Unique Times October 2022

NEW

New Medimix Total Care Shampoo is a t h o u g h t f u l c o m b i n a t i o n o f n i n e n a t u r a l herbs and other essential ingredients which include Neem, Rosemar y oil, Liquorice, Tea tree oil, Datura, Wild ginger, Wheat protein, Bakuchi and Apple cider vinegar. is blend o f n a t u r a l i n g r e d i e n t s i n a u n i q u e formulation helps in minimizing hair fall, c o n t r o l l i n g d a n d r u ff a n d a l s o h e l p s i n conditioning the hair.

Chief Mentor Mr. V.P. Nandakumar

Director & CEO Jebitha Ajit

Editor Ajit Ravi

Legal Advisor Latha Anand B.S.Krishnan Associates bskrishnanassociates@gmail.com

Sub-Editor Anusha Varghese

Associate Editor Ravi Saini

Athulya Pradip

Correspondents Dr. Thomas Nechupadam Vivek Venugopal- Quarter Mile Amrutha V Kumar

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Editorial

“Challenges are what make life interest ing and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

Joshua J. Marine

Everyone aspires to have a prosperous life. But success has different meanings for different people. The accom plishment of life's objectives might be seen as a success. Without consistent effort and hard work, success and the accomplishment of your goals are not achievable. If one works hard and puts in the necessary effort, one can succeed. Every per son's ultimate goal is to succeed in their work or life in general. You must overcome obstacles in order to ac complish your goals. It would be beneficial if you over came the challenges with assurance and never gave up. This month's cover story is about Prakash Parakkat and Preethi Parakkat, the astute pillars of the Parak kat Group of Companies, who overcame all obstacles through their perseverance, hard work, and willpower.

The MD and CEO of Manappuram Finance Limited, V P Nandakumar, shares his perspective on "Why Char ity Is A Win-Win Habit" in this issue.

In addition to the pieces stated above, the edition includes all of our normal articles, including those on motivation, business, beauty, auto, travel, health & fit ness, movies, and book review.

“Keep reading. It's one of the most marvelous ad ventures that anyone can have.” – Lloyd Alexander.

Let's create adventures......Happy Reading!

Ajit Ravi. Printed at S.T.Reddiar & Sons, P.B. No: 3627, Veekshanam Road, Cochin-18.

Cover Photograph Prakash Parakkat and Preethi Parakkat Parakkat Group Of Companies

Bhagwant Mann Visits Germany with Investment Pitch for Punjab

Bhagwant Mann, the chief minister of Punjab, met with represen tatives of many corporations on 12th September, when he was in Germany to court their investment and tout the state as the best place to conduct business. On September 11, Bhagwant Mann be gan his seven-day trip to Germany. Reinhard Pfeiffer, CEO of Messe Munchen GmBH, extended an invitation to the chief minister to visit DRINKTEC 2022, the premier trade show in the world. According to a press statement from the state government here, Bhagwant Mann enthusiastically welcomed international industrialists to the Progres sive Punjab Investors' Summit, which is slated for February 23–24, 2023. Bhagwant Mann engaged in discussions with representatives of companies like Buehler, Donaldson, Igus, Cipriani, and others during the event about a variety of technology solutions relevant for Punjab's industry, including machinery for processing oil seeds, sys tems for commercial air filtration, purification technology, and in struments for measuring chemicals in water, among other topics.

Since March, Gautam Adani's Wealth Grew 44 Times Mukesh Ambani's: Report

Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani were tied for first place on Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List at the beginning of the fiscal year. With a net worth of $90.7 billion, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani was marginally wealthier than Adani in March 2022. According to Forbes, Mukesh Ambani's net worth has increased since then to $92.1 billion. Contrarily, Adani's net wealth increased by $66 billion to a staggering $155 billion. According to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List, Gau tam Adani is presently the second-richest person in the world, only behind Elon Musk. Mukesh Ambani, the second-richest Indian, is listed ninth. He has a net worth that is 40% lower than Adani's. It's the first time a person from Asia has ranked this highly in the wealth index's upper tiers; up until now, US IT entrepreneurs have dominated the list. The Adani con glomerate's diversification is what has fuelled its rapid ascent.

- Indra Nooyi

Big News for Indian Auto Sector!

PM Modi to Launch NLP on September 17

The National Logistics Policy (NLP) will be unveiled on September 17 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an effort to support India's logistics sector. According to the policy, smooth cross-country transportation of commodi ties would be encouraged, and growth will be expedited. Processes, re-engineering, digitalization, and multi-modal transport will all be areas of focus. On September 13, while speaking to the Board of Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made the news. The NLP, which was first announced in 2020, has gained importance as a result of how the current high logistics costs affect the competi tiveness of domestic goods in the global market. The focus is on lowering the nation's logistics costs from their present range of 13 to 14 percent of the GDP. 200 million people depend on the logistics business in India as a whole for their livelihood, and industry optimization is expected to enable a 10% reduction in indirect logistics costs, which would then result in an increase of 5 to 8% in exports.

As Exports to US Triple in A Year, India in Race to Be Next China

India, which many people think has the potential to overtake China as the world's largest exporter, is now among the top five countries sending t-shirts and holiday decorations to the US. According to US customs data, seaborne exports of festi val items and accessories to America reached $20 million last month, nearly tripling the value from the same time last year. With purchasers diversifying their supply sources in response to growing labour costs and disruptions from China's rigorous Covid-zero policy, India emerged as the obvious winner over the Philippines in this process. Amit Malhotra, whose Asian Handicrafts Pvt. sells holiday decorations to major corpora tions including the Walt Disney Co., London's Harrods, Target Corp., and Dillard's Inc., is one of the recipients of the early Christmas gift. He acknowledged that orders are up 20% from a year ago and that he has increased production capacity.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life”

Steve Jobs

Saudi Overtakes Russia to Be India’s Second-Biggest Oil Supplier in August

According to data from industry and trade sources, after a three-month lull, Saudi Arabia surpassed Russia to be come India's second-largest oil supplier, while Iraq continued to hold the top rank in August. The third-largest oil importer and consumer in the world, India, imported 863,950 barrels of petroleum per day (bpd) from Saudi Arabia, up 4.8% from the previous month, while purchases from Russia declined to 855,950 bpd, according to the statistics. Despite Saudi Ara bia's increase, India's proportion of OPEX oil fell to 59.8%, the lowest level in at least 16 years, as a result of a reduction in imports from Africa. In the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in late February, India has replaced China as Rus sia's second-largest oil importer. The two nations are seen to be reducing the impact of Western sanctions on Moscow by securing raw resources at lower prices compared to supplies from other nations.

India Now World's Fifth Largest Economy, Overtakes UK

Ma

As the government in London struggles to adjust to a harsh costof-living shock, Britain has fallen behind India to become the sixth largest economy in the world. In the final three months of 2021, India outpaced the UK to become the fifth-largest economy. India increased its lead in the first quarter of the computation, which is based on US dollars, according to IMF GDP data. The In dian economy, on the other hand, is anticipated to expand by more than 7% this year. Indian stocks have recently had a global-beating recovery, moving their weighting into second place in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, only behind China's. According to the IMF's own projections, India will surpass the UK in dollar terms annually this year, leaving the Asian giant just behind the US, Chi na, Japan, and Germany. India was the eleventh-largest economy ten years ago, while the UK was the fifth-largest.

“Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine”

Jack

"24 Years Feels Like 24 Hours": Roger Federer Announces Retirement

The only male tennis player to win 20 grand slam titles, Roger Federer, has declared his intention to stop competing after the La ver Cup in 2022. Federer posted a message on his Twitter account announcing his choice. When he won the Wimbledon championship in 2003, Federer captured his maiden grand slam. Since then, he has won six Australian Opens, one French Open, eight Wimbledons, and five US Opens. He's been dealing with a knee problem for a very long time. He an nounced it on his Twitter account: "The Laver Cup next week in London will be my final ATP event."The 20-time Grand Slam champion, 41, has been out since losing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2021 before requiring more knee surgery. Serena Williams' retirement and Federer's announcement are related events. Serena retired having won the second-most grand slam titles in women's tennis. In terms of the total number of grand slam titles won, Federer sits third, behind his top competitors Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Zelensky Calls for ‘Just Punishment’ for Russia

During his address to the UN General Assembly in New York, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia must receive "due retribution" for its invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president demanded the establishment of a unique war tribunal and described alleged war crimes committed by Russia in a pre-recorded video. Additionally, he outlined a "formula" that included increasing military assistance and criticising Russia internationally. Vladimir Putin of Russia had earlier activated 300,000 reservists. Rare protests were sparked by the action in dozens of Russian cities, and Mr. Zelensky claimed that the partial mobilisation proved his ad versary was not sincere in his desire for peace. Observational group OVD-Info said that 1,315 Russians had been detained. According to the Kremlin, only individuals with significant tal ents and combat experience who have completed their mil itary service will be called up. However, sources claim that some of those detained during Moscow protests were also in formed they would need to sign up.

Queen Elizabeth Il: World Leaders Remember a ‘Kind-Hearted Queen’

Leaders and dignitaries from around the world have been honouring Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at the age of 96. They have honoured the Queen's warmth and humour as well as her strong sense of responsibility and tenacity. Em manuel Macron of France took the lead during the honours, recalling "a gener ous queen" who was "a friend of France." When he first visited Elizabeth Majesty 40 years ago, US President Joe Biden re ferred to her as "more than a monarchshe defined an age."She charmed us with her humour, moved us with her generosi ty, and freely shared with us her wisdom," Mr. Biden said of his visit to the UK in 2021 while serving as president. "Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of un matched dignity constancy who deepened the bedrock of the Alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States. She helped make our relationship spe cial," Mr Biden added.

Photographer Shares Stunning Shots of

Whale Graveyard,

Wins Scuba Diving Award

Haunting

images of an underwater whale cem etery have gone viral online. According to a Newsweek report, the photos were taken by Swed ish photographer Alex Dawson, who took first place in the wide angle category of the Scuba Diving 2022 Underwater Photo Contest. On 21st Septem ber, Mr. Dawson posted a few images of the whale graveyard he had discovered on Twitter. He stated, "I'm really happy that Scuba Diving Magazine chose my image as a winner of 2022 in the wide-angle category," along with the photos when he shared them. "Another artwork was given an honourable mention as a final point. And a heartfelt thanks for winning the first prize in 2023 aboard the opulent Red Sea Aggressor III, "Mr. Dawson continued writ ing. According to Mr. Dawson, "When I take pic tures, I want to evoke the sensation of "I wish I was there." That is my adage."

more info: europetimes.co

Parakkat: The Brand that Defines the Art of Management

Many people in today’s world as pire to run their own businesses. Sometimes a person’s dream never becomes a reality be cause they lack the resourc es or money to make it hap pen. However, everyone has equal opportunities in life. Anyone who is able to seize one eventually succeeds.

Entrepreneurship is about sticking up for what you be lieve in and staying firm on it until you reach your goal.

Entrepreneurs create firms for both financial and profes sional motives. To fulfil our lofty aspirations, we must set high goals.

Numerous companies have emerged in the past few years and only a select few of these brands and companies, however, have demonstrated how a clear vi sion and goal of a brand can propel it to the top of its sec tor. One such outstanding

jewellery company is Parak kat Jewels, which specialis es in 24-carat Gold layered ornaments and has a world record for doing so. Prakash Parakkat founded it, and his wife Preethi Parakkat over sees business operations. His sons – Abhishek Parak kat, a successful entrepre neur and who is also a pop ular Instagram influencer having many followers, is in charge of marketing and brand management, where as Abhijit Parakkat, the eld est son, manages Parakkat Nature Resort after earning his international MBA from London along with Binu Parakkat who is the nephew of Prakash who handles the production quality and pur chase of jewels and materi als.

The Saga of Dedication

The chairman of Parak kat Group of Companies, Prakash Parakkat, had a

clear vision and an action plan when he envisioned starting a jewellery firm. He appeared to take each action with perfect firm ness and careful planning. After being first introduced to this concept by his intui tion while visiting an exhi bition, Mr Prakash quickly realised that his future lies in the “one gram gold lay ered ornament” industry. It was both a bold move and a difficult choice. Following thorough investigation and analysis, Mr Prakash moved his pawn with considera tion. On 1990, he entered the “pure gold” industry by opening two showrooms in Sreemoolanagaram and Kalady. It was just the start.

It was an exhibition called “Swarnalokham” that Prakash and his wife Preethi Parakkat once saw that first inspired them to create “one-gram layered gold” jewellery. Under the direc

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” - Henry David Thoreau

Parakkat Jewels is dedicated to providing all of its customers with excellent service and products of the highest calibre. It works to educate people about the value of purchasing pure gold as a savings asset while also conserving the Kerala traditional ornament design.

tion of Prakash Parakkat, a business man who has provided people with nothing but the best with his brand Parakkat Jewels, the company has an exclusive online store that highlights the honesty, integrity, and authentic ity of the brand. People have been astounded by the brand’s 24-carat gold layered ornaments, which have increased their curiosity and want to learn more about the unique jewel lery brand as well as their sense of obligation to make a purchase. One gram gold jewellery from Parakkat

Jewels’ valuable history is what has helped the company grow so quickly and become so successful in the market. In doing so, it is a trailblaz ing brand that has attracted millions of consumers. Even in the face of fierce competition, consumers still choose this brand because of its ex cellent customer service and amaz ing jewellery.

Parakkat Jewels is dedicated to providing all of its customers with excellent service and products of the highest calibre. It works to edu

cate people about the value of pur chasing pure gold as a savings asset while also conserving the Kerala traditional ornament design. The company opened its first showroom for one gram layered ornaments at MG Road, in the Ernakulam district. Public started trusting the brand and the reason was that Mr Prakash just wanted to provide high-quality goods at fair prices while others were fo cused on making a profit. He used the safe metals copper and silver in his creations rather than the danger

Prakash Parakkat effectively diversified his business in the future. He has investments in the hospitality and tourism industries in addition to real estate. Located in Munnar, The Parakkat Nature Hotel & Resort is a stunning boutique resort with top-notch amenities. Prakash Parakkat is the only person responsible for the full architectural design, engineering, and interiors of the resort.

ous metals nickel and chromium, which are used to produce this type of jewellery.

It was sufficient for the busi ness to enter a growth phase. Prakash gradually transitioned to the hospitality and tourism sector while transferring control of Par akkat Jewels to his wife Preethi Parakkat, who had been running the business for the previous 20 years. Today, it has lakhs of devot ed customers, an online website, over 100 showrooms, and a wide distribution network. Its show rooms may be found in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and Indian cities including Bangalore, Nagercoil, Thirunelveli, Erode, and Ma durai, as well as Kerala’s northern to southern regions. Now their aim is to spread the brand widely to Tamil Nadu and the Malabar region of Kerala.

The main benefit of the “one gram gold layered” ornaments sold by Parakkat jewellers is that, unlike other comparable items, the buyer can use these orna ments for the duration of their lives without the shine and qual ity deteriorating. The unique fea tures of Parakkat Jewels are their lifetime warranty, exchange offers for old jewellery, and money-back guarantee. Another aspect is that they create bespoke jewels based on consumer preferences. They have their own manufacturing fa cility, and as Preethi Parakkat is a designer, she personally custom ises the jewellery to the style the customer chooses. Other distinc tions include handcrafted jewel lery and traditional goldsmithing. For their clients, they also carve idols, mementos, pageant crowns, gold-layered watches, vessels, and many other items. Preethi Parak kat is in charge of the Parakkat crew, which consists largely of female employees.

Parakkat Nature Hotel

& Resort: The Boutique Resort

Prakash Parakkat effectively diversified his business in the fu ture. He has investments in the hospitality and tourism industries in addition to real estate. Located in Munnar, The Parakkat Nature Hotel & Resort is a stunning boutique resort with top-notch amenities. The resort's interior designs and engineering works were all handled by Prakash Parakkat alone. The Parakkat group’s magnificence is amply displayed in every small detail of this resort. There are club suite rooms, premium rooms, superior rooms, classic rooms, pool villas and cave houses available. It is a resort of 10 acres with modern amenities including an amuse ment park, cottages, huts and a ropeway in harmony with nature without compromising the natural beauty. Additionally, the resort of fers a hiking trail, a nature walk, a jeep safari, a fish pond, pool, fire dance, 100’s of locations for pho toshoots and visits to tea gardens, spice plantations, and caves. The scenery this location offers can not be adequately expressed in words. Additionally, there is an open restaurant where a variety of cuisines are offered. In actuality, the resort is situated right in the middle of a tea plantation. This location offers a beautiful view of the plantations and the natural world that is worth noting and appreciating.

Parakkat Wedding Com pany : The New Venture

The Parakkat Wedding Com pany initiative has also started. It basically provides facilities for pre and post wedding photoshoots as well as an upscale bridal boutique. The four-storey building provides a quick solution for bridal jew ellery collections, ranging from bridal jewelleries to rental bridal

jewellery in one gram—the first of its type in Kerala—to rental studio floor, which is visible on the various floors. It began operations at Ernakulam’s Woodland Junction and has all the necessary amenities, including a makeover studio, a modelling area, and a photo shoot area.

They also have their own You Tube channel under the name ‘Par akkat Jewels’ which is managed by Preethi Parakkat through which they introduce new varieties of jewels for their viewers. They currently have plans to franchise their brand and open new shops throughout South India.

Upcoming Projects

The Parakkat Nature Hotel & Resort are now situated in a valley side, but Prakash Parakkat plans to manage the opening of a mountain side resort with an Ayurvedic fivestar facility under the same brand name at Adimali in Idukki District, Kerala. Whereas, Preethi Parakkat, who oversees the jewellery industry, is prepared to expand their brand

throughout South India.

Prakash’s Pillar of Support

Like any business, owning a com pany with your spouse has its ups and downs. Long-term success is the result of your partnership’s total dedication, both at work and outside of it. Both have a significant stake in the company, so you enjoy the suc cesses together. And the same thing occurred in his life. Preethi Parak kat, his wife, also began offering a helping hand in their business after the birth of their kids. A woman who has succeeded in turning Parakkat Jewelry into a world-class brand with her businessman husband.

In the era of popular technology, there are many possibilities to learn new designs and modify them to cre ate innovative designs. Our success lies in discovering and implementing them, says Preethi Parakkat.

Unforgettable Milestones

Parakkat Jewellery made a statue of Guruvayur Maraprabhu, finished in bronze and covered with gold, for actor Mohanlal to present to Prime

Narendra Modi. Parakkat is characterized by exquisite statues made of marble, bronze and wood and covered with gold. Similarly, at the request of Sabarimala’s expriest, the jewels and jewellery boxes were made by them to be placed on the idol of the Ayyappa temple built in London.

The entrepreneur of a company has a significant impact on its suc cess. A person who undertakes the financial risk of founding and run ning a new company venture is an entrepreneur. This ordinary man’s incredible story merits admiration. Prakash is neither a herculean nor a wealthy person by birth. He is able to control the hostile flood of prob lems because of his perseverance and hard work. Together, with his family he has generated remarkable achievement for their family brand and incredible levels of accomplish ment for Parakkat Jewels through out the years, earning the company now lakhs of devoted and contented consumers

Minister

Shri V.P.Nandakumar MD & CEO Manappuram Finance Ltd.

We focus a lot on education, since nothing empowers people more than this aspect of life. Students in rural areas lack the much-needed training and exposure to pass entrance exams to study in prestigious institutions and other competitive exams. It is to fill this gap that we have started the Manappuram Academy.

Why Charity is a Win-Win Habit

The joy of giving is a special kind of hap piness that is dif ficult to describe. There have been many at tempts to understand and define the heady feeling that people get when they part with something for the ben efit of someone who needs it badly. As the Manappuram Foundation handed over the keys of 25 newly-built houses to destitute families in Vala

pad recently, I could not but ponder about the fundamen tal aspects of charity and al truism.

In a 2006 study, Jorge Moll and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health, of US, found that when people do nate to charities, it activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social bonding and trust, creating what the scientists called a ‘warm glow’ effect. The scientists also

found that altruistic behav iour, which is the selfless act of doing a good deed, releas es endorphins in the brain, producing a positive feeling which has been labelled as the ‘Helper’s High’.

I have this decades-old habit of taking a walk every morning through the bylanes of Valapad, the village where I am born and brought up. In recent times, it has devel oped into a busy town and is

a far cry from the days of yore when there was utter poverty but there are still families that are impoverished and do not have a roof of their own. This is what made me think of an initiative called ‘Sneha Bhavanam’ to identify the most deserving and provide them with a home of their own. The beneficiaries were selected in consultation with the ward mem bers of the region. On September 23, Mr K. Radhakrishnan, Hon. Minister for SC/ST Welfare and Parliamen tary Affairs, handed over the keys to the beneficiaries at an event held at the Manappuram headquarters.

The Manappuram Foundation was started in 2009, years before CSR became a statutory responsibil ity for corporate houses. ‘To create healthy, educated and happy com munities’ is the foundation’s dic tum and from the start to this day, we have been steadfastly adhering to that underlying philosophy. Over the years, there have been many an initiative, in different parts of the country, to wipe the tears of those who had become helpless either be cause of illness or other unfortunate circumstances.

We focus a lot on education, since nothing empowers people more than this aspect of life. Stu

dents in rural areas lack the muchneeded training and exposure to pass entrance exams to study in prestig ious institutions and other competi tive exams. It is to fill this gap that we have started the Manappuram Academy. To cite an example, we employ many chartered account

ants in our institution, but during my countless interviews to zero in on the right candidates, I was disappointed that I never came across anyone with the basic qualification from the SC/ ST community. When we were able to groom one such student to clear the CA exam and employ him, my joy

In 2018, when Kerala saw unprecedented floods, the foundation joined hands with the Lions Club to build as many as 125 houses for those who saw their houses being swept away by marauding waters.

knew no bounds.

In the area of health, we con centrate on prevention as well as cure and this is the reason why we have set up open gyms in the parks of Delhi. In around 100 schools, we have set up children’s parks to ensure that the young generation get their quota of rec reation.

The stiffest challenge for us, as also for everybody else, came when the pandemic wreaked havoc and the public healthcare system was stretched to the limits. The Foundation chipped in its bit by supplying hundreds of oxygen concentrators and mobile venti lators to hospitals, a service that I fondly remember as one of the noblest that we have ever carried out.

In 2018, when Kerala saw unprecedented floods, the foun

dation joined hands with the Li ons Club to build as many as 125 houses for those who saw their houses being swept away by ma rauding waters. When we donate a home to those who cannot afford it, it helps them start life afresh, with hope and enthusiasm.

In the next phase of the Sne ha Bhavanam project, we have promised to build a house each in the 140 assembly constituen cies and the MLAs themselves would choose the beneficiaries. The work would begin once the government gives the green signal.

The greatest inspiration for us to continue this project as well as many more in future are the smiles on the faces of the benefi ciaries. I, for one, have no doubt that the giver is more blessed than the receiver.

A 2008 study by Harvard Busi

ness School professor Michael Norton and colleagues found that giving money to someone else lifted participants’ happiness more than spending it on them selves. Happiness expert Sonja Ly ubomirsky, a professor of psychol ogy at the University of California, came up with similar results when she asked people to perform five acts of kindness each week for six weeks.

Perhaps nobody put it better than Swami Vivekananda: “Every act of charity, every thought of sympathy, every action of help, every good deed, is taking so much of self-importance away from our little selves and making us think of ourselves as the lowest and the least, and, therefore, it is all good. Here we find that Jnâna, Bhakti, and Karma -- all come to one point.”

Rajesh Nair Associate Partner, Ernst & Young LLP

Reading is a foundational skill that often gets taught unconsciously. While we are formally taught alphabets, languages, grammar, and punctuation, reading also becomes the medium to learn and understand every other subject.

Learning is fundamental to our existence - something as vital as living and breath ing. We learn every moment of our existence consciously and un consciously. While the institutions of the world have formal curriculums, your interactions in daily life, the people you meet, the messages you sent and read, the visual mediums you access, all take you there. What we learn manifests in ourselves – in the way we think, act and feel. As we grow older, we use the mental struc tures we build in our younger foun dational days to add to the knowl edge that we already have acquired and get into the process of learning, relearning and sometimes unlearn ing. Perhaps the simplest and the most common means of learning is the 'written word' and the habit of imbibing it through reading.

Reading is a foundational skill that often gets taught unconsciously. While we are formally taught alpha bets, languages, grammar, and punc tuation, reading also becomes the medium to learn and understand every other subject. Our thinking gets moulded around ideas and the articulation of these ideas needs the medium of language. While we learn through some of the experiences we have, we translate that to concrete wisdom when we apply it in words and dip deep into the meaning. But we can't often rely on our personal experiences to learn. We are lim ited by our physical presence, our limitation of twenty-four hours in

ReadingA Key Learning Habit

Some of the fiction books are indeed more retentive because of the stories that they and the visual feel of the characters, the plot, the emotions, etc. Each of these books then helps us live a different experience through the eyes of the author and often we land up playing those characters in the 'stage' of our mind.

a day, limitations of travel and our individual lives can never be a wide panorama of experiences that the world and its inhabitants have. Read ing helps you build your thoughts about places, people, actions and feelings that we don't have direct participation in. It helps you widen your imagination and also inhabit your mind with new structures and frameworks. A key skill to acquire them is to read and retain and help them build your world view.

In the olden days and till the re cent infusion of digital technology, reading was a wistful experience. The touch and feel of the papyrus, the smell of paper and the infused ink, the edges and the fingers run ning along the ream of pages, the unique blend of the black letters on the white paper landscape and the fanning of the pages as we absentmindedly, run through the pages! The sense of accomplishment as the thickness of the read section crowds into our hands and the 'to read' sec tion becomes thinner and thinner. The picture of the stash of books sit ting, waiting to be picked on a table or a book shelf – there is a sense of romanticism around all this. Tech nology has taken away some of these palpable experiences but brought in efficiency and ease of access with it. Hundreds of books can travel with you as you can pack them into your Kindle, Ipad or multiple other de vices. This efficiency perhaps would have taken away those experiences of the past but the 'ease of access' itself means you can read and imbibe more information.

As read, the other question we constantly ponder is our ability to retain to some of the content of the books. Some of the fiction books are indeed more retentive because of the stories that they and the visual feel of the characters, the plot, the emo tions, etc. Each of these books then helps us live a different experience through the eyes of the author and often we land up playing those char acters in the 'stage' of our mind. As we immerse into these experiences, we also widen our imagination about worlds, conjuring their visual land scape. Non-fiction books are differ ent. So are textbooks and reference

books. They help us elucidate vari ous points in our minds, clarify our understanding of concepts and help us become more learned individuals. But the retention, in this case, is a lot lesser unless we make an attempt. One question that the readers of these books ponder is – how do we remember the vital concepts, how can we re call the content and most impor tantly who can we remember the references exactly when a relevant point is being discussed or a deci sion needs to be made. Some of the avid readers have interesting answers and solutions for these. Of course, the use of these reten tion hacks are personal and what

works for Tom does not work for Harry. But here is some food for thought.

• Marking passages and high lighting passages and phrases of interest

• Writing on the pages on what ideas came to you and what learn ings have you derived from

• Taking notes in a note book, computer or a medium outside the book.

While some of these are cum bersome and not really connected to the reading habit, these are great measures to enhance what you learn and retain from the books. While this process perhaps takes away the time you could

have read more, it will ensure that you will retain the book long be fore you have closed it and moved on to the next book.

To embellish the habit further, it would be interesting to have a regular time to read – like the best slot seems to be the early morn ings but you could choose times as per your biological clock and your work rigmarole. But whatever time you choose, reading is also like an exercise, we get better at it as we do more and it helps us develop into well-informed individuals – a trait that may help us at work and in multiple phases in that journey of life! So pick up a book and start reading!

Dr Arun Oommen MBBS, MS (Gen Surg), MCh (Neurosurgery), MRCSEd,MBA Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon VPS Lakeshore Hospital NH-47, Bypass, Maradu, Nettoor PO, Kochi 682040, India.

Full-Fledged Hospice and Palliative Care Centres - Need of the Hour

Palliative care is a holistic care which fulfills the re quirements of chronically ill or terminally ill patients. It has become an emerging need of the day as the existing healthcare facilities play only a limited role in the care of the chronically ill people in the society. Patients with terminal illness in most cas es spend their lives in the com munity among their family and neighbours, so there is the need for a multi-disciplinary team for their constant care. General prac titioners working with palliative care teams stated that home care was the preferred option for most

people with a terminal illness, and providing home care relies on good community-based services, a gen eral practice workforce competent in palliative care practice, and will ing to accommodate patients.

Palliative care volunteers are primary care givers who originate normally from the same locality with local knowledge and good public contact through which they can make significant contributions in a team work by bridging the gap between the patient community and the outside world.

Palliative care is a prerequisite for complete medical care. The existing healthcare facilities are

Kerala Government is the only State Government in Asia that has introduced a palliative care policy in the State for the first time.

more attuned to caring for acute health problems and they play only a limited role in the care of the chroni cally ill in the society. At least in In dia, the present medical and hospice systems do not have the capacity to guarantee the quality of life for the majority of people with life-limiting illnesses. Patients with terminal illness need a multidisciplinary team and constant care leading to a mounting need for palliative care.

Palliative care remains the only and indeed the most appropriate form of treatment for the patients presenting at incurable stages. Pain and palliative care units touch the lives of those who are in need of care and attention. In Kerala, the

tremendous developments made in palliative care in the State have made the end-of-life phase of the terminally ill more bearable. 80% of all palliative care services in the country are delivered in Kerala, reaching 30% of the needy patients, whereas these services reach only to 2% in India. Kerala’s attempts at caring for terminally ill patients have been regarded as a model for the rest of the world. Kerala Government is the only State Government in Asia that has introduced a palliative care policy in the State for the first time.

There is a need to advocate ad equate policy development and ef fective program implementation in the area of palliative care. 50% of the

Patients who are in the dying phase should not be subjected to “cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” as this constitutes a futile and inappropriate medical treatment. The patient may have an advance di rective that can be used to facilitate discussion about care at this sensitive time.

beneficiaries of palliative care servic es are cancer patients. The remain ing groups included post-stroke sur vivors, Alzheimer’s, terminal renal and liver diseases, chronic arthritis, old age with severe malnutrition, etc. Huge medical expenditure is the major financial problem faced by the patients resulting in intrac table debt. The major medical care provided by the doctors is prescrib ing medicines. They also help the patients to reduce their sufferings through emotional bondage and em pathy. Trained staff nurses help in administering medicines as well as catering to basic daily needs in addi tion to love and compassionate care. Necessity for a full-fledged palliative care service

• Too many patients die an undig nified death with uncontrolled symp toms

• Resources should be made avail able to enable patients to die with dignity in a setting of their choice

• Diagnosing dying is an important clinical skill

• One of the key aims of specialist palliative care is to empower generic healthcare workers to care for dying patients

• Core education objectives related to the care of dying patients should be incorporated in the training of all relevant healthcare professionals

• National indicators for care of the dying patient should be identi fied and monitored.

The impact of death on our society is easily underestimated.

Evidence-based guidelines now ex ist to help with the care of people who are dying, including guidelines for symptom control, psychosocial support, and bereavement care. None the less, highly publicised cases continue to occur of patients dying in distress with uncontrolled symptoms and relatives being un supported at this vulnerable time in their lives.Ensuring a good death for all is therefore a major challenge not only for healthcare professionals but also for society.

However, diagnosing dying is of ten a complex process. In a hospital setting, where the culture is often focused on cure, continuation of invasive procedures, investigations, and treatments may be pursued at the expense of the comfort of the patient. There is sometimes a re luctance to make the diagnosis of dying if any hope of improvement exists and even more so if no defini tive diagnosis has been made. When recovery is uncertain it is better to discuss this rather than giving false hope to the patient and family. This is generally perceived as a strength in the doctor-patient relationship and helps to build trust.

Recognising the key signs and symptoms is an important clinical skill in diagnosing dying.

It's usually preceded by a gradual deterioration in functional status.

• The patient becomes bedbound

• The patient is semicomatose

• The patient is able to take only sips of fluid

• The patient is no longer able to take oral drugs.

The most important element in diagnosing dying is that the mem bers of the multi-professional team caring for the patient agree that the patient is likely to die. If the team members are in disagreement then mixed messages together with op posed goals of care can lead to poor patient management and confused communication.

Healthcare professionals are sometimes reluctant to diagnose dy ing, as they have not been trained to care for dying patients and therefore feel helpless. One example of this is the practice of transferring the pa tient to a side room and withdraw ing from the patient and family, a strategy that has been used for many years, particularly in hospitals. How ever, this is the very moment when the hospice model of “intensive pal liative care” should come into ac tion, providing physical, psychologi cal, social, and spiritual care for the patient and the relatives.

Change from definitive care to palliative care

As patients become weaker they find it increasingly difficult to take oral drugs. Non-essential drugs should be discontinued. Drugs that need to be continued, such as opi oids, anxiolytics, and antiemetics, should be converted to the subcu taneous route and a syringe driver used for continuous infusion if ap propriate. As required subcutane ous drugs should be prescribed

according to an agreed protocol (including those for pain and agita tion). Inappropriate interventions, including blood tests and meas urement of vital signs, should be discontinued. Evidence is limited but suggests that continuing artifi cial fluids in the dying patient is of limited benefit and should in most cases be discontinued. Patients who are in the dying phase should not be subjected to “cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” as this constitutes a futile and inappropriate medical treatment. The patient may have an advance directive that can be used to facilitate discussion about care at this sensitive time.

Regular observations should be made and good symptom con trol maintained, including control of pain and agitation Attention to mouth care is essential in the dy

ing patient, and the family can be encouraged to give sips of water or moisten the patient's mouth with a sponge. If urinary incontinence or retention is a problem, catheterisa tion may be needed. Invasive pro cedures for bowel care are rarely needed in the dying phase.

In the community, as required drugs need to be readily accessi ble in the patient's home. Twentyfour-hour district nursing services should be made available, and with the development of general practi tioner cooperative out-of-hours ser vices the continuity of patient care must be ensured. innovative mod els are being developed in the com munity to support patients dying at home and to prevent inappropriate admission to hospital.

The family's insight into the pa tient's condition should be assessed

and issues relating to dying and death explored appropriately and sensitively. The family should be told that the clinical expectation is that the patient is dying and will die. Use of ambiguous language such as “may not get better” can lead to misinterpretation and confusion. A constant source of frustration and anger voiced by bereaved rela tives is that no one sat down and discussed the fact that their loved one was dying. If relatives are told clearly that the patient is dying, they have the opportunity to ask ques tions, stay with the patient, say their goodbyes, contact relevant people, and prepare themselves for the death. Relatives of patients dying in the community should be given contact telephone numbers so that they have access to help and advice on a 24-hour basis

Adv Sherry Samuel Oommen: This article is authored by Adv Sherry Samuel Oommen. Adv Oommen, who spe cializes in constitution, tax and corporate laws has also cleared the final exams of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He has also completed his Masters Degree in Commerce, apart from obtaining a Post Graduate Diploma in Business and Corporate Laws from Symbiosis Pune. The views expressly are personal and should not be construed as a legal opinion.sherryoommen@nashcp.com.

MULTI LATERAL INSTRUMENTS THE EMERGING NEW ORDER

It is not a secret that multi-na tional enterprises have sought to exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules existing in various jurisdictions. These gaps or mis matches have over a course of time resulted in artificially shifting profits to low or no-tax jurisdictions where there is essentially little or no eco nomic activity. This has resulted in little or no overall corporate tax be ing paid in any of the jurisdictions. Taking cognizance of this harsh reality and the need to effectively counter the same, countries have adopted a Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (popularly known as “MLI”). The term Base Erosion and Profit Shifting is hereinafter re ferred to as “BEPS”. What is a Multi Lateral

Instrument (“MLI”)?

The MLI is a unique, innovative document which in one stroke has the effect of modifying several tax treaties through a single document and process. It is in substance a multilateral treaty which when ap plied alongside the existing bilateral tax treaty modifies their application. This approach is rather pathbreak ing and proffers gains in efficiency as compared to the traditional path of countries renegotiating each of the more than 3,000 tax treaties which could have taken decades and re sulted in various inconsistencies. From an operational standpoint, countries have now to go through only ONE ratification procedure under their respective domestic tax laws in order to modify their whole treaty network rather than seeking separate ratification of amendments

to each bilateral tax treaty.

The BEPS Action Plan

The BEPS Action Plan was de veloped by the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs and was endorsed by the G20 Leaders. The Committee identified 15 action items to address the issue of base erosion and profit shifting, aka, BEPS, in a compre hensive manner styled “the BEPS Project”. Countries in their delib eration observed that to implement BEPS in a meaningful and effective manner, the tax treaties ought to be modified quickly considering the challenges of the VUCA world.

After much deliberation, the MLI was considered as a clear solu tion to this menace of treaty abuse as entering into a fresh bilateral tax treaty or a modification of an exist ing tax treaty would be a long-drawn process. There would no gainsay in

The MLI is a unique, innovative document which in one stroke has the effect of modifying several tax treaties through a single document and process.

reiterating that the modification of more than 3,000 tax treaties could take a lifetime.

Taking into account the above, some of the key action points agreed upon are as follows:

• Action 2 – Neutralizing the ef fects of hybrid mismatch arrange ment

• Action 6 – Preventing treaty abuse

• Action 7 – Preventing the artifi cial avoidance of status of a perma nent establishment

• Action 14 – Making dispute res olution mechanism more effective. A few key aspects concern

ing MLI

i. MLI confers flexibilities to countries/ jurisdictions signing the same. These flexibilities can be availed through reservations, which is a right conferred on a country/ jurisdiction. For instance, a country may exercise its right not to exercise an article of the MLI in its entirety or it may reserve its right to apply provi sions of an MLI partially. The partial adoption would arise when the con cerned article in the MLI already ex ists in the related tax treaty. Further, any country which has made a reser vation could at any time withdrawn such reservation or replace it with a

more limited reservation.

ii. A reservation essentially modi fies the provision of an MLI and its consequent application on the con cerned existing tax treaty. Unless both the countries concur with the suggested reservation, the bilateral tax treaty cannot be modified. This approach is consistent with the prop osition that a bilateral tax cannot be modified unless both the parties to the treaty agree to the modification.

To illustrate, if assuming Country X reserves its right not to apply provi sions of a particular MLI (say, Article 2 of MLI), the tax treaties signed by Country X will not get modified by Article 2 of the MLI even if the other countries have not made such reser vation and want to modify Article 2 of the bilateral tax treaties with the

said Country X. Thus, as an edict, the provisions of a bilateral tax treaty get amended by an MLI only when both the parties to such treaty decide to include the same amendment in their tax treaty. Such choice are generally made by the countries through notifications and hence matching would need to be viewed as matching of notifications.

iii. The term ratification by a coun try has been well articulated by the OECD Directorate of Legal Affairs. The term “ratification” has been expounded as “an international act whereby a state establishes on the international plane its consent to be bound by a treaty. In order to pro ceed to ratification of the treaty, may countries will complete domestic processes in order to secure parlia

mentary approval for ratification. In this way, the consent to the terms of a treaty by the executive branch of government (expressed by the sig nature of the treaty) is confirmed by the legislative branch of government. Once any ratification procedures are complete, ending with the deposit of the instrument of ratification, the State has consented to be bound the terms of the treaty. The process of ratification will vary depending on the jurisdiction’s legal system and domestic requirements.”

iv. In certain cases, MLI could also be viewed as an open offer by a country to its concerned treaty partner to modify the bilateral tax treaty signed by it at a future date in accordance with the provisions of the MLI.

MLI now presents a new world order in the domain of international struc turing. It would augur well for businesses to plan their international operations taking into account this new development and the emerging trends.

Understanding of some of the MLI provisions

i. Article 2 of the MLI concerns Covered Tax Agreements. It essen tially requires the country to provide the list of agreements which the said country wishes to be covered by the MLI. As a natural consequence, tax treaties which are not included in the said list would not be treated as a Covered Tax Agreement for the purpose of MLI and would not be impacted by the provisions of MLI.

ii. Article 3 concerns transparent entities. The said article essentially provides that income derived by or through an entity or arrangement that is treated as wholly or partly fis cally transparent under the tax law

of either of the contracting states shall be considered to be income of a resident of a contracting state ONLY to the extent the said income is treated for the purpose of taxation by that contracting state as income of its resident.

iii. Article 6 of the MLI states the minimum standard. It amends the preamble of the Covered Tax Agree ment to provide that the intention of the agreement is not to create op portunities for double non-taxation or reduced taxation.

iv. Article 7 of the MLI deals with Prevention of Treaty Abuse. This is essentially countered with the appli cation of Principal Purpose Test and Simplified Limitations of Benefit.

v. Article 8 deals with Dividend Transfer Transactions which effec tively addresses abusive transactions wherein the related shareholding is transferred a few days before the dividend declaration to avail the benefit of a lower tax in the related source country.

In summary, MLI now presents a new world order in the domain of international structuring. It would augur well for businesses to plan their international operations taking into account this new development and the emerging trends. There can be no two views that entities set up solely for the purpose of claiming a particular tax benefit would clearly be disregarded

Rajiv Ambat Lifestyle Disorders Coach & Founder - NuvoVivo

About NuvoVivo (www.nuvovivo.com) Rajiv Ambat is the CEO of NuvoVivo, an online health & fitness com pany that is into medical fitness. He is a well-known speaker and author of the best-selling book - ‘The Midriff Crisis’ and lifestyle expert. Under the guidance of Mr Rajiv, his team at NuvoVivo help their clients manage/reverse lifestyle diseases like diabetes, cholesterol, fatty liver, uric acid, hypertension, PCOS, thyroid disorders, etc.

Do Your Part and Live a Heart-Healthy Lifestyle

The World Heart Day was celebrated recently, on the 29th of September. With ever-increasing incidence of cardio vascular diseases, it is befitting that such a day is assum ing a lot of importance, and many healthcare professionals are talking about heart health, the do’s and the don’ts. I’m sure you know - improv ing heart health is not a one-day or a one-month task; it requires a structured, disciplined and scientific approach to lifestyle. Broadly, three main factors affect our heart health. They are - the food we eat, exercise (or the lack of it) and stress!

Food& Heart Health

Eating healthy isn't just about eating a lot of vegetables, protein rich food and cutting out carbohy drates. A healthy diet should be a balance of all nutrients. Apart from macronutrients like protein, fat and carbohydrates, your diet should be a good mix of antioxidants, vita mins and essential minerals. This is called a balanced diet. Make your plate very colorful with different types of vegetables or fruits. Anti oxidants are the pigments that give fruits and vegetables their color. They neutralise free-radicals and re duces inflammation and keeps our

A good mix of weight training, cardio and yoga is always best for overall health. These exercises should be tailored to each person’s needs, age, physical conditions and ailments if any. Incorporate yoga and meditation into the daily routine, as it helps immensely to lower blood pressure and heart rate!

heart healthy. Inflammation is long known to be the harbinger of many diseases including many cardio vas cular diseases.

Reduce salt and sodium intake if you have high blood pressure (pro cessed foods and sauces are rich in sodium). According to the American Heart Association, the safe limit of sodium for a patient with high blood pressure is 1.5 grams per day. To put that number into perspective - one teaspoon of table salt alone contains 2 grams of sodium!

Avoid reheating oil as it can increase blood cholesterol levels. Further, cut down on fried foods, especially food high in transfats or hydrogenated oils. Include omega-3 fatty acid in the diet, such as fish oil, flaxseeds etc. to maintain healthy cholesterol levels in the blood. If you are overweight, lose some weight at a moderate calorie deficit, without crash dieting. It is extremely impor tant that you don't lose more than 4 kg in a month and don't lose mus cle mass while trying to lose weight. Eat within your calorie expenditure range - even the world’s healthiest food, if you over eat, will make you gain weight and increase your cho lesterol levels.

Exercises- How much is too much exercise?

Regular exercise plays a very important role in keeping cardio vascular diseases at bay. But the ex ercises should be logical & scientific. For example - Cardio exercises are good for heart health, but a person with congenital heart disease may be advised to abstain from such ex ercises. In case of such conditions, post-surgery, angioplasty or severe infections including covid, always seek the advice of your doctor be

Deep Abdominal Breathing (DAB) is very helpful to keep the stress at bay, reduce the heart rate and the blood pressure.

fore starting any form of exercise regimen.

It is very important that your exercise routine be regular, struc tured and scientific. For a beginner, 150 minutes of exercise per week is a great start. i.e. - 30 mins every day, for 5 days in a week. A safe up per limit is 300 minutes of exercise every week, which amounts to 1 hour every day, for 5 days in a week. The right amount of struc tured and scientific exercise plan helps in reducing inflammation, but excess exercise can do just the op posite and can even lead to events including heart attack. With regular, structured and scientific exercises, our body can even create collateral arteries to bypass blocked arteries. Monitor your heart rate while exer cising - the safe upper limit of heart rate, while exercising is 80% x (220 - Age).

A good mix of weight train

ing, cardio and yoga is always best for overall health. These exercises should be tailored to each person’s needs, age, physical conditions and ailments if any. Incorporate yoga and meditation into the daily routine, as it helps immensely to lower blood pressure and heart rate!

Managing Stress

We live in a world where it is difficult to stay away from mental stress. This stress causes a lot of in flammation in our body. Even the air we breathe is sometimes toxic and filled with vehicle exhaust which adds on to this inflammation. Many of the fruits and vegetables we buy from outside are laden with toxic pesticides, which also causes inflam mation. Additionally, habits such as lack of exercise, lack of sleep, smok ing, and stress can exacerbate this inflammation in our bodies. Make it a habit to sleep for at least 8 hours every night.

Deep Abdominal Breathing (DAB) is very helpful to keep the stress at bay, reduce the heart rate and the blood pressure. To practice DAB, sit on a chair, spine erect and take a steady and deep breath for 3 seconds. Make sure the entire lungs get filled with oxygen, push ing the diaphragm down and thus your belly bulges out a bit. Breathe out for 4-5 seconds as you notice the belly comes in. Make sure the upper chest movement is minimal as you breathe in and out. Practice such a deep abdominal breathing for 10 minutes every morning and even ing, and you will be surprised to see your heart rate and blood pressure settling down, and calming yourself of the anxiety and stress!

Don’t lose your heart! Lose ciga rettes, lose junk food, lose weight, loosen up and move! Here is wishing you and your family a healthy and happy heart day, filled with love!

Dolly Maria

Dolly Maria is founder of THE IGNIST, a training company born out of a noble cause and spirit. She holds a decade long experience being a passionate mentor and entrepreneur.

All businesses rely on a great amount of information and employing the right systems in place is an essen tial part of your business to expand.

It’s a New Beginning!

Life is a journey with a lot of turns and curves on the road – sometimes it's beauti ful with a picturesque land scape and sometimes it's adventur ous with a lot of hurdles on the road. Learning through the journey and surviving the obstacles makes us stronger and gives us more wisdom to face what's awaiting us ahead in the journey of life. Every other turn takes us through unexpected twists and surprises. The more we travel, the more we realise the beauty of new beginnings, the beauty of new seasons, new adventures, new learn ings, new relationships and people, new careers and business. New be ginnings are a critical part of human existence.

It is important to create fond memories, enjoy the unexpected ness of life and embrace change through new beginnings in life. Just

like the four very different seasons, each mistake and learning will help reinvent yourself. There are valuable lessons hardships teach you. As they say, "if you find a path without any obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere". With hurdles, you find the essence and purpose. Unless you have a challenge, you wouldn't completely know what's in it. There is indeed wisdom when they say that everything happens for a reason and it is that reason that leads you to your destiny. Hence, skipping the hurdle or trying to avoid hardships won't help you in finding your true destiny. There is always a treasure kept in the middle of that storm, and it is when you successfully come out of it that you realise how well it taught you to sail through. This is the blueprint that you'd use for your next milestone; also to help people manoeuvre through theirs. Most of

us stare at external circumstances and blame people or events for what has happened. We remember times when we have failed at our goals. However, what has happened has happened, bygones are bygones. When we confront a setback in life, after the initial temporary freeze/ flight state if any, we need to ana lyse the inevitable and make plans for change. Change is inevitable! Whether it be changing your habits, people around, career, outlook, per spectives, attitude, or even place. If you are hesitant to accept the unfor tunate misfortune, it is going to cost you more time and in that while, things can get worse in a way that it might get difficult for you to handle. You cannot control people or exter nal events, but you can control your self – your mind and your actions.

Growth is a sign of a healthy business. You always need to keep

an eye out on your product and service offerings and how they are accepted by the market in terms of their lifecycle. All businesses rely on a great amount of information and employing the right systems in place is an essential part of your business to expand. Even though you are impeccable in handling your business, evolutionary growth inherently faces business owners with challenging decisions. How you handle those can either turn out to be a costly detriment or help you to climb the next phase of business. Odds and dares are a daily thing. Learning and fostering change is still not an easy task. Learning is a constant loop every entrepreneur should find herself or himself in; the Learning and Development wing at your workplace offers you immense opportunities for you to learn how to face conflicting situations in life even before it happens. It might not be an easy thing to do, might not be even interesting, however, to surf

Your determination and willpower combined with a positive attitude and efforts will help you endure the obstacles posed by life. It is impor tant to be committed to your strat egy and growth.

smoothly through the highroads of life, we need to be equipped with gears and basics that help us move forward when catastrophes hit us. Resilience is a complex thing – bouncing back from setbacks is not as easy as you may consider it to be. The instructional learning that you've had before has to be then put to practical implementation learning. This proactively prepares you with precautionary gears. Your determination and willpower combined with a positive attitude and efforts will help you en dure the obstacles posed by life. It is important to be committed to your strategy and growth. Aware ness is the first step to success. The commitment that you make with yourself should be your inter nal motivation and driving force. It is really not for anyone else primarily, but for yourself – to know yourself better, to prove that you really can, and to overcome the struggle sometimes with pride. This is your life after all. It is you who decides how you want to pen it, experience it and enjoy it. Martin Luther King has put it boldly across, " If you can't fly then run, if you can't run, then walk; if you can't walk, then crawl; but whatever you do keep moving forward".

Endings are necessary. When one door closes, another opens. Open your eyes and see life the way it is. Something that we all know is that success tastes the sweetest after a series of failures, and every success is mostly and usually preceded by failure. Look forward to new beginnings always. Never find yourself stuck somewhere for a long time. In today's world, it is you and you alone. Building a team for you is an extension and al ways a compliment to the strength you find within yourself. The team with you should always look up to you for leadership and support. And for that, you need to win it first. And before you win it, you always have that bitter taste to experience which makes you value the sweet when it comes along. Each day brings us new opportunities – it is our learnings that evolve us to identify the right ones to take in. The opportunity should be utilised to begin again more intelligently, and this time with lesser flaws. The whole idea is to do your best –do what you can with what you have. Slowly add upto it, and it will avalanche in the compound. A fresh start is all we need when in times of doubt. A clean slate will give you renewed vigor and to look at life in a completely new direction. An openness to change helps you not to end up staying in the same wrong place for a long time. Have the cour age to "move". Do not be passive just letting things happen to you nor be blindly resistant to life and change. You can be more productive and contrib ute a lot more to this world if you are ready to start afresh with transformed zeal. Face your fears, and let go of your past. This new beginning will act as a key component to your happiness. So, give yourself a chance to start over! Give yourself a chance to be victorious at it. Charge!

Yoghurt for Hair and Skin: Magical Benefits of Yoghurt

Yoghurt is adored for its cooling flavour and is also recognised to be a natural probiotic that aids in bet tering the health of your digestive system. This magical concoction, which improves the condition of your skin and hair, is made from rich, fatty milk. In addition to being consumed orally, yoghurt can also be applied topically to enhance the health of the skin and hair.

In addition to its wealth of nu trients, yoghurt’s lactic acid can constrict skin pores, exfoliate and moisturise the skin, control dan druff, reduce itching, and nourish the skin and hair. The following skin and hair benefits of yoghurt will help you have healthier skin and hair.

Skin Moisturizes

You can use a yoghurt face mask to refresh your skin if it needs a moisture boost. Yoghurt enhances the moisture content of the treated area when administered topically. This increases the elasticity and brightness of the skin.

Hair Conditions

Yoghurt can help condition your hair and make it more manageable if you are weary of the chemicals in store-bought conditioners and are searching for a natural option. Yo ghurt’s hydrating qualities enable it to aid in the restoration of dry and harmed hair. It conditions your hair and makes it easier to manage.

Reduces Fine Lines And Wrinkles

The ageing effects on your skin become more noticeable with time.

Use a yoghurt scrub once a week to get rid of the wrinkles and fine lines. Lactic acid, which is present in yo ghurt, is a good exfoliant. It reveals younger-looking skin by removing the top layer of dead cells.

Minimises damage to hair

There are several causes of hair loss. One of them is inadequate nu trition for the hair follicles. Yoghurt, which is a great source of nutrients for your hair, can help halt hair loss. Yoghurt application helps hydrate the hair shafts and lessen damage indicators such as split ends, dry ness, and other damage indicators.

Skin Infections are treated

Many people suffer from skin ill nesses like ringworm or sports foot. You can try yoghurt if you’re seeking for an all-natural treatment. Probi otics included in yoghurt aid in the treatment of skin infections brought on by pathogens like yeast.

Handles dandruff

Dandruff is a frequent issue that can be avoided by applying yoghurt topically. Fungus is one of the pri mary causes of dandruff. A fungus infection can cause dry skin on the scalp. Yoghurt, a natural anti-fun gal, aids in eliminating all dandruff symptoms.

Calms Sunburns

The sun’s UV rays are what cre ate sunburns. It harms the skin, causing inflammation and occasion ally blisters. Yoghurt applied topically can aid in the healing of burnt skin. Yoghurt can be used to cool burnt areas. This is as a result of its high zinc content and anti-inflammatory qualities.

In our cooking, yoghurt is a com mon component, and we occasion ally eat a scoop of it. By hydrating, nourishing, and preventing damage, yoghurt combined with other organic products can help your skin and hair look better. Use only pure, organic, full-fat yoghurt for the best results. Stay Healthy! Stay Beautiful!

The Gateway to Sikkim: GANGTOK

Gangtok is a stunning vacation destination in Sikkim, located at an altitude of 5410 feet in the peaks of the Eastern Himalayas.

For many travel lovers, one of the fa vourite places to visit in northeast India is Gangtok, the spiritual home of Sikkim. Gangtok is a stunning va cation destination in Sikkim, located at an altitude of 5410 feet in the peaks of the East ern Himalayas. Literally translated, Gangtok means "Top of the Ridge."

The city is situated across a mountain that is covered in trees and faces the snowcapped Kanchenjunga peaks. In and around Gangtok, there are several vantage places from which you can enjoy breath-taking views of Kanchenjunga and other Himalayan mountains. The city undoubtedly provides all of its tourists with a fantastic sight.

Best Time to Visit Gangtok

In spite of the fact that Gangtok experi ences a high tourist season from September to June, the best times to come are during the brisk fall months of September and Oc tober and the spring and summer months of March to June. So, if you're thinking of tak ing an outrageously adventurous vacation to Gangtok during the monsoon, you should be warned that landslides might be disastrous.

Yak Safari is a unique and amazing activity that is held throughout Sikkim. The Dzongri region and Tsomgo Lake are the most well-known routes. Don't miss a photo opportunity on top of the yak as you ascend the hills for a ride around Tsomgo Lake.

Mid-June to mid-Septem ber, Gangtok's climate is equally mysterious and perilous. One will frequently get disoriented in the thick fog that is envel oping the soggy area. Gangtok experiences considerable rains and temperatures between 17 and 22 degrees during the monsoon season.

In Gangtok, the tempera ture varies from 20 degrees to a high of 27 degrees through out the summer, which is from April to June. This is the per fect season to locate and ex plore a relaxing vacation.

Yak Safari

The Yak Safari is one of the best things to do in Gangtok because it offers a distinctive experience. a trip when you

are held firmly to the hump of this enormous mountain ani mal as it transports you gently and steadily to locations in and around Gangtok. The joyride absolutely consumes you as you traverse the rocky landscape in Sikkim's heavenly beauty.

Yak Safari is a unique and amazing activity that is held throughout Sikkim. The Dzon gri region and Tsomgo Lake are the most well-known routes. Don't miss a photo opportunity on top of the yak as you as cend the hills for a ride around Tsomgo Lake.

M.G. Marg

M.G. Marg, which is regard ed as Gangtok's town centre and is home to several amazing eateries, eating establishments,

and cafes. One of the most opu lent things to do in Gangtok is to eat the mouthwatering food at the two most well-known ones, 9'INE Native Cuisine and Bakers Cafe on MG Marg.

The Tibetan cuisine of 9'INE Native Cuisine is well known. Momos, the Sikkimese Set Meal with Chicken, Fer mented Soybean, Dim Sums, and Mushroom Kachi are among the specialties you can savour. It is a must-visit restau rant in Gangtok that specialises in Asian, Tibetan, and Nepalese cuisine.

Tashi View Point

From Tashi View Point, take in the snow-capped mountains up close and personal amid floating clouds. It's in Tashi,

which is around 8 kilometres from Gangtok. On a clear day, the point, one of Gangtok's top tourist destina tions, provides an amazing view of the Kanchenjunga snow peaks.

Tashi View Point is renowned for both its breathtaking sunrises and its gentle sunsets. The sun's rays' tint will change throughout the day, illu minating the peaks. You must arrive at the location before 5 am to fully appreciate its enticing beauty.

Lal Bazaar

Lal Bazaar is a gathering place for local farmers and craftsmen in Sikkim where they congregate to haggle, discuss, or sell their wares. In Gangtok, the Bazaar is the best place to go shopping. On Sundays, ethnic groups from various areas congregate in Gangtok's Lal Bazaar, which is a riot of colour. The ma jority of Gangtok's hotels are within walking distance of Lal Bazaar, which is situated immediately below the M.G. Marg.

Numerous useful items are read ily available on the market. As you walk through the market's alleyways, the aroma of dried fish, vegetables, and cheese fills the air. The bustling market is a great location to capture images of the local vendors hawking their wares.

Tsuk La Khang Monastery

In comparison to other signifi cant locations, Gangtok is widely

recognised for its monasteries. They date back thousands of years and are home to some of Lord Buddha's oldest surviving disciples. For those who enjoy architecture and history, a day tour of the famed monaster ies is among the top things to do in Gangtok in June.

The Tsuk La Khang Monastery is situated in the Royal Palace com plex and has a view of the enormous mountain range. This monastery, a two-story building that holds a large collection of Buddhist writings, is one of the main centres of Buddhist worship and gathering. This monas tery is decorated with wooden sculp tures made to resemble the head of a snow lion in every nook and cranny. Hanuman Tok

At approximately 5500 feet in elevation, Gangtok offers some of the most fantastical and out-of-thisworld landscapes, which are truly a delight for the eyes. Even if the entire city is remarkable in its own right, several areas stand out above the others. Plan a sightseeing day trip that includes popular tourist destinations.

Hanuman Tok, located at an el evation of 7,200 feet and 11 kilome tres from Gangtok town, provides a beautiful view of the Kanchenjunga range. According to mythology, Lord Hanuman stopped here to rest brief ly while travelling from the Himala

yas to Lanka.

Seven Sisters Waterfall

You won't get tired of seeing the Seven Sisters Waterfall's crystalclear, immaculate waters cascade down the mountains for the entire day. Forests around the waterfalls on all sides.

The location is the ideal place to unwind and take in the scenery. The scene gets even more stunning when the sun starts to drop. There is also enough for a little picnic with your family and friends.

Feel the Essence of Spirituality

Ranka Monastery, which offers incredibly stunning views, is the perfect destination for those looking to stray from the crowds. Ranka, a Sikkim monastery that is relatively new in comparison to other Sikkim monasteries, has gained notoriety among Bollywood movie makers.

The Ranka monastery, which is tucked away among the forest-cov ered mountains with lusher-thanever greenery, is home to an im pressive collection of prayer wheels, a sizable courtyard, and a gorgeous pagoda top. This monastery ex udes the calm and spirituality that it is known for. Outside the prayer hall, on the terrace, are magnificent views of the mountains and the set ting sun, which spreads orange, yel low, and red hues across the sky

You won't get tired of seeing the Seven Sisters Waterfall's crystal-clear, immaculate waters cascade down the mountains for the entire day. Forests around the water falls on all sides.

Vivek Venugopal is one of India’s top automotive writers with over a decade’s experience in road-testing and reviewing cars.

He is currently the Editor of Quarter Mile magazine and a columnist in several leading magazines and newspapers. He is also a highly sought after consulting engineer and market analyst for many automobile manufacturers.

Mercedes Benz EQS 580

The EQS is the most impor tant Mercedes of our time for multiple reasons. It is touted as the S class of the future and is currently the flagship of the EQ range. It is India's first luxury EV with assembly of the EQS 580 4Matic variant, taking place in Chakan, Pune. That's the first fac tory outside of Germany to make the EQS. We got to drive one just as it rolled off the assembly line, the previous day.

Mercedes claims, it is the world's most aerodynamic production car with a drag coefficient of just 0.20. That's achieved by a complete rede sign of the sedan form as we know it. The cabin is stretched out with the A and C pillars forming an arc-shaped roofline. To further help with the

flow of air, the front grille is blanked out, the door handles retract when not required and the whole under body is covered to smoothen things out. Interestingly Mercedes has kept the full-size wing mirrors intact while most manufacturers have re sorted to using cameras in an effort to reduce drag.

The overall shape may take a while to get used to, but the sheer size of the EQS is quite imposing. It has a nearly identical 3210mm wheelbase as the S class, but is shorter with an overall length of 5126mm. The wheels are pushed towards the corners to accommodate the battery pack in the centre and the lack of an engine means the bon net can be much shorter. The frontend styling may be a bit polarizing

but the rear looks the part, especially from the three quarters. The inclusion of suitably large 20-inch wheels gives it a well-balanced look. Be prepared for a tech fest as you step inside. It looks very minimalist with no buttons or knobs and that's because all the functionality is integrated into the massive central touch screen that dominates the dashboard. It is actually three individual screens with a combined area of 56 inches all con nected by the MBUX inter face that forms the central infotainment, driver informa tion display and co-driver in fotainment units. The raised central part of the lower

console makes the cabin feel cozy although it does free up a lot of space underneath for storage. The front seats have good support and plenty of adjustment and even come with massage functions. The rear seats have plenty of legroom, although underthigh support and head room aren't great. The seat cushion is thinner than we like and the squab is short. While you get ventilation and individual temperature con trols for each, you do not get massage functions, rear seat entertainment or even sun blinds on the sides and rear. The seats recline a bit, there are gesture controls for the sun blinds on top and there is

Be prepared for a tech fest as you step inside. It looks very minimalist with no buttons or knobs and that's because all the functionality is integrated into the massive central touch screen that dominates the dashboard.

a Samsung tablet to operate all the functions. The EQS is a fastback with a massive 610-litre boot. The cabin insulation is very good and there is active noise cancellation to iron out any noise, although at times you hear the battery cooling fans working.

Under the floor of the EQS is a massive 107.8kWh battery pack that uses NMC cells.

It is the biggest battery pack we get in India, and with an ARAIcertified range of 857km, it also has the highest range of all EVs currently sold here. The EQS 580 has two motors front and back which produce a combined out put of 523bhp and 855Nm. That's good enough for a 0-100kmph time of 4.3 seconds. From behind the wheel, it feels every bit as fast. Floor it and it keeps you pinned to the seats like a supercar. There is no gearbox so the top speed is pegged around 210kmph. With such a big battery, you can drive it fast without worrying about the range dropping too fast.

The downside to that is, the bat tery weighs 708 kilos on its own and the EQS tips the scales around 2.5

tonnes. While it has the power to hurl that weight in a straight line, it does show in the corners when you drive it hard. The EQS uses air suspension on all corners and can be adjusted for stiffness or comfort. Handling is predictable with a pro digious grip from the all-wheel drive system, but you feel disconnected from all the action. The steering is accurate but not very communica tive in terms of what the car is do ing. The brakes have a low biting point and the pedal lacks feel, so you cannot judge how much brak ing force to apply. It takes a while to get used to all this, but till then the EQS is best driven gently.

The ride quality is good for the most part with the air suspension soaking up most of the road imper fections, but it isn't as pliant as an S class. Part of the reason is that the air suspension has to keep itself hard to compensate for the weight of the car.

It thuds on expansion joints and there is more body movement than we like, especially under ac celeration. What is also not good is the ground clearance of 134mm which coupled with the gener

ous wheelbase means you have to tip-toe over most speed breakers. You can go into the MBUX menu to raise the car to tackle even big ger potholes though but it takes a while to react. The system is quite clever that it marks that location via GPS and asks the next time you are there. You also get the full safety system of collision warning, auto emergency braking, brake as sist, steering assist, driver alertness warning and level two autonomous driving suite on board.

Expectations are high when it's from the world's first car manufac turer and it has the letter S in the name, but comparing the EQS to an S class and expecting similar levels of quality, equipment and tech isn't perhaps the right way of looking at things. Rather one must see it as the flagship or the S class of the EQ range. With lower taxes, the EQS 580 costs 20-25 lakhs less than the S class and is a whopping 90 lakh rupees cheaper than the imported EQS 53 AMG. At Rs.1.55 Crores, the EQS 580 is a remark able benchmark in the EV space and a proud achievement for the Indian auto industry

Babli Bouncer

Babli Bouncer is an Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar and writ ten by Amit Joshi, Aradhana Debnath and Madhur Bhandarkar. Tamannaah plays the lead role in the movie. The movie follows Babli Bouncer, a unique story of a female bouncer played by Tamannaah Bhatia. In an effort to win over the love of her life, Babli Tanwar utilises emotional tricks to get a job as a bouncer in a nightclub. Heartbroken, she decides to take advantage of the chance to pursue her job and take control of her life. It examines the nu merous dimensions of the typically male-dominated field. After a five-year hiatus, Madhur Bhandarkar makes a directorial comeback with a story that once again centres on a woman’s search for love and for discovering her true identity. Fast-moving and hu morous, Babli Bouncer doesn’t waste much time before drawing the viewer into the plot. The film was expertly shot, perfectly portraying the spirit of Delhi and Haryana.

Vikram Vedha

Pushkar-Gayathri

wrote and directed the Hindi-language neo-noir action thriller movie Vikram Vedha. It is a re make of their own identical 2017 Tamil film. Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan play the key roles in the movie along with Radhika Apte and Rohit Saraf. The story about Vikram, a police inspector on a mission to find and murder gangster Vedha, is based on the Indian folktale Baital Panchisi. Usually, the writing in mainstream Hindi cinema lets down the performers and directors. That, however, is not the issue with Vikram Vedha. The film’s expertly crafted plot will keep view ers interested, especially if they haven’t watched the original. If you haven’t seen the original, you’ll probably find it to be an engaging film with lots of surprises. Both as a thriller and a masala action movie, Vikram Vedha succeeds. In a crowded hall, it even garners a few whistles and applause.

Ponniyin Selvan : 1

Ponniyin Selvan is an epic period action drama movie in Tamil that was written by Elango Ku maravel and B. Jeyamohan and directed by Mani Ratnam who has also co-written it. It is the first of two film adaptations of Ponniyin Selvan, a 1955 book by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Jayaram, Aishwarya Lekshmi and few more are among the en semble cast members of the movie. Ponniyin Selvan: I dramatises the early years of the legendary emperor Rajaraja I, a Chola prince named Arulmozhi Varman (947–1014). With his adaption of the Ponniyin Sel van for the screen, Mani Ratnam accomplishes the unimaginable while providing you with just the right amount of drama, intrigue, and thrills to keep you riveted. Each of his actors give strong performances under Mani Ratnam’s direction. Regardless of how much time they have on screen, each actor shines out, and it’s a pleasure to watch them perform at their best. The excellent casting, which also includes a strong performance from the supporting cast, is one of the reasons the movie has the desired effect.

Chattambi

“Chattambi,” directed by Abhilash S. Kumar, is a gritty portrayal of a thug who kills time smoking and drinking amid the steep terrains of Idukki. The primary henchman of John, who owns a private financing company, is a local thug named Zaka ria, also known as Karia. Karia’s quick temper was a good fit for the work, and John benefited greatly from having Ka ria by his side. However, the persis tent discrimination Karia experienced while working with John causes him to consider being self-sufficient, and Chattambi illustrates how this think ing causes a wedge between the two. As Kariya, Sreenath Bhasi shines. He has adequate room to demonstrate his acting talent in his debut single lead role film. The political film Chattambi seeks to discuss the gap between the classes and how the affluent always ensure that no one succeeds them.

Author : Catherine Adel West Price : `1,872 (Hardcover)

The Two Lives of Sara Dreamland

The Two Lives of Sara is a historical fiction penned by Catherine Adel West. The story is about Sara King, who is pregnant and trying to escape her past, leaving Chicago and moving to Memphis in the 1960s. A local teacher named Jonah strikes up a conversation with Sara at her boardinghouse about politics, education, and discrimination. Secrets from the past pose a threat to their union as Sara and Jonah fall in love and work to eradicate apartheid. It is a quiet story in a way, but it's also com plicated. This is a tale of love, newly discovered family, difficult choices, redemption, and the power of secrets to bind or release us. This book is both inspiring and depressing. Even though reading this makes it difficult to be emotion-free, there is a constant sense of hope.

Author : Nicholas Spark Price : `1,343 (Hardcover)

In Nicholas Sparks' novel Dreamland, two distinct tales gradually con verge for an engaging conclusion. After a tragedy destroys his musical aspirations, Colby Mills adapts to life as a small-town farmer. Colby meets Morgan, a driven aspiring singer, when he takes a gig at a bar in Florida on the spur of the moment. When Colby and Morgan encounter a woman running from an abusive husband, their lives are forever altered as they fall head over heels. Dreamland is a slow-burning book that leaves read ers perplexed. Up until Sparks sneaks in a mind-blowing turn around, the dual tales remain unexplained and unrelated. This is a tale about growing up as well as of family and duty. Nicholas Sparks creates the most exquisite, moving tales that stir feelings of happiness, melancholy, love, pity, or distress.

Fairy Tale

Author : Stephen King Price : `1,505 (Hardcover)

In this captivating book, renowned author Stephen King delves deeply into the well of his imagination. Charlie, 17, is used to living alone until he makes friends with Howard, an elderly recluse who lives in a huge house on a hill with his pet dog Radar. Howard sends Charlie a message about a mystical gateway leading to a parallel realm where good and evil are at war after he passes away. Charlie and Radar must now defend both planets. The greatest parts of many Grimm fairy tales, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, were merged with the essence of portal tales, like Narnia, before Stephen King created his own combination of fantasy and horror from the resulting mixture. The title accurately describes Fairy Tale as a conventional fantasy with a message.

The Winners

Author : Fredrik Backman Price :

`1,791

(Paperback)

The Winners is Fredrik Backman's finale to the Beartown tale. A lit tle hockey town must deal with what happened two years ago in the much anticipated third and final novel in the Beartown trilogy. With change looming, they make every effort to salvage their marriages, put the past behind them, and do whatever they can to move past it in order to learn what a family and a community are really made of. This heartfelt book challenges us to re-evaluate what it means to win, lose, and forgive as it masterfully depicts all the complexities of everyday life and examines issues of friendship, loyalty, loss, and identity. Backman informs the reader repeatedly how deeply in love his characters are with one another, but their capacity to show that love fluctuates in accordance with the needs of the convoluted plot. He seeks to convince readers that his characters are multifaceted as a result, but in reality, it just converts them into pawns. Backman carefully sheds light on the interconnected lives of a dozen village residents.