses are registered every day.

To understand how the opening of the floodgates of Internet gTLDs has unfolded, consider the example of .organic; one of the hundreds of new top level domain names that came into existence in 2015. The company that applied for and secured this domain name says the .organic website addresses would be available only to those associated with the organic products sector. They could be companies, farmers, distributors, restaurants, publications, NGOs, trade bodies and so on. In contrast to such gTLDs there are many others that come with no such restrictions like .website or .xyz. The expectation is that a particular range of websites will naturally gravitate towards certain gTLDs ; for instance an organisation or body that is closely associated with a city might choose to have a domain name incorporating the gTLD of that city, if available. In the end, those looking for website addresses now have a huge array of top level domain names to choose from.

"The expansion of the domain name system to more than 1,000 gTLDs signifies greater diversity in how people and businesses can represent themselves online. It enables communities, cities and brands to more closely align their digital and real-world identities. It's also helping to redefine the internet experience for people across the globe by introducing internationalized generic top-level domains for the first time," said a recent ICANN blog post.

When the processing of applications is completed in the coming months, the Internet could end up with a total of more than 1,300 new gTLDs.

Keywords: ICANN, internet domain names

Source: The Hindu, 4-06-2016