Spectrum Magazine

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FROM THE

The idea of Spectrum Magazine arrived with the deeply felt need of having a credible medium that would help us voice the opinions of the talented and express their ideas to the masses. We started this independent youth magazine to make a positive impact on people’s life. Driven by an exquisite appetence for the latest trends, we believe Spectrum is the one-stop destination for all the latest buzz –beittechnologytopolitics,wehaveitall.

Here at Spectrum, we believe in the saying “With great power comes great responsibility”.  We strive to maintain the veracity, fairness, and objectivity in our reporting. I conceive that these values are an absolutenecessityinthisdigitalera,whereonecanfindaplethoraof fake news and biased articles that are silently fueling the propaganda.

We are at a quest to accomplish the highest quality of reportage that is backed up with substantial research and presented in a comprehensive yet engaging manner. It will help us to achieve the thought of galvanizing the public and the decision-makers into taking action.

Thus,aspiringforabettersocietyandabrighterfuture.

Vansh Kumar Rajput

MANAGING EDITOR FROM THE

Iam extremely glad to present the first issue of Spectrum Magazine, an independent youth magazine brought to you The Rational Millennial. As the name suggests this magazine aims to cover a wide spectrum of topics from politics to defence and from human psychologytowildlife.

The last few months have been very different from the usual. We were struck by a global pandemic, China violated border agreements and the country's economy tanked to the bottom. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, to be debated upon and solved at the earliest. Spectrum delves into some of these issues and analyses them critically leaving the readers with the freedom to form their ownopinions.

The idea of Spectrum was born with the vision to encourage unbiased and critical journalism which, we believe is the base upon which a strong country like India is built upon. As journalists, our mission is to make a difference by addressing various issues which affect the people of our country. We expect out of all our readers to read them, reflect upon them and contribute to the process of makingachangeintheirownindividualcapacities.

Here'stoafunandaknowledgeablereadofourveryfirstissue. Cheers!

Soumyabrata Sengupta

EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & ART DIRECTOR

Vansh Kumar Rajput

MANAGING EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Soumyabrata Sengupta

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Utkarsh Kaushik

Yash Agarwal

CONTRIBUTORS

Aashish Chabbra

Khushi Maheshwary

Nimisha Jain

Sarvagya Bharadwaj

Shreya Choudhuri

Viraj Singh Katoch

BY AASHISH CHABBRA

heUnitedStatesFederal Communications Commission designated two CHRISTIAN ADAMS

TChinese telecom giants as “nationalsecuritythreats”justa day after India’s Ministry of InformationTechnologyblocked 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat, and UC Browserongroundstheypose asecuritythreattothecountry.

The US communications and telecomregulatordescribedthe move as a “major step” in its ongoing efforts to protect the country's communications network from outside threats. The telecom regulator voted5-0inNovember,toissue the declaration and proposed requiring rural carriers to removeandreplaceequipment from the two Chinese companies from existing US networks. Both Huawei and ZTE have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and China’smilitaryapparatus.And both companies are broadly subject to Chinese law, which obligates them to cooperate with the country’s intelligence services.

In making this decision, the FCC took into account inputs from the US Congress, the

intelligencecommunity,andthe communications service providers. The overwhelming weight of evidence supported the designation of Huawei and ZTEasnationalsecurityrisksto the US networks. US FCC’s Public Security and Homeland Security Bureau designated Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp as posing threats to US national security. The declarationbarsUScompanies from accessing an $8.3 billion US government fund to purchase equipment from companies. “As a result of today’s action, money from the FCC’s $8.3 billion-a-year Universal Fund may no longer be used to purchase, obtain, maintain, improve, modify or otherwise support any equipmentorservicesproduced by these suppliers,” the FCC statementsaid.

"With this decision, we are sending a clear message: the U.S.Government,andtheFCC inparticular,cannotandwillnot allow the Chinese Communist Partytoexploitvulnerabilitiesin U.S. communications networks and compromise our critical communications infrastructure," theFCCchairmannoted.

Imposing a ban on TikTok

India banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok due to security reasons.

TABOOS; A THREAT TO PROGRESS

BY VIRAJ SINGH KATOCH

Ruhani Kaur

Aditi Gupta

Women who are divorced are seen as failed wives and are blamed for the failure of their marriage while the husbandwhomightactuallybethecauseoftheendof their marriage walk away freely. These taboos are never-ending and they also have a special place in the way a woman should behave and look. This is clearly evident from the women and the young girls who are expected to reach a certain ridiculous standard of beautytoevengetacceptedintotheirpeergroups.

Taboos encircling around women are not new to India, they have been existing since ancient times and have had profound impacts on the shaping

of women’s social, political and domestic lives. These taboos have bound women to certain spaces and are till date affecting the contemporary woman and their actions. These taboos can range from being biological to social, in their nature. For example the taboo about menstruation. Women during their menstrual cycles are prohibited from a lot of activities and are considered to be ‘impure’ by society. During this period, women have to bear mental and physical pain as well as the social obligations that are imposed on them by society.

Another big taboo in our society revolves around the image of the perfect wife, and how women have to be perfectionists in their domestic tasks and be faithful to their family and husbands. A woman is told to see her family as her top priority and this has restricted so many women from growing and evolving as individuals and having an identity of their own. Widowed women are expected to be faithful to their husband’s memory even after he has departed, whereas there are no restrictions on widowed men. In some parts of our nation, extreme practices like sati are till date practised.

InIndia’sruralvillages,socialnorms dictatethatwomenaretoremainin thehome,notoutandabout—and definitelynotworking.

If a woman is seen working outside the home, her neighbours might think she’s a bad mother. They might also think that her husband is a poor provider.

There are a range of sexual taboos too that women face due to which their personal lives are forever verbalized by men and what they fit is alright for women. A woman’s reputation can be tainted in a minute if she loses her virginity before marriage, the society deems her to be characterless, whereas we do not see any taboos revolving around men and their virginity. We are a land where female deities are worshiped as well as acknowledged with utmost faith andlove.InourcelebratedfestivalslikeDurgaPuja,

we leave no stone unturned to pick the most adorn statues as we cherish the beauty and art which a female body is blessed with. Yet somehow, we see these same bodies becoming a matter of acceptance in the ongoing society. Sadly, all women are not goddesses. They are normal human beings who are still expected to confine their faces and sentiments inside a veil. There’s a stigma associated with the female body in our society, the same female body that gives birth and breastfeeds an infant. What is the blemish ideology behind this stigma is still hard to understand but let’s thank our ancestors who failed to valuethereal-lifegoddesses.

Hanna Barczyk/NPR

Beingbeautiful,fairandfeminine,all thesesocialtabooshaveshackled womenandtheycontinuetodoso

LETTER TOTHEEDITOR

Most of us have been through the "what will others think" phase at some point of time in our lives. It's astonishing how much importance it seems to create in our lives. But I am prettysureweallhaveaquestion-DOESITREALLYMATTER?Herdmentalityisnotanew phenomenon. It has been evident since generations, right from our grandparents' time or evenmorebefore.

According to Wikipedia, it can be described as how we can be influenced by our peers, our society, to adopt certain behaviours on a largely emotional, rather than rational basis. It India, people still believe that what our elders plan for us, is the best thing. But that's not completely true! What the top companies and universities actually look for is the spark which makes you different. There will be several other people who will apply for thesamepositionorthesameuniversity,sobeingdifferenthelpsabit!

Iagreethatpeoplewillcallyouselfish,ortoostubborntolistentothem,butthinkaboutit. Weretheyeventheretosupportyouinthefirstplace,andeveniftheydid,wasitactually forourowngood?Peoplehavedifferentintentions.Wethinktheyknowlifebetterthanus, butit'snotactuallytrue.Wearelivinginabubblewiththatillusion.Tomakethisright,we have to believe in ourselves when no one else does. You yourself can be the only source of strength.

Let's take my example of herd mentality. I have been a bright student and I and everyone around me were pretty sure that I would take science after my 10th. So I took PCM along with economics in my 11 and12th. As expected, everyone aroundme was preparing either for Engineering or Medical programmes. As that's what's is expected right? Deep inside, I knewthatIdon'twanttogointhatfield.Bytheendof11th,IhadrealisedthatEconomics hadgreatscopeandIwasquiteinterestedinthesubjectoryoucansayintheideaofbeing an Economist! So once my 12th board results got out, I applied for prestigious schools like DelhiUniversity,IITetc.andgotintooneluckily.

However, I was still not sure whether it's something I would like to do for the next 3/4 years. So, after my 2nd semester, I decided to take a break and reflect what I am actually interested to learn. That's where I got to know about Fashion Designing. I knew that I did notwanttofollowwhateveryonearoundmeweredoing. I wanted to do something where Icanmakemyownmark.Tocreatenewthingsandhavesomethingofmyown,ratherthan study textbooks which didn't make sense! So I got myself enrolled in a Fashion Designing programme. I really loved the course. I am enjoying what I am doing right now. In the future,IamplanningtodoanMBA.AsIknow,learningbusinessandentrepreneurialskills will be helpful in fulfilling my dreams! So let's end on this note, don't follow what everyone isexpectingyoutobe.Findyourinnercalling,takesomerisksandfollowyourdreams!

Shreya Choudhari,NIFTMumbai

The Kite Runner is the tale of Amir - a Sunni Muslim, who

battles to discover his place on the planet as a result of the eventual outcomes and aftermath from a progression of painful childhood occasions

A grown-up Amir starts the novel in the present-day United States with a dubious reference to one of these occasions, and afterwards the novel blazes back to Amir's childhood in

BOOK review

BY VANSH KUMAR RAJPUT

Afghanistan Amir battles to forge a closer relationship with his dad, whom he calls Baba; with deciding the specific idea of his relationship with Hassan, his Hazara Muslim servant. He is figuring out how to atone for the terrible choices he had made a long time that resulted in having a lasting repercussion in his life.

The main theme of the story is set in

Afghanistan right before its takeover by the Taliban. Though it is a fictional story, it feels very real The violence is undoubtedly realistic and the scenes in the book are graphic in nature.

This book is undeniably well crafted and beautiful and a great read for anyone who can handle the violence. It’s probably not even as bad as it really is

IS THE NEW ANIMAL

BY KHUSHI MAHESHWARY

Therearegazillionsofvideoson different social handles showing extremely heinous

acts of animal cruelty. While one may put fire on a living animal, the other is beating an animal ruthlessly,todeath.

Either we’re so frustrated and deteriorating on a mental level, or we’ve established this new way of ‘fun’.Inbothcases,peoplehavelost all sense of sensitivity, compassion andhumanity.

OVER 115 MILLION ANIMALS ARE KILLED IN A YEAR

A bane for us, but the Coronavirus has proved to be a boon for these helpless animals. During the lockdown, there were numerous reports of animals roaming freely in the streets. Some animals, which were almost never seen, like deers and lions, were witnessed coming out of their hiding. Street animals like dogs, cows, came back to life. Every once in a while if you went out, you could see them sitting thereleisurely,enjoyingthemselves. Newsreportsshowhowroadkillhas takenaprecipitousdropanddeaths ofanimalslikedogsandsheephave seenadeepplunge.

STOP ANIMAL CRUELTY

NEGLECT & ABANDONMENT ARE THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF ABUSE

DAVID STARR JORDAN (1851-1931)

Since the lockdown has been lifted, theplightofanimalsisonceagainin question. Did the lockdown teach us how to be a little kinder, a little warmer?Didthelockdownteachus howdifficultitistobeatthemercy of something more powerful than us? I ardently hope so. These animals, because of our inhuman behaviour,feelthisterroreveryday and it’s high time we stop. It’s high time we take action. After all, we cannot expect this world to be a better place when we knock almost everybeautifulthingdown.

“Our treatment of animals will someday be considered barbarous. There cannot be perfect civilization until man realizes that the rights of every living creature are as sacred as his own.”

BY NIMISHA JAIN

Under the coat of this global pandemic, Indian doctors arebendingovertheirbacks and working overtime to

treat and cure the country of this disease. While all of us are safe in our homes, every day they leave their homes, their children, their familyandrisktheirownlivesforthe sakeofsavingothers.

But unfortunately, we sometimes are unable to understand that the person with the apron and the stethoscope,isanormalhuman,just like us. We hear so many cases of molestation, mistreatment and manhandlingofdoctors.

The people only think about themselvesandifsomethingdoesn't go according to them, they manhandle the doctor, beat them, abuse them, without even knowing fully whether it was the doctor's faultornot.Asamedicalstudent,

THISWORRIESMEALOT.

Somanydoctorshavelosttheirlives to COVID-19 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been asked to urgently ensure that these “at-risk healthcare workers and their families at least get assured treatmentwheninfected”.

The doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are working 24x7, putting their life at risk but still, they face harassment and discrimination. They are being asked by their landlords to vacate theirhomes.Iamatanutterlossof words,seeingallthis.

THISISUNACCEPTABLE!

They are being shunned and looked downuponinthesocietytheylivein, forthefearofbringingCOVID19to thesociety.

Yesterdaymyparents,bothofthem doctors themselves, told me that I might have to stay home alone for thenext15days,astheywouldhave to be in the hospital 24x7 if the

suspected patient comes out to be positive.

AllIwantfrompeopleistobecome responsible and do whatever the healthcare professionals are telling todo,becausetrustme,it'sforyour owngood.

And, please stop any kind of discriminatory behaviour against them.

LETTHEMLIVE!

UNITE FOR

It has been more than 3 months since the Galwan Valley Standoff took place, the place where 20 of our bravehearts laid down their lives for the nation. It is necessary for everyone to know that in the Indian Army, Secularism is not just a political jingo, it’s a way of life.

BY VIRAJ SINGH KATOCH

ThesoldiersofIndianArmyheredon’t differentiate between a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or a Christian. They are a band of brothers - brothers who don’t care about anything except their country. Caste, Creed, Culture, Religion, Political ideology and party doesn’t matter here. All thatmattershereisyourwilltofight andyourfighttowin.

India Today

Jawans performing full dress rehearsal ahead of Army Day celebrations, at Delhi Cantt. in New Delhi, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020.

NATION

It is amusing and surprising to see that the politicians and the bureaucratswhoareinchargeofthe defence of our country, don’t actually know the basic difference between a gun and a howitzer, a gorillaandaguerilla,amotorfroma mortar.

Ontheotherhand,partiesleaveno stoneunturnedinmakingsurethat theyhavetheirseatssecuredforthe next elections, through cast politicization.

The families of the martyred, watch thenews,tensedasanything.Sweat roll down their foreheads, as they waitforsomenewsoftheirnearand dear ones. They are the ones who havetoactuallybearthebadnewsSomeone loses their father, someone loses their son or a husband and the nation looses a braveheart.

Arequesttoallthe politicalparties; stop fighting over votes, stop fighting over the place as the head of the state, stop fighting over matters related to the Defence forces. Stop fighting over the martyred. Respect them. Honour them.Fortheyaretheonesputting theirlivesatstake,foroursake.

Jai Hind

REMEMBER TO WASH YOUR HANDS

One of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is Washing Hand religiously.

THIS MONTH'S FEATURES

THE NEXT GENERATION

Fifth Generation better known as 5G is the new and upgraded global wireless standard that uses new radio technology and separate network architecture to deliver higher speeds than 4G. It was designed to enable a better and a faster kind of experience that was not possible with the oldergenerations.

This new wireless standard will help in connecting with a new range of machines, objects and devices, more effectively and efficiently. 5G also comes with lots of perks and features like; higher multi – Gbps, peak data speeds, ultra-low latency and massive networkcapacity.Ithasbeensaidthatwhen 5G arrives in India people will be able to access peak data speeds up to 10 GbpsWhich would be 100 times faster, compared to the 100 Mbps of 4G. The new ultra-new latencypromisesthatthetimetakenbydata to travel from a device to the distant server will be less than a millisecond or 120 times betterthan4G.

According to Fortune Magazine, 5G has shown massive speeds that revs up to 950 Mbps in Minneapolis, 550 Mbps in Chicago and 350 Mbps in New York. That is way more than 4G offers. This means that it will take less than a minute to download your favouriteseries and moviesin4kand HDR

standard. Indian operators are also preparing for bringing 5G in India. Many operators like Reliance Jio and Airtel have applied to the government for permission to conduct field trials. They have started testing the 5G radio equipment, but the things have been put to halt due to the COVID-19pandemic.

The5Gspectrumauctionsareyettobeheld and have been delayed until October due to the financial problems. It has been estimated that by 2022, 5G will be operational in India. All thanks to the telecom operators who owe a huge number ofduestothegovernment.

The Indian operators need to shell ₹50,000 crores to get their hands on the sweet 5G friendly radio spectrum. It is the highest base price Indian operators have to pay when compared to any other country in the world. So, this makes it obvious that the 5G won't come in as cheap as the 4G. The consumers will also need to upgrade their smartphones to access 5G as they probably won't support the new radio spectrum whichismandatory.

So for now, one could say that 5G will be interesting as it will be a much faster option when compared to the current network. It will be a game-changer as it will allow you to do much more not just with your smartphone,butwitheveryotherIoTdevice thatwillbeabletoconnecttoa5Gnetwork simultaneously, thus, making it work effectivelyandefficiently.

It is clear that 5G is worth the wait.

ALL THE G'S EXPLAINED

INDIAN ECONOMY

The Indian economy shrank 23.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020. It is the biggest contraction on record, and the first in more than 40 years

DRAWING THE LINE

Does tweeting about the Chief Justice riding a 50 lakh rupee bike, equal to criminal contempt? Well, we are nobody to decide that. The decision is taken by the judges of the Supreme Court themselves. Isn't it a bit bizarre?

BY SOUMYABRATA SENGUPTA

The recent case of Contempt of court against Prashant Bhushan has been making it to the papers every day.

Andwhywon'tit?Itisnoteveryday thatwecomeacrosssomeonebeing chargedwithContemptofCourt.But doyouknowwhyithasbecomesuch abigissueofNationalImportance? Do you even know who Prashant Bhushan is? Do you know he Cofounded the Aam Aadmi Party? Do you know he and his father have been raising their voices against corruptionforseveraldecades?

Well, this is not the first time PrashantBhushanhasmadeittothe national headlines of every leading newspaper in the country. Throughouthislife,hehasbeenvery critical of how the judiciary works

and has taken several measures to expose the blatant corrupt practices insidethejudiciary.Beingthesonof a well-to-do lawyer and being a lawyer himself, Bhushan started fighting Pro-Bono cases as a young lawyer.

Apart from fighting cases, he has been an activist for a long time. He startedbywritingbookslike TheCase that Shook India and Bofors: The Selling of a Nation, both of which were highly critical of the ruling Congress government. These books made him famous throughout the nation and he got a lot of praise initially. But the media started questioning his intent when he criticised Operation Green Hunt, which was India's all-out offensive againsttheNaxalites,bystatingthat therealintentofGreenHuntwasto clear the tribal lands for mining operationsandindustrialisation.

Even during the capital punishment of Ajmal Kasab, the L-e-T militant responsible for killing 72 people in the 2008 terror attacks, he spoke againstthedecisionofthecourtand statedthatitwasbiased.

Bhushan has also spoken againsttheAFSPAandisa strong critic of the Hindutva philosophy of theBJPgovernment.

Butthishasledtoseveralquestions?

When he was writing against the corruption scandal of the UPA government, the right-wing governmentmadeaherooutofhim and supported him. But his comments in support of the Naxals andagainsttheHindutvaphilosophy has brought him under suspicion.

Though he has been a pioneer of Corruption throughout hislife,what are his real agendas? When he cofounded the Aam Aadmi Party, people again started questioning his intent. But, since the time he was voted out of his party along with YogendraYadav,achargewhichthey both deny, his life has been quite peacefuluntilrecently.

ThoughBhushanhasbeenalife-long critique of the corruption in the Judiciary and of the fact that the Judges are immune to investigation, all of these serious charges have beenpressedagainsthimnow,allof asudden.So,istweetingagainstthe CJI or making fun against the Constitution? Can this tech-savvy generation,whoresortto'memes'for fun, make memes about the Apex courtandit'soffice-bearers?Orwill they be charged with Criminal Contempt of Court under Article 129?Let'sfindout.

Article129oftheIndianConstitution ofIndiastates-

"The Supreme Court of India shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punishforcontemptofitself”

PRASHANT BHUSHAN CO-FOUNDED AAP WITH KEJRIWAL

but he was thrown out of the party soon after Kejriwal took the charge as the Delhi Chief Minister

This along with The Contempt of Court Act, 1971 authorises powers to superior courts of record to have the powers to punish contempts relating to the judges of those courts and theproceedingstherein.

The contempts can be both civilandcriminalinnature.The wilful disobedient to any judgementofthecourtleads to civil contempt whereas the act of interfering with the judicial proceedings or scandalising them leads to criminal contempt. Fair and accurate reporting of judicial proceedingswillnotamountto contemptofcourt.

So, does tweeting about the Chief Justice riding a 50 Lakh rupee Bike, equal to criminal contempt?Orhintingthatheis a paid servant of the BJP and the RSS equal to criminal contempt?

Well,wearenobodytodecide that. The decision is taken by the judges of the Supreme Court themselves. Isn't it a bit weird? Hey, I'm not saying anything against the Supreme Court. I don't want to be tried underContemptofCourtwhile writing about it. I'm just

pointing out the fact that certain parts of Article 129 dorequireamendmentasitmightcomeacrossasabit bizarreespeciallyinademocracy.

himself. But amidst all of this one thing comes to my mind. Bhushan, in a 2009 interview, hadallegedthatatleasthalfof the16formerChiefJusticesin the Supreme Court were corrupt. He had demanded an amendment in Article 129 which prevented people from registeringaFirstInformation Reportagainstajudgewithout the permission of the Chief JusticeofIndia.

Though it was a brave move and was much appreciated by people in the country, the questionis,

ThatisbecausetheideaofContemptofCourtcomes from the times of monarchy in England where the royalty was extremely concerned to protect the judicialpowersoftheking.

It was initially exercised by himself, and later by a panelofjudgeswhoactedinhisname.Violationofthe judges’ orders was considered an affronttotheking

why didn't the Apex Court press Contempt Charges against him under the rule of Congress Government, when he criticised 16 Chief Justices?

But he has been charged now, when he has commented against4ofthem.

Thoughts?

reliance rises reliance rises

since the lockdown Reliance, Jio and Mr MukeshAmbanihavebeeninthenewsquite alot.Alotofcompanieshaveinvestedhuge

amountsofmoneyinRelianceJio,thusmakinghim the richest man in Asia. As for using this money, Ambani has been acquiring relatively small Indian companiesinvarioussectorsofthemarket.

Google has come in with approximately 5 billion dollars. Qualcomm also invested 97 million dollars. Facebook was another company that invested heavily in Jio platforms buying 24.70% stake. Amazon also bought around 10% of stocks in the reliance retail company. There have also been talks of a Google and Jio collaboration for a smartphone specificallydesignedfortheIndianmarket.

RelianceJiohasalsomadesomehugeinroadsin5g technology, promising to launch 5g network in early 2021. Mukesh Ambani is now the 6th richest man in the world and looking at the way he is expanding his business Reliance is soon going to becomeamajorplayerinalmosteverymarket.Itis

really interesting how Ambani is using all these investments. Reliance Industries acquired a majority stake in the online pharmacy Netmeds worth around 83 million dollars. There were talks of buying Zivame, an online lingerie company and UrbanLadder,anonlinefurniturecompany.

JiohasreleasedmanyapplicationssuchasJioMeet and Jio Mart which focus on online services which have become the norm in 2020 due to the COVID19pandemic.

All these actions are turning into a trend but there has been little to no impact in terms of consumer pointofview.Jioappearstobeanothergiantinthe making, similar to amazon, but even more versatile.

Reliance Jio has also made some huge inroads in 5G network technology, promising to launch it in early 2021.

Mukesh Ambani is now the 6th richest man in the world

COVID -19 STATUS

More than 28 million people have been diagnosed with COVID - 19 worldwide

INSIDE KE N YA

Black Crowned-Crane

Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya YASH AGARWAL

Black Rhino

Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

The BlackRhino(Diceros bicornis)isananimalinthe rhinofamilyRhinocerotidae.

ONLINE ONLINE EDUCATION EDUCATION IN INDIA IN INDIA

BY KHUSHI MAHESHWARY

Acrosstheworld,educationhas been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most

oftheinstructionshavebeenshifted to the online mode, and the rest has beenputonastandstill.Now,among variouscountrieswhohaveoptedfor

onlineteaching for as much as the nextacademicyear,Indiais one tohaveaheterogeneousresponseto thismethodofteachingandthereare variousreasonsforit.

First and quite self-evident is the dividebetweentherichandthepoor regarding the accessibility of resources such as gadgets, electrical connectivity and the availability of the internet, which are essential for onlinepedagogy.

There are still many places in India whichdonothaveanyaccessibilityto internet whatsoever. The second reason as to why it has notbeenas

standard systems. In an extremely short period, teachers have had to find a way to shift their lectures online.

Now, online lectures require a lot more material and presentation as compared to classroom lectures and most, if not all, teachers are not equippedwiththerequiredmaterial, whereas, in the western education system, online teaching has been prevalentforalongtimenow.

34.1% of the 34.1% of the students in public students in public institutions took institutions took online courses as online courses as well well

The idea of conduction of exams online has been highly opposed as well,

bringing us back to lack of internet provision, nationwide. Now, I have always believedthatitisourreactionwhichdefines how a situation influences us and it is no differentthistime.

The government and other institutions can usethistimeofadversitytobringachange in the education system and make it more accessible and blended. Investment in appropriate technology such as Artificial Intelligence and provision of internet nationwide can prove to be a boon for the youthofIndia.

Graduate school has the highest rate of participation in online studies

Self-studyandstudyingforlearningandnot for a degree should be encouraged. If planned intelligently and judiciously, online educationcanbespreadfarandwide,reach a large number of children, and naturally, givebirthtoahigherlevelofliteracyinthe country.

Afterall,it’snevertoolatetogetstarted.

Deepak Sethi

UNICEF/LeMoyne

BY AA SHISH CH A BBR A

What is a bad bank to begin with.It is a bank which

takes over, that is, buys at a discount, the non-performing loansofbanksandthenresolves the assets over time, say five years, leaving the banks that sell off their bad loans with clean books, clarity on their finances and capable of making a fresh start, to raise capital with better ratings and on better terms and tomakeloans.

For the Indian economy's postCOVID recovery, politics has to stop patronizing power theft and power giveaways, and a bond market has to be created so that long-gestation projects can finance themselves with longterm bonds. If these conditions are met, a bad bank will become feasible.

StateBankofIndiaandtheIndian Banks’ Association have once again revived the proposal for a bad bank. It is not just desirable but imperative if India’s broken banks are to start lending again, to fuel growth, as the economy recovers from Covid. India needs not just any bad bank, but a bad bank jointly owned by the banks themselves.

TheChiefEconomicAdvisorMrK Subramanian, expressed himself not in favour, on the ground that there already are 28 asset reconstruction companies in operation and banks have been unable to sell their bad loans to theseentities.

This ignores what the nature of ownership could do to make a new bad bank viable. Banks are goodoraresupposedtobegood, at making loans, not playing patient capital that acquires an asset cheap, looks around and waits for a buyer who would buy it at a good price and makes a killing on the difference between the acquisition price and the sellingprice.

The bad bank need not be just a financial entity. It could employ professional manages to run some of the assets it acquires, sell them as going concerns and makeevenbetterprofits.

Unlike a bank desperate to clean its books of bad loans, a bad bank is not in a hurry to find buyers for the assets on its portfolio. So what do you think thatweneedbadbankforIndian banksornot?

BAD BANK IS THE SOLUTION

Thefirstbankto usethebadbank strategywas  MellonBank, whichcreated abadbank entityin 1988tohold$1.4 billion ofbadloans

Bollywood, Drugsand

tried to 'figure out' why he committed the heinousactofgivinguphisownlife.Thishad led to several people questioning the very fundamentals of Indian cinema or the socalled'WorldofArtists'.

TheSushant-Rheacaseisprobablyoneofthe most talked-about cases of Bollywood. The Indian media has extensively covered it and several other conspiracy theories about Bollywood. People are talking about it with their friends, their family and social media websites are flooded with various stories aboutit.

Especially after Rhea's arrest for using and sellingdrugs,rightnow,therearethreekinds of people: One who demand Justice for Sushant and have already decided that Rhea is the murderer, Second who feel Rhea is innocent and is not a murderer, and the third category of people are those who are confusedastowhatisrightandwhatis

wrong. First of all, we CANNOT degrade the status of a person or threaten them, be it a man or a woman. Using words like 'slut', 'r**di',etcforRheaisabigexampleofthis.It is NOT OKAY to even use these words for anyone,notevenacriminal.And,inthiscase, her crime hasn't even been proved yet. Secondly,weallwanttherealmurderertobe punished. But, don't you think that the entire 'witch hunt' phenomenon has deviated our focus from 'Mental Health' and 'Drug Abuse' to wanting and cheering for the arrest of a person,justtosatisfyoursadistego?

It's more important to address Mental Health issues.It'smoreimportanttotalkaboutDrug Abuse.Anditsmoreimportanttofindthereal murderers of Sushant. So, let's all act responsiblyandstopplayingjudgeourselves. Let the court decide, who is the criminal and whoisnot.Letthisnotbeanotherexampleof how the media and the politicians effectively twist a situation for their own benefit. The media for their TRPs and the politicians for theirelectoralaspirations.

Allofusaredeeplysaddenedwiththe death of Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput. Several people have

Bandeep Singh

STORIES THAT MATTER.