Unique Times 2020 November 2020

Vol 9 Issue No.110 Nov - Dec 2020 USD 0.70`50AED 5BD 0.500

THE EPITOME OF SPIRITUALITY Guru Atma Nambi

THE NEW NORMAL AT MANAPPURAM Shri V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd.

Jebitha Ajit Director & CEO Editor Jebitha Ajit Legal Advisor Latha Anand

B.S.Krishnan Associates It is not how much we give but how much love we bskrishnanassociates@gmail.com put into giving.” – Mother Teresa Sub-Editor Vignesh S.G ‘Service to mankind is service to God.’ He who Associate Editor Ravi Saini understands this fact is the noblest.

Rajeev Kumar Guru Atma Nambi, a mystic from Tamil Nadu, is

Director and special editor kollur a source of enlightenment for the aspirants of true Correspondents Dr. Thomas Nechupadam knowledge. His life is dedicated to the deprived class

Vivek Venugopal- Quarter Mile and delivers his charitable works with the help of

Amrutha V Kumar HRDS INDIA, a Non-Profit Organisation.

Creative Design PEGASUS His eventful life is the cover story. Apart from this Cover Photographer Ashique Hassan personality, the story covers HRDS INDIA, an NGO Marketing UAE led by Aji Krishnan.

Phygicart.com Manappuram Finance Limited MD and CEO V P

P.O. Box: 92546, Al Karama Dubai Nandakumar writes about the new business environMr. Anish K Joy

ment, which has emerged post the Covid-19 outbreak.

Mob: +971528946999 Sri Lanka, known as the pearl of Indian Ocean, is info@phygicart.com the travel article. The article discusses few beautiful

Plot No 19A, 9th Floor, destinations in the Island country, which has recently

Green Building, Film City, walked back to normal.

Sector - 16A, Noida - 201301 Our auto expert speaks about BMW 2 Series Gran Maharashtra

Jayasankar M, a/101, Coupe, which is based on the new front wheel drive 1

New Prathamesh Niwas, series hatchback platform.

OPP. Laxmi Park, Thakurli East, Apart from the aforesaid articles, this month we

Dombivli post, Thane District, 421201 bring all our usual articles from beauty, movie review

Mob: 9820708662 and book review to motivation and business.

Hariharan

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Unique Times, No.6/31, Enjoy Reading!

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Printed at St. Reddiar & Sons, P.B. No: 3627, Veekshanam Road, Cochin Published at Pegasus Global Pvt. Ltd. L5-106, Changampuzha Nagar Kalamassery, Ernakulam-682 033 e-mail: editor@uniquetimes.org uniquetimesindia@gmail.com Ph:0484 2532040, 2532080 Mob:9288800999

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CONTENTS

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The epitome of spirituality Guru Atma Nambi

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The New Normal at Manappuram

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Peek into a panacea for hospitals

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Rules of natural justicea fundamental right

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Adolescence issues and ways to tackle them

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32

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48 50 52 58

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Gadgets Natural tips to fight dryness of eyes Sri Lanka: enjoying the beauty of newly found peace, growth and stability BMW 2 series Gran Coupe

UNIQUE DIARY

Airline companies demand end to Covid-19 quarantines

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powerful business community based in the west has demanded an end to Covid-19 quarantines and travel bans. Several powerful airline companies are a part of this business community. The demand has come at the time certain restrictions including travel ban imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 is making it difficult for the community to recover from the pit of miseries into which the community have been pushed by the virus outbreak. The western governments including the United States government have been requested to replace quarantines and travel bans on airline passengers with testing of travellers before departure and upon arrival.

Covid-19 crisis likely to delay penetration of EV in India

“All of us, in a sense, struggle continuously all the time, because we never get what we want. The important which I have really learned is how do you not give up, because you never succeed in the first attempt�

Mukesh Ambani

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he penetration of electronic vehicles in India is likely to be delayed due to the present Covid-19 crisis. Earlier, it was predicted that the penetration of electronic vehicles in the country would increase in few years. A recent research report has contradicted the earlier assumption. The report says that the penetration of electronic vehicles may not increase in the near future. The report has cited the present Covid-19 crisis as the reason that supports its findings. It has also cited the issue of low affordability as another important reason. Fortunately, the report has concluded in a positive note, indicating that the future of the EV sector of the country is bright.

UNIQUE DIARY

Centre steps in to bring down onion’s price

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hile the price of onion is moving swiftly upwards effortlessly breaking all the previous records, the central government has stepped in to mark an end to this upward momentum of the price of this widely consumed vegetable.

Using certain provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, the government has imposed stock limits on onion. The move will prevent the upward momentum of the price of onion as it will make sure retailers and wholesalers do not hold back stock unethically to increase the price of the vegetable. Lately, the price of a kilogram of onion has hit a huge sum of Rs. 100.

Punjab introduces bills to oppose Centre’s farm reform laws

“Business is all about risk taking and managing uncertainties and turbulence.”

Gautam Adani

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n order to effectively oppose the farm reform laws that the central government has introduced in the recent past, the Punjab state government has introduced as many as four bills in the state assembly. Punjab is ruled by the Congress Party – which is the prime opposition party of the country. Clearly, there is politics in this development. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, in a statement he has given to a national media, has said that he was not afraid of resigning. Meanwhile, the central government has dismissed all the allegations that has been levelled against the farm reform laws as baseless.

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Centre to promote local ports

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t is learned that the central government is very keen to improve the level of Indian cargo transhipped at local ports. At present the level of Indian cargo transhipped at local ports is nor more than 25 per cent. The Ministry of Shipping aims to increase this level to at least 75 per cent within the time frame of ten years. It is said that the level of Indian cargo transhipped at local ports will reach around 75 per cent by the year 2030. The development is a boon to all the local transhipment ports in the country, including the under-construction container transhipment port in Vizhinjam, Trivandrum, Kerala.

Telangana to increase area under redgram

“Always think outside the box and embrace the opportunities that appear, wherever they might be.�

Lakshmi Mittal

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he Telangana state government has decided to increase the redgram acreage. The state has marked a notable upward momentum in its irrigation capacity. The momentum has been achieved with the help of certain projects that has been implemented in the state by the government. The achievement the state has made in the area of irrigation is what that has encouraged the state to increase the redgram acreage. It has been decided to increase the redgram acreage to around 20 to 25 lakh acres. Telangana is an agricultural state. Irrigation is the main focal point of the agricultural policy of the state.

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COVERSTORY

THE EPITOME OF SPIRITUALITY GURU ATMA NAMBI

Guru Atma Ji's life is an apt example for many to how to live a joyous and peaceful life despite divers inconveniences. He has immense and myriad life experiences, eliciting wisdom from it, and continues to lead through stability. Since the age of 10, five teachers of different spiritual domains have guided him. ‘Om lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu’ is the principle he upholds and strives to make the world a better place to live, with his meticulous efforts and teachings. Atma ji has pledged to his spiritual life to bring a radical change in the lives of the deprived and has been ushering HRDS INDIA, a long standing Non-profit Organization in accomplishing the dream of releasing the Tribal Community from the clutches of indigence and destitution.

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COVERSTORY

Guruji is the founder of Upanisha Ananda Mandir which is a spiritual and meditation centre run by enthusiastic seekers under the guidance of enlightened Guru Atma Nambi in Tamil Nadu, India. The aashram aims to spread the message of love, compassion and brotherhood, good health, prosperity and meditation for all.

B

Diyara (Special Reporter)

orn on March 17, 1955, Atma Nambi, a mystic from Tamil Nadu, is a source of enlightenment for the aspirants of true knowledge.

At a very young age, Atma Nambi or Guruji as widely known was introduced to his very first spiritual teacher, Nataraja Gurukkal, who was a priest at Shiva temple. “My spiritual journey began in my childhood when my mother sent me to my first teacher, Nataraja Gurukkal. He initiated me into Bhakti Yoga: rituals, chanting of mantras and performing yajnas,” said Atma Ji. Over the years, Guruji completed his higher studies and also kept his learning in spirituality. On October 7, 1994, Guruji had an indelible experience of enlightenment.

With the inner drive of diving deep into the self and spirituality, five different masters and teachers passed through his life and left various experiences and practices.

Following his self-realization, after 2 years of silence, he decided to clear the paths for seekers and to lead them into spirituality through meditation, yoga and kriya. He has dedicated himself to being part of creating a new humanity. " All my spiritual expeditions ended with the experience I had on October 7, 1994, which transformed me completely,” said Guruji. Throughout his journey, he focused on providing help to everyone around him. He wanted to propagate inner peace and happiness over one’s insecurities to a composed niche of mankind.

Guruji said, “he believes that the purpose of my life is to be a part of creating a conscious humanity and a healthy world for mankind to thrive.” " According to Guruji, enlightenment happens spontaneously; its attainment is neither planned nor sched-

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uled." Speaking about spiritual enlightenment, he explains that the description for enlightenment varies from person to person. For one it will be a powerful force pulling one’s self towards the light and for some it's an ignition sensed inside. However, it consists of an irreversible separation of the spiritual self, which is divine, from the mind.

His healing is shared through energy wisdom practices and effective meditation techniques. He guides his followers dynamically to his or her natural state of consciousness to become master of his/her own self and thereby attain the inner peace.

“People who came to me seeking guidance expressed that they felt intense peace and calm in my presence, said Guru Ji with a smile. When asked about kundalini initiation, Guruji explains that it is a very powerful initiation and only possible on wellqualified people that will be handpicked by the master. He believes that a human, need not be taught what he or she should desire or be ambitious about. But to achieve them he or she requires a certain amount of energy which can be attained with yoga and spiritual discipline.

Guruji is the founder of Upanisha Ananda Mandir which is a spiritual and meditation centre run by enthusiastic seekers under the guidance of enlightened Guru Atma Nambi in Tamil Nadu, India. The aashram aims to spread the message of love, compassion and brotherhood, good health, prosperity and meditation for all. Atma Ji conducts Mass Awakenings across the globe for which he travels to many countries for inducing Spiritual harmony in the thirsty hearts of people. He has devotees across the globe,

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COVERSTORY

and spiritual convention centres in Brazil and Chicago (US).

Guruji has also participated in the 1st World Parliament on Spirituality, in December 2012, held at Hyderabad, India. He also supported in requesting the United Nations Organisations (UN) to announce June 21st as the International Yoga Day. He was honoured with Baba Saheb National Award in the year 2016 for his contributions towards the society.

Guruji, a travel enthusiast, feels that learning is an integral and continual part of one’s life and it should be a never-ending process. One can learn indefinitely from different people, countries, and life experiences. Atma

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Ji guides us how to live a happy and contented life, sharing simple, practical, and powerful techniques to people of all ages and families, in schools, industries, institutions and organizations. In the last few years people have been helped worldwide by Atma Nambi’s wisdom techniques as well as by his transformative and healing energy.

As recognition of his spiritual guidance and services throughout the world, he has been awarded

by Global Achievers Foundation, New Delhi, 2016. Currently, he is an Honorary Advisor with Peace Society Worldwide which is a Global Civil Organization for Universal Peace and Harmony.

He conducts counselling sessions

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for the students to nurture their abilities. He creates a sense of service in every individual, steering their way to help others for a better society. He believes that spirituality can bring harmony and he propounds to make the world a Temple of Peace.

A traveller and nature lover to the core, Atma Nambi Ji believes that it is important to experience empathy with all life and be in tune with mother earth. On his spiritual visit to Rishikesh, years ago Guru Ji met Aji Krishnan, the Founder Secretary of HRDS INDIA. Since then Guru Ji has maintained a close association with HRDS INDIA and its noble activities.

AN INDOMITABLE FIGHT FOR DIGNITY-

HRDS INDIA Lakshmi G Reghunath HRDS INDIA is a Non-Governmental Organization working for the fortification and welfare of the marginalized sections of society. Founded in 1995, HRDS INDIA takes a wholehearted, committed, and participatory involvement in the current and relevant issues about the life of the underprivileged, no matter to which caste or creed they belong.

The society promptly addresses and takes action on a whole lot of issues related to the poor and deprived, ranging from eradication of poverty, promotion of health and sanitation, protection of the environment, empowerment of women, tribal inhabitation and creation of employment opportunities besides spreading the importance of education and values.

To actualize its visions, HRDS INDIA organizes a set of well-focused and innovative projects, all aimed at the sustainable development of the

downtrodden. Soon Atma Nambi Ji’s ashram will be built at Attappady in Palakkad, Kerala. “Attappady is a beautiful place and an alcohol-free zone. I have been searching for such a place to build an ashram which will be a model to the world. The ashram will depict the heritages of India and will preserve the values of Tribal culture which is slowly diminishing. It will not just be an ashram but also a place to learn new things.

SADHGRAHA Tribal Housing Project

HRDS INDIA works for the Tribal welfare and they propose to initiate a nationwide Tribal housing project constructing ‘One Million’ houses for the homeless Tribal people under ‘Sadhgraha’ project in less than 10 years. Guru Atma Ji, the spiritual Guru of HRDS INDIA, has been keeping and continuing his spiritual relationship with HRDS

INDIA’s Secretary Aji Krishnan for several years. Atma Ji has taken the initiative to pool help from around the world igniting the conscience of people to join this journey of HRDS INDIA for the implementation of Sadhgraha Tribal Housing Project.

“Ever since I have come in contact with Aji Krishnan I have been very much impressed with his work under HRDS INDIA,” said Guruji.

A nature lover, guruji believes that the Tribal community are the true guardians of nature. And working for the betterment of them is a responsibility of each one of us. “I have a huge reverence for the Tribal people because they are the true protector of nature, not only in India but across the world. When they protect our nature, it is our responsibility to protect them. I am delighted to be part of such a project which ameliorates their lives,” added Guruji, who

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COVERSTORY

COMPANION TO ATMA NAMBI’S SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

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wamiji proudly comments that “if HRDS INDIA is the manifestation of body then it is the secretary, Aji Krishnan who is the soul”. Aji Krishnan hails from a family of planters from the high ranges of Idukki, Kerala which gave him a chance to encounter the lives of the indigenous tribes since his childhood. Completing the higher education in Fine Arts, Aji Krishnan committed himself to become a social worker and started an NGO. He aimed at endeavouring to break vicious cycle of poverty and deprivation of Tribal Communities of India. Confined to Kerala in its initial phase, HRDS INDIA now flourishes at the national level through his great perseverance and invariably with the spiritual guidance from Guru Atma Nambi.

Guru Atma Nambi, during his spiritual journey, met Aji Krishnan at Rishikesh and could see through his sane objectives. The dream of HRDS INDIA i.e. to emancipate the deprived from the gruesome clutches of the power consumed tyrants was silver lined with the advent of Guru ji as their confidant.

Guru Ji who had travelled throughout the world to propagate the message of peace, found himself consumed by the miseries of the tribes and decided to try and change the prevailing situation. This required expansion of HRDS INDIA Tribal Welfare Projects nationwide.

Devotees of Atma ji around the world, including celebrated pop singers, politicians, multi-national corporate delegates etc. have consented in supporting HRDS INDIA to aid millions of tribes lead a better life.

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is also the spiritual guide of HRDS INDIA.

KARSHAKA - The cultivation of Medicinal plants

Large scale supplement of raw material is essential for making Ayurveda medicine for which the cultivation of medicinal plants is a prime necessity and hence the establishment of the Karshaka Project by HRDS INDIA comes as an alternative means to generate medicinal plants. The project is being implemented in a region spread across five thousand acres of tribal land that eventually steers them to economic stability. “The aim is to produce medicinal plants in our land and also to generate employment for Tribal communities in the country,” said Guruji.

According to the action plan, a 60% share of the profit earned from the yield will be given to the owners of land and 40% will be maintained for the sustainability of the project.

This will rejuvenate the fertility of the agriculture fields long gone and promote self-reliance fetching a regular income to the Tribal family.

It will propagate the usage of organic medicines in the country and make the availability of such therapeutic plants readily accessible.

JWALAMUKHI - Women Empowerment

The term ‘woman’ portrays a picture of oppressed social gender, is not always given due recognition in the society. Her portrayal has been more akin to a secondary subject after men, choking her dignity. The plight of poverty-stricken women is even worse and remains inadequately unacknowledged. The inception of the women empowerment project - Jwalamukhi is considering these prevailing issues only, assisting these deprived women to eke out an income through the formation of SHG (Self Help Group). They will work together and run some small-scale business.

The project will help women financially and socially who are subject to harsh realities.

Initially, financial aid was deployed to women by forming Self Help Groups helping them to start a small-scale unit. Further enhancing, HRDS INDIA has proposed project on “Enhancing Vocational Skills to Women in need of Assistance in Attappady, Palakkad District of Kerala”. The project is designed to provide Tailoring & Embroidery training for a total of 500 women from Attappady, emphasizing to make them self-reliant, by providing an

income generating source after completing the training period. In connection to same, the trained beneficiaries were given away with sewing machines after their completion of course.

It is mandatory to provide skill training and alternative income generating opportunities to the women from scheduled communities, which will mark a noticeable change in their lives. In the meantime, economic self-sufficiency will empower the women and will bring them into the mainstream of the society in many ways.

EKAGRAH – Educa-

tional Program

Education is important to individual development, social cohesion, and economic growth. Education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform, through education society can formulate its own purposes, can organize its own means and resources, and thus shape itself with definiteness and economy in the direction in which it wishes to move. The students enrolled from socioeconomically disadvantage areas are comparatively low when it comes to higher education, the result of which is that they are left behind

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COVERSTORY

HRDS INDIA joined hands with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to manifest the dream of digitalising Navodaya Vidyalaya campuses across the country under the Project JAI ( Joy Awakening Innovations) through the support of Government Bodies, Ministers and CSR initiatives of various corporate.

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from pursuing their dream even after possessing proficient capabilities.

The primary cause of which is the unequal distribution of opportunity or the increasing financial cost.

"Scholarships that assist or cover costs of pursuing a higher education provides a number of benefits for recipients, from reducing the financial burden of the rising costs of a college education, to allowing students more time and energy to focus on studies rather than part-time work," said Guruji. Scholarships are one piece in the puzzle of what creates a strong foundation for supporting students in their success in pursuing a degree, and furthermore, completing that degree. The most obvious

benefit of scholarships is that they make college more affordable. Even though the Project was primarily implemented providing scholarship and educational kits to the Children, currently it has now augmented with wider perspectives.

Further, HRDS INDIA joined hands with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to manifest the dream of digitalising Navodaya Vidyalaya campuses across the country under the Project JAI ( Joy Awakening Innovations) through the support of Government Bodies, Ministers and CSR initiatives of various corporate.

As the first phase of Digitalisation, 250 electronic tablets fully loaded with educational learning contents

were provided to JNV, Alleppey. It was a big step which proved successful enhancing the mode of learning, exam performance as well as made student assessment easier, accurate and smarter for the teachers at the school.

DDU - GKY Skill Development program for youth

DDU - GKY (Deen Dayal Upadhaya - Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, Govt. of India) focuses on the rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years from financially backward families. HRDS INDIA has been sanctioned the project in the state of Kerala as well as Tamil Nadu with its training centres functioning in Thodupuzha, Kannur and Coim-

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Parasparam is a psycho-social, learning movement set in motion by HRDS INDIA for the upliftment of the adolescent young generation and the families. They fundamentally work towards helping people who are subjected to excessive substance use, children in conflict with law, children from broken families, and families with conflict.

batore. It focuses on imparting skills through NSDC affiliated courses.

PARASPARAM - A SocialPsychological Learning Movement

Parasparam is a psycho-social, learning movement set in motion

by HRDS INDIA for the upliftment of the adolescent young generation and the families. They fundamentally work towards helping people who are subjected to excessive substance use, children in conflict with law, children from broken families, and families with conflict. The project sets their sight on the holistic development of youngsters through various psychological interventions, assessments, tests, and trainings. It enhances the exhilaration and abundant goodness of life with absolute development in multi factorial areas like physical health, social health, spiritual health, Psychological/ mental health. It helps to improve academic excellence of the students, develop self-esteem and confidence among the students.

Further, classes for the Children belonging to Tribal Community in Attappady of Palakkad District is being undertaken to strengthen their

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base of Primary Education and stimulate self confidence in them.

As part of 'PARASPARAM ' project of HRDS INDIA, a training program was organized in the Aries Polytechnic College, Mattathukad, Attapadi from 10th to 14th February 2020. The purpose of this training program was the educational progress and the psychological health care of the youth. The themes dealt with in the training programme were about the sense of direction one should have towards life, the right attitude to be developed for a positive lifestyle, social interaction skills to be cultivated for healthy interpersonal and social relationships, etc. The sessions were carried out for building up dignified character and self confidence that will help in personality development and to have leadership skills.

It is predominant among the children and youngsters in Attappady that they are encountered with drug addiction, sexual abuse, discrimination, and conflict with parents, law etc. having a hard time finding mental peace. HRDS INDIA since, 2017 have been involved in numerous programmes for behav-

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ioural modification inducing Psycho–Social development of these kids, interacting with them, providing counselling session for both kids and parents. A 24*7 Tele counselling Help desk for psycho-social support and guidance in the name Parasparam Green Voice to help the people encountering the issues of increasing fear, anxiety, sickness, stress, and other social and psychological problems.

NIRAMAYA

HRDS INDIA's Niramaya project is based on conventional drug therapy, rooted in Attappady. It will advance the treatment of intense sickness and foster a healthy society as it renews the scope of age-old traditional medicines through its herbal and organic remedies. Its affordability and cost-effectiveness make it a preferable choice as compared to the usual practice of prescription-based medicine consumption. It has no side effects and is easier to obtain which reinforces natural healing.

The pros of the installation of such a project are not only developing the anatomical stature of people but also a symbol of ancestral progression for the betterment of societyď Ź

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BUSINESS

In this article, I wish to highlight some of transformational changes that we have put through at Manappuram Finance. I am convinced these are changes that will go on to outlive the pandemic itself. While these transformations happened in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic to meet the near-term challenges, their benefits will continue to accrue for long due to the efficiency gains they bring about.

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

The New Normal at Manappuram

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ver since the outbreak of Covid-19 forced authorities to impose lockdowns and other restrictive measures, organisations around the world have been engaged in a race against time to reinvent and transform themselves and become battle ready for the “new normal.” The new normal is more than just another jargon; it refers to the altered situation in the world today where many of the old ways of doing things have become irrelevant. The organisational changes to adjust and adapt to the changed ground realities (relating to both economic and social aspects) has created a new challenge for business and industry, i.e. how to respond effectively to this new normal.

In this article, I wish to highlight some of transformational changes that we have put through at Manappuram Finance. I am convinced

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these are changes that will go on to outlive the pandemic itself. While these transformations happened in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic to meet the near-term challenges, their benefits will continue to accrue for long due to the efficiency gains they bring about.

Earlier, in this magazine’s September issue, I had written at length in general terms about digitisation and virtualisation in the article titled “Virtualisation is the new Industrialisation”. It now follows that I also highlight what challenges we faced in bringing about change in my own organisation, and what the long-term benefits offered by these transformations would be like. To start with, I must clarify that we had embarked on the digitisation drive even before the pandemic; in fact, I would say that the demonetisation exercise of November 2016 was an

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earlier trigger point that set in motion this trend towards accelerated digitisation.

However, after the pandemic, the speed at which we adopted these transformative changes was breathtaking. Within a few days of the lockdown announcement, we succeeded in extending work from home facilities to all our 22,000 employees. This was feasible only because of the technology initiatives we had implemented over the previous four or five years. Necessity being the mother of invention, the pandemic acted as a catalyst in the faster adoption of digitisation and the virtualisation processes. While the list of organisational changes made within Manappuram is long, I would like to focus on those that have much wider possibilities of adoption by other companies, irrespective of the industry or the scale

of their activity. These transformative changes are well suited for MSME, government, educational insitutions, healthcare and other sectors. Some of them would be beneficial at the personal or social level too.

Digital Training

Every organisation, large or small, has to train its manpower about their products, processes, policies and so on. Moreover, in times when the pace of change has accelerated, organisations have no choice but to empasise learning as a continuous process. As a leader in the NBFC space, Manappuram Finance believes strongly in providing adequate training and learning opportunities to our employees. We have been providing classroom training programs from on-boarding to on-the-job training. We gave our employees over 700,000 hours of training in FY19, averaging 35 hours of training per employee delivered through our 32 Regional Training Centers. This figure jumped to over 10,00,000 hours in FY20, averaging about 53 hours of training per employee.

Coordinating these training programs is a herculean task. At Manappuram, we made the transition from classroom trainings to virtual classes to eLearning courses, thereby saving

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BUSINESS

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a lot of time and money, including from the elimination of 32 regional training centres. We prepared over 400 eLearning courses of over 220 hours duration and now Learning Management System is the main platform for learning and development at our Company. Micro eLearning courses are the tool for updating each employee with the latest development in their field of expertise.

We introduced pre-training modules so that employees are adequately trained for their next role, and prepared to hit the ground running.

We are implementing augmented reality (AR) framework in our training programs to create near real, yet fully virtual classroom environment. AR is the merging of the physical and the digital world in a way that combines the best of both online and offline, in one platform. Offline learning through classroom traning helps trainees to gain insight and understanding not only from the trainer, but also from their peers through Q&A and other interactions. But theoretical learning can only stretch so far, employees need to have a hands-on experience to complete their task efficiently and effectively.

AR infused training program would be transformative for imparting role critical training and getting the employees ready for future challenges. AR has the potential to revolutionise the learning industry completely.

Imagine the vast benefits of such learning systems in the healthcare industry where AR offers sizable learning opportunites without the need to experiment on live patients while learning (with all the chances of making a costly mistake). Hands on skills, such as surgery for doctors or jewellery appraisal in the gold loan business, have a steep learning curve and takes a lot of cognitive effort. AR can help to overcome these barriers, allowing learners to experience, imbibe, and test the skills that they learn. In an AR training environment, employees interact in simulated environments, streamlining both communication and skills development, thus enabling in-the-moment learning. Technological transformation in the learning space is only starting and we are clear that Manappuram will lead from the front.

Green Office (Virtual Office)

The next set of transformative

change is the virtualisation of the office environment. Gone are the days when your working day began when you entered the office and ended when you left for the day. Some industries, specially the IT enabled services, had adopted this framework early on. The pandemic forced non-IT, customer centric businesses to relook at the virtual office framework after having tailored it to meet their needs.

Manappuram has been investing heavily in creating the virtual infrastructure needed to meet the demands of the next decade and more. Manappuram was the first gold loan NBFC to launch the online gold loan (OGL) application, today the most successful application of its kind in the industry.

Although the app was launched five years ago, adoption was relatively slow but once the pandemic hit us, there was a marked pick-up. Before the lockdown, OGL accounted for about 45% of our gold loan business, but now it is approaching 70%.

We started our Green Office project by implementing the paperless system of moving files so that there are no paper files to be moved about anymore.

The focus was on making systems and procedures paperless, and tech initiatives were launched to make the operations at Head office completely paperless. Today, everything is digital, saving trees and many hours of manual file movements.

The second set of changes came out of compulsion with physical travel having been grounded by the pandemic. We therefore had to move to virtual meetings. Earlier, I used to spend an average of two to three days every week on travel but in the past seven months, I have not stepped out of my office at all. Today, we conduct all our meetings online through various digital platforms. On any given day, I hold multiple meetings with with people from different locations across India and even abroad, and all these meetings are held one after the other, without any loss of time. In earlier days, this would have entailed tiring travel for hours, even days. No surprise then that virtual meetings are here to stay and even though it may not fully replace physical meetings, the advantages are enormous. In fact, now that I have tasted the fruits of the digital office, I am sure I wouldn’t want it any other way!ď Ź

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BUSINESS

Rajesh Nair Associate Partner, Ernst & Young LLP

Like any other business, hospitals are also a conglomeration of processes with all the ailments that the processes have. The health report card of any clinic will have to focus on the various symptoms that the hospital exhibits and then take a call on what is the disease profile and then prescribe the various age old panacea from the other industries like optimal queuing models, inventory policies like Just In Time (JIT), Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), demand forecasting models etc.

T

he world has changed.

And now, suddenly, all the attention is on the healthcare systems in the world.

COVID-19, pandemic, immunity are the new words in our lexicon.

Amidst all these changes – one of the functions that has the dark and claustrophobic interiors, a flickering neon light in the background, the lingering smell of medicines and an eerie scream from the yonder…

Sounds like a memory of some nightmare the last time you fell sick?

Well, then you are in company. It is said that around 95% of us are scared at the thought of hospitals and dread the day we land up in one. Children mouth hospitals in the same breath as police station and cemetery. The association with death and pain cannot but be justified. The white-cloaked ephemeral is more like an ‘undertaker’ than anything else. The fear of these ‘halls of maim’ is more from the ignorance of what happens inside the large concrete walls. How does the clinics operate, how does the doctors know so much about what is right, what if they are wrong, what if someone down the line makes a mistake, and a plethora of questions.

Look at a typical hospital. We have patients coming into and ‘checking in’. They are then guided to doctors as per their complaints and the first view diagnosis of both the patient and the official at the reception. The routed patients then have their sitting with the doctors and then is referred to diagnostic

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Peek into a panacea for hospitals

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BUSINESS tests, another doctor, inpatient department or perhaps even a surgery if the need be that urgent. Add to this there are emergency wards, recovery wards, ICU and a whole lot of departments. The crowded corridors can be at the admissions area, the waiting rooms outside the doctors’ cabin and even in the recovery rooms.

Such madness was typically associated with factories where one could easily visualize the piling up of inventory at every junction of the value chain. Like the factories, hospitals responded to such dilemmas by expanding capacity – more chairs in the admission area, more operating rooms and more staff and doctors. Such a model worked fine till there came another hospital in the vicinity. The suddenly expanded capacity put the hospital through the throes of less incoming patients, lower revenue, quitting doctors and the quagmire of financial risk. The

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doctor trained to diagnose and cure diseases has a sudden problem and a whole new ailment to address.

Why would he have to worry about the ‘per patient, per operation, per night’ costs, which have nothing to do with the patient getting well or not? Now with health insurance and health management organizations capturing the mind space of the consumer, there is also the challenge of being scrutinized for every cost they pass on to the customer.

When we enter this ‘black box’, what would surprise most is that, hospitals work with the similar delivery framework like many other industries – a manufacturing set up, a fast food restaurant or a five-star hotel. They have the similar restraints of any organization and function with the variable constraint model applicable everywhere else. The cure lies in how these various operations have fought similar malice.

Success does not always lie in

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the swashbuckling innings with the leather finding itself walloped to the fence each time. There is also a lot of virtue in the ‘singles and doubles’ in making to the victory corner. Like any other business, hospitals are also a conglomeration of processes with all the ailments that the processes have. The health report card of any clinic will have to focus on the various symptoms that the hospital exhibits and then take a call on what is the disease profile and then prescribe the various age old panacea from the other industries like optimal queuing models, inventory policies like Just In Time (JIT), Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), demand forecasting models etc.

The key to all these implementations is a closer look at day to day operations and playing the devil’s advocate to question status quo.

The microscopic sweating of the particulars of each operation will

also expose the inefficiencies and the ‘waste’.

The punch word ‘Waste’ has found itself into the lexicon of improvement in the recent times.

Waste is an unneeded activity, excess inventory, unused capacity; to put it in business terms – what the customer does not want to pay for.

The identification of waste has been what the manufacturing industries began and achieved stupendous success in all their performance metrics be it technical like throughput, inventory or service oriented like satisfactions levels, customer delight etc. Evincing the success, in recent times more industries like restaurants, call centers have also followed suit and have lauded the improvements it brought. Hospitals are the next on the call.

The key to identify ‘waste’ is also to look at the business from the perspective of ‘bottle necks’. What are constraint areas/processes that cause the other areas/processes to wait or idle? Where do you always have a resource constraint?

These bottlenecks are typically areas where a drop can create ripple across the various other processes.

Such areas are also characterized by queues and idle capacities on both sides of its value platform.

Once having found out these cesspools, the attempt should be to improve the efficiencies of these processes by exploding the process into micro details.

What is also key to this endeavor of finding bottlenecks and identifying waste is to look at hospitals as service delivery institutions rather than prescription delivery clinics.

The hospital is not just a place where a set of doctors are at work but also an entity where clinicians interact with a lot of support people to deliver proper health care to a customer. This mindset becomes more and more crucial as the value differentiator today in hospitals is no more just ‘clinical care’; it is also the overall patient experience.

Technology is available at a cost and ‘good doctors’ are no more an endangered and disappearing spe-

cies. Customer can get equally good clinical advice in several good hospitals in a limited geographical space. What then can be differentiated is the ‘delight’ in each such encounter. The need to improve this experience at each customer touch point becomes paramount to retaining existing and attracting new customers.

Signs of change are already visible where more and more hospitals embracing these techniques and enjoying fruits of success. The essence is to club all such interventions with a focus on creating a culture of continuous improvement where everyone in the hospital is constantly questions existing methods and seeing the processes from the customers’ point of view.

The bottom line – we will all be still having the nightmare of hospitals and children will still cry when they see the doctor but there will have a whole set of smiling faces when it comes to the shareholders and more benign interest of the investor fraternity

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FINANCE

Adv Sherry Samuel Oommen This article is authored by Adv Sherry Samuel Oommen. Adv Oommen, who specializes 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.

It is now judicially settled that orders passed against the principles of natural justice is a nullity. Despite the existence of these rules, it is quite disconcerting how authorities display their growing hegemony and a totally disregard to the rules.

The faith of the citizenry can only be restored if those that execute the law, follow it in its true spirit.

I

n the recent past, one has clearly been witnessing a deterioration in the rule of law and upholding its majesty. One of the key aspects of the rule of law has been the need to follow the principles of natural justice. Sadly, despite surfeit judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on this count, authorities find it below their dignity to follow these principles in its true spirit.

I would dare state that these principles ought to be followed, if one does respect the rule of law. As one would agree, no one is above the law.

Rules of natural justice – What do they mean?

The rules of natural justice are not embodied rules. The phrase “natural justice” too is also not capable of a precise definition. The underlying principle of natural justice has evolved in common law as a means to check the arbitrary exercise of power by the State or its functionaries. Therefore, the principle of natural justice implies a duty to act fairly.

The Supreme Court in the case of AK Kraipak Vs Union of India (1969) 2 SCC 262 has held that the rules of natural justice is to secure justice or put it negatively to prevent miscarriage of justice. These rules do not supplant the law but supplement it. To understand, the true meaning of the said rule, I am tempted to borrow a few paragraphs from the leading judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Swadeshi Cotton Mills Vs Union of India [1981] 1 SCC 664. Hon’ble

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Justice Sarkaria, J, speaking for the majority in a three-Judge Bench lucidly explained the meaning and scope of the concept of “natural justice”. Referring to various decisions, his Lordship observed as follows: “Well then, what is "natural justice"? The phrase is not capable of a static and precise definition. It cannot be imprisoned in the straightjacket of a cast-iron formula. Historically, "natural justice" has been used in a way "which implies the existence of moral principles of self-evident and unarguable truth", "Natural Justice" by Paul Jackson, 2nd Edn. page 1. In course of time, judges nurtured in the traditions of British jurisprudence, often invoked it in conjunction with a reference to "equity and good conscience". Legal experts of earlier generations did not draw any distinction between "natural justice" and "natural law". "Natural justice" was considered as "that part of natural law which relates to the administration of justice".

The rules of natural justice are not embodied rules. Being means to an end and not an end in themselves, it is not possible to make an exhaustive catalogue of such rules.

But two fundamental maxims of natural justice have now become deeply and indelibly ingrained in the common consciousness of mankind, as pre-eminently necessary to ensure that the law is applied impartially, objectively and fairly.

Described in the form of latin tags these twin principles are: (i) audi alteram partem and (ii) nemo judex in

RULES OF NATURAL JUSTICE-

A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

re sua. For the purpose of the question posed above, we are primarily concerned with the first. This principle was well-recognised even in the ancient world. Seneca, the philosopher, is said to have referred in Medea that it is unjust to reach decision without a full hearing. In Maneka Gandhi's case [1978] 2 SCR 621 Bhagwati, J. emphasised that audi alteram partem is a highly effective rule devised by the Courts to ensure that a statutory authority arrives at a just decision and it is calculated to act as a healthy check on the abuse or misuse of power. Hence its reach should not be narrowed and its applicability circumscribed.

Conversely, if the statute conferring the power is silent with regard to the giving of a pre-decisional hearing to the person affected and the administrative decision taken by the authority involves civil consequences of a grave nature, and no full review or appeal on merits against that decision is provided, courts will be extremely reluctant to construe such a statute as excluding the duty of affording even a minimal hearing shorn of all its formal trappings and dilatory features at the pre-decisional stage, unless, viewed pragmatically, it would paralyse the administrative process or frustrate the need for utmost promptitude.

In short, this rule of fairplay "must not be jettisoned save in very exceptional circumstances where compulsive necessity so demands".

The court must make every effort to salvage this cardinal rule to the maximum extent possible, with situational modifications. But, to recall the words of Bhagwati, J., the core of it must, however, remain, namely, that the person affected must have reasonable opportunity of being heard and the hearing must be a genuine hearing and not an empty public relations exercise.

As evident, the rules of natural justice embody the concept that no

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FINANCE decision shall be given against a person without hearing him. The need for a hearing also takes its root even when God decided to punish Adam. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Uma Nath Pandey AIR 2009 SC 2375 held as follows: “The adherence to principles of natural justice as recognized by all civilized States is of supreme importance when a quasi-judicial body embarks on determining disputes between the parties, or any administrative action involving civil consequences is in issue. These principles are well settled. The first and foremost principle is what is commonly known as audi alteram partem rule. It says that no one should be condemned unheard. Notice is the first limb of this principle.

It must be precise and unambiguous. It should appraise the party determinatively the case he has to meet. Time given for the purpose should be adequate so as to enable him to make his representation. In the absence of a notice of the kind and such reasonable opportunity, the order passed becomes wholly vitiated. Thus, it is but essential that a party should be put on notice of the case before any adverse order is passed against him. This is one of the most important principles of natural justice. It is after all an approved rule of fair play. The concept has gained significance and shades with time. When the historic document was made at Runnymede in 1215, the first statutory recogni-

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tion of this principle found its way into the "Magna Carta". The classic exposition of Sir Edward Coke of natural justice requires to "vocate, interrogate and adjudicate".

In the celebrated case of Cooper v.

Wandsworth Board of Works (1863) 143 ER 414, the principle was thus stated: Even God did not pass a sentence upon Adam, before he was called upon to make his defence.

"Adam" says God, "where art thou? hast thou not eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat.

Since then the principle has been chiselled, honed and refined, enriching its content. Judicial treatment has added light and luminosity to the concept, like polishing of a diamond.

Principles of natural justice are those rules which have been laid down by the Courts as being the minimum protection of the rights of the individual against the arbitrary procedure that may be adopted by a judicial, quasi-judicial and administrative authority while making an order affecting those rights. These rules are intended to prevent such authority from doing injustice.”

The term “hearing” has also been judicially interpreted as a “fair hearing”, ie, a hearing after disclosing to the noticee, the information based on which action has been initiated and granting the concerned noticee the opportunity to rebut the same and present information

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as desired. This has been upheld by the Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Dhakeswari Cotton Mills Limited AIR 1955 SC 65.

Another aspect of the principle of natural justice, is based on the maxim, that no one shall be the judge of one’s own cause. This principle too has now been recognized as part of the said rule, which has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of AK Kraipak (supra). It is indeed obvious that the constituent to the rule has been framed with a view to negate bias, thereby ensuring fairness in the decisional making process. As a generic principle, these constituents have been to be followed strictly unless there is a specific rule which excludes its related applicability.

It is now judicially settled that orders passed against the principles of natural justice is a nullity. Despite the existence of these rules, it is quite disconcerting how authorities display their growing hegemony and a totally disregard to the rules.

The faith of the citizenry can only be restored if those that execute the law, follow it in its true spirit. Failing which, this is a clear recipe for a disaster especially since we as a nation have a long way to travel considering the impact of the recent pandemic. I would urge authorities that deal with the fiscal resources of this nation to ensure that these principles are followed in spirit 

HEALTH

Dr Arun Oommen MBBS, MS (Gen Surg), Mch( Neurosurgery), MRCSEd, MBA Consultant Neurosurgeon, VPS Lakeshore Hospital Kochi, India

Adolescence is the age between adulthood and childhood. Teenagers are often confused about their role and are torn between their responsibilities as growing adults and their desires as children.

A

dolescence is not an easy time for the kids or parents. Due to the hormonal changes the kids face a lot of physical and emotional changes. They become very vulnerable, impulsive and face difficulty is coping with the changes around the world. The only way to deal with needs and problems at this age is to know about them and learn to face them.

Let’s discuss few issues and understand ways to handle it.

•Adolescence is the age between adulthood and childhood.

Teenagers are often confused about their role and are torn between their responsibilities as growing adults and their desires as children.

•Significant developmental change in the brain makes teens

1. Physical changes

Physical changes happen due to change in the teenager’s hormone levels.

•Development of full breasts in girls can be awkward in the beginning. Girls may start to feel conscious about their figure. Girls start their menstrual periods.

•Change of voice and appearance of facial hair in boys is perhaps the most prominent change that takes place during adolescence.

•Acne is a major concern.

•The growth of pubic hair in girls and boys.

•Body odor becomes evident.

Solution: Make them aware of these normal changes and help them adapt to it. Acknowledge the change and help them accept it as a normal phenomenon. Enable them to stay healthy and fit through a nutritious diet and exercise.

2. Emotional changes and problems

Hormones affect your teenager not only physically but also emotionally.

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moody, tired and difficult to deal with. Anything and everything can make them happy, excited, mad or angry.

•Bodily changes result in selfconsciousness. Feelings of inferiority or superiority may arise at this time. May try all silly gimmicks to impress the opposite sex.

Adolescence issues and ways to tackle them

•Adolescence is the age when sexual feelings arise in youngsters.

Feelings and thoughts about sex can trigger a sense of guilt.

Solution: Puberty is an emotional rollercoaster ride. And it is normal.

•Let them talk. Listen to them without judging and avoid giving them advice when they are not ready for it.

•Encourage them to exercise as physical activity helps keep the serotonin (creates good feelings and happiness) levels up.

•Indulging in a creative activity

can help in channelizing their talents and emotions. It helps release the happiness hormones (Endorphin).

•Parents should share experiences of puberty or let them talk to an older sibling who has gone through the same.

3. Behavioral changes

They become vulnerable to overwhelming emotions which can lead to impulsive behavior and can be harmful to themselves as well as others.

•Adolescence is the time when kids develop and exercise their in-

dependence. This can give rise to questioning the parents’ rules (seen as argumentative) and standing up for what they believe is right (seen as stubbornness).

•The raging hormones in teenage boys can even push them to get into physical confrontations. As a part of their new-found independence, adolescents may also want to try new things and take risks, resulting in careless behavior. The most troubling behavior is perhaps your teen hanging out with problem kids and adapting to a dangerous lifestyle.

•They would also want to listen

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HEALTH to loud music.

•Sometimes, peer pressure and the need to ‘fit in’ can make them behave in a certain way or develop certain habits that are hard to break.

•Dressing, hairstyle, and sense of fashion also change which may not be approved by parents.

•Lying is one of the common teen behavioral issues. Teens may lie to avoid confrontation with parents or out of fear.

Solution: •Behavioral problems in adolescence can make life difficult for parents. But remember that it is a passing phase, and is entirely normal.

•Gaining your child’s trust is important. Talk to them and listen to what they have to say. Do not judge or criticize them, as it could worsen their behavior. Adolescents are very sensitive and may not take criticism well.

•You will have to intervene if you see them falling into bad company.

4. Educational challenges

Adolescents also have a lot of educational activities to do.

•Pressure to perform academically and obtain college admission can be stressful and make your teenager moody.

•Juggling school work, extra-curricular activities and chores at home can be tiring.

•Distractions at school can result in poor academic performance, which will add to the pressure.

Solution: •Support your kid’s aspirations for college education as what they need is the encouragement to do well.

•Teaching effective learning techniques are very important •Household chores may be cut down to enable them to focus on their school projects. Nutrition and exercise can help them get the strength and endurance they need to get through the hectic high school period.

5. Psychological problems

Research has revealed that around 50% of mental health disorders that adults have, begin at the age of 14. In fact, one-third of adolescent deaths are suicides triggered by depression.

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•Teenagers may have selfesteem or confidence issues. The feelings of inferiority or superiority often arise from their appearance, and acceptance of their body – skin color, beauty, and figure.

•Poor performance in academics and low IQ can also demotivate them and develop the ‘I’m not good enough’ attitude towards life.

•Depression is one of the common psychological problems associated with adolescence.

•The stress and pressure of adolescence can create anxiety related issues, while mood swings can lead to conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder.

Solution: Identifying symptoms of psychological problems in adolescence is not easy and needs the eye of an expert.

•Most of the time, talking about the problems and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can prevent the onset of depression. Allow them to talk and listen to them.

•Talk to the child’s teachers and friends to know if they are moody and disoriented at school as well.

Never brush away their feelings, as that can make things worse.

•If your child is overly moody and cynical, it is time to intervene and seek professional help if necessary.

6. Social and sexual problems – dating and relationships

Attraction to the opposite sex begins during puberty. Adolescence is the time when their sexual or reproductive organs start developing.

At such a vulnerable time, it is natural for kids to feel awkward in social situations.

•Teenagers want to have an identity of their own. They tend to look up to role models at home or outside.

•They need time to understand and get comfortable with their sexuality. Girls and boys start experiencing ‘weird’ feelings towards the other sex and may not know what to do about it. This is the time they start dating. Your adolescent may not be comfortable talking to you about it and may go with little information

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or misinformation they have about it. Sexual feelings and thoughts of sex may seem wrong to an adolescent, because of which they may feel guilty.

•Without proper guidance, teenagers may become sexually active before they are ready. This could result in unwanted pregnancies. Unwanted pregnancy is the biggest risk that adolescent girls face.

•Unprotected sex can also lead to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV. •Adolescents may compete with her peers in about anything and everything. Their spirit of competition speaks a lot about their perception of self – whether they have a positive self-esteem or a negative one.

•Their social circle expands during this time as they seem occupied interacting with friends on social media sites, through their phone and outside.

Solution: •Dating, romance, and sex are delicate issues that your teenager may not be comfortable talking about. Don’t make it more awkward for your child. Be confident and rational when discussing the subject.

Sharing your dating and social life experiences in school can put them at ease sometimes.

•Your child may seem to spend more time outside than with you.

Accept that your adolescents are discovering a whole new world. Just let them know you are there when they need you.

•The hormonal changes in teenagers may make them act impulsively. It is important that you talk to them about the consequences of unprotected sex and how it can change their life.

•Awareness is the only way to prevent early pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in adolescents.

7. Health problems

Without proper nutrition and healthcare, they are susceptible to illnesses as they are vulnerable emotionally and physically.

•Teenagers have a hectic schedule as they hop from one activity to another with little time to eat or rest properly. Unhealthy eating habits

prevent them from getting the nutrition they need.

•Consciousness about their body can lead to eating disorders, especially in girls. Adolescent girls who worry about their weight and appearance can develop disorders like anorexia or bulimia. Stress can also lead to loss of appetite and sleeplessness in young children.

•Unhealthy eating habits and a less active lifestyle could also lead to obesity.

Solution: Parental guidance can help abate health problems in adolescence to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Lead by example and encourage your children to eat healthy balanced food, exercise right and sleep on time.

8. Addiction to cyberspace

The advent of social media has changed the way we interact with each other. It has affected teenage lifestyles the most.

•They may seem to spend hours on phone, texting, talking or simply playing.

•Adolescents addicted to the internet tend to have fewer friends and a less active social life. They lead solitary lives and are happy browsing the internet for hours.

•Addiction to cyberspace also cuts short their physical activities, resulting in an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle.

•Internet addiction adversely impacts academic performance.

Solution: •Do not say ‘no’ to the Internet. That will only make them adamant. Instead, talk about your concerns and help them work on other things that do not require a computer.

•Have some cyber rules and boundaries for everybody at home. Limit the use of the mobile phone to a few hours in a day, and avoid bringing the phone to the bedroom as it is likely to affect a person’s sleep.

•Enroll them in activities that encourage them to interact with others. Have family activities that will make them want to spend less time at the computer.

9. Aggression and violence

Aggression is especially a concern with adolescent boys (Raging bull phenomenon).

Young boys start to develop muscles, grow

tall and have a coarser, manly voice. And they are moody and vulnerable and can let others get under their skin.

•Adolescent boys could start bullying others, which is a major problem that adolescent boys and girls have to deal with.

•Boys may fall into bad company and be drawn to acts of violence, vandalism, and aggression. Impulse acts of violence can lead to serious consequences, including death.

•Teenage girls are likely to suffer violence or aggression by a partner.

Solution: Children tend to imitate what they see at home.

•Teach your children to be kind and considerate and the importance of compassion. Nurturing relationships at home can help them become less aggressive.

•Prevent access to firearms and alcohol early to prevent violence.

•Avoid exposing them to violent stories, games or movies at an age when they cannot differentiate between what is right and wrong.

•Make them try alternative ways, such as going for a run, doing yoga or music for venting out their anger.

10. Substance Use and Abuse

Teenagers are vulnerable and Substance abuse is one of the biggest problems that parents of adolescents have to deal with.

•Peer pressure and tendency to take risk is one of the significant factors that drive adolescents to take up smoking and drinking or to do drugs.

•If there is somebody who smokes or drinks at home, they can become your teen’s role models.

•Poor self-esteem and the need to be ‘cool’ can push adolescents to smoke or drink.

Solution: •Keep an eye on your child’s behavior. Look for erratic behavior and change in his or her appetite, sleep patterns, and moods. Do not spy on them or accuse them of any wrongdoing. Encourage them to talk and be honest.

•If your child is not willing to talk to you, the doctors can ask confidential questions to know if they are abusing any substances.

•Avoid going as far as a drug test, as that may come across as confrontational and threaten the kid. If necessary, get your adolescent the appropriate treatment

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39

KERALA BANK: THE PEOPLE’S BANK Vignesh S G

T

he cooperative banking system is the backbone of the Indian state of Kerala. It has played a huge role in the development of the state – especially in the development of the rural economy of the state.

On 29th November, 2019, the state upgraded its cooperative banking sector massively. The said upgradation, which was achieved through the merger of at least thirteen District Cooperative Banks, marked the birth of Kerala Bank.

The state government projected the

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development as a great achievement. The merger was one of the prime goals of the leftist-led Kerala government.

The merger invited mixed reaction. As expected, many raised their doubts about the feasibility of the policy. Nonetheless, a large section of the population of the state welcomed the policy.

It is needless to say that the formation of Kerala Bank is one of the revolutionary steps the state has taken so far in the area of economy.

Primary agricultural credit societies,

‘The Kerala Bank is a people’s bank.’ What comes naturally with this tagline is great responsibility. The state must do everything possible to make sure that the bank meets the expectations placed over it by the people of the state – especially the poorest of the poor (who hopes that the bank will bring happiness to their life).

non-credit cooperative societies, district cooperative banks and state cooperative banks are the biggest beneficiaries of the move, apart from farmers, small and medium scale business entrepreneurs, and small scale business persons.

What comes naturally with the merger of the cooperative banks is the infusion of modern banking technology. Actually, it was what most of the cooperative banks in the state was lacking.

It is believed that the new bank can accelerate the development of the state – which has been devastated by few natural disasters and a viral outbreak.

The state is in urgent demand for a capital infusion to meet its development requirements. In the past, the cooperative banking sector of the state has supported several development projects. The Kochi Metro Rail Limited and Goshree Bridges are some of the projects which have hugely benefitted from the sector.

The bank aims to attract NRI investment. Kerala has a huge NRI population. If the investment of the NRIs of the state – which is presently scattered in several banks – is consolidated in the new bank, the new entrant will emerge as the most powerful bank in the state. Currently, the Kerala Bank, with seven regional offices, thirteen credit pro-

cessing centres and 769 branches, is the second largest bank in the state.

It is not wrong to assume that the Kerala Bank is a youth bank. It owes not only to its date of inception but also to its customers for its youthfulness. Notably, not less than 23 per cent of the customers of the Kerala Bank are below the age of fifty. Simply speaking, the bank has huge potential.

It is hoped that the bank will receive the license for receiving NRI deposits in the near future itself. It will be a true turning point for the growth of the bank.

The true history of the Kerala cooperative sector began in the mid-1910s. It was when the Thiruvananthapuram Central Cooperative Bank born. The bank was registered in the year 1915, under the Travancore Cooperative Regulation Act, 1914. The bank merged with a bank of this kind in Kochi to form the Thiru-Kochi State Cooperative Bank, when the two states merged in the year 1943. It was this bank which become the Kerala State Cooperative Bank in 1956 – the year in which the Indian state of Kerala was formed.

In the year 1966, the bank was awarded the scheduled bank status by the Reserve Bank of India.

There is a space for a statebased bank in the state – especially after the State Bank of Travancore

merged with its parent bank, the State Bank of India. It is not wrong to assume that the Kerala Bank is trying to occupy the space emerged after the abrupt departure of the SBT from the Kerala public sector banking platform.

Though only few months has passed since the inception, the bank has already demonstrated its calibre clearly. It has secured a net profit of Rs. 374.75 crores so far. It is needless to say how hard it is to do business at this point of time. If the bank manages to generate profit in this tough period, it can surely reach great heights in future.

‘The Kerala Bank is a people’s bank.’ What comes naturally with this tagline is great responsibility.

The state must do everything possible to make sure that the bank meets the expectations placed over it by the people of the state – especially the poorest of the poor (who hopes that the bank will bring happiness to their life).

If this model meets success, it will encourage the rest of the states of the country to take up the model set by the state of Kerala.

The success of the model depends on the dedication of those who are responsible to implement the goals of this ambitious project.

A great step has been made.

The firmer the step, the greater is its stability

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SPIRITUAL ODYSSEY

The Creator & The Creation

C

hildren, the Creator and the creation are not two, but one—thus says Sanatana Dharma. What is the reason for this? Because nothing is separate from the Creator, and so the Creator and the Creation are the same.

There are many examples stated in the scriptures showing the relationship between the Creator and the creation. Even though gold ornaments come in different shapes and sizes, they are all really only gold. No matter how many waves are in the sea, none of them are separate from the ocean. Similarly, God and the universe are not separate but one.

The dance comes from the dancer. Before the dance, during the dance, as well as after the dance, there is only the dancer. Similarly, before creation, during creation, as well as after the creation resolves, there is only God. Everything is God. There is only God. Sanatana Dharma teaches us that there is nothing but God. A king requested all the artists in his kingdom to make paintings that would express the true beauty of the Himalayas. Numerous artists participated. Each of them painted exquisitely beautiful images. The king and his minister set out to select the best one. It seemed each painting was better than the previous one they saw. Finally, they came to the last. The artist opened his canvas.

It was the most beautiful Himalayan Mountain. The feeling was like standing next to the real Himalayas.

Then—amazingly—the artist started

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to climb the mountain in his painting. As the king and his entourage watched, the artist ascended to the highest peak. Then the painter disappeared into the painting.

God is like the artist in this story.

In his creation of the universe, God is all-pervasive. At the same time, he seems to be invisible. Because we cannot perceive God through our five senses or minds, He remains hidden from us. Even so, because God is our own True Self, we can experience God. Thus, when we realise God within ourselves, we can experience the truth that God and the universe are one.

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God is not an individual sitting on a golden throne beyond the skies.

God is the all-pervading divinity in all things. If our own finger accidentally pokes our eye, we forgive the finger and soothe the eye. We do this because the finger as well as the eye are not separate from us. Similarly, our dharma is to love and serve even the smallest life form with the awareness that God resides in everything. This is the greatest worship of God.

Amma, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

MOTIVATION

Dolly Neena

To succeed, one must know himself; One must have assessed his/her strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons. Because, in today’s world, if you need to grow, you need to lead.

Dolly Neena 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.

SILVER LINING OF YOUR CLOUD “Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves - their strengths, their values, and how they best perform.” – Peter F Drucker

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anaging yourself effectively is the key to success. To succeed, one must know himself; One must have assessed his/her strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons. Because, in today’s world, if you need to grow, you need to lead. But you wouldn’t be able to lead if you cannot manage yourself effectively. It all starts from self-awareness and self-discipline.

Self-awareness to understand what you really are and what standards and policies you work at; to know your style of management and leadership, how you handle your emotions and reactions, what really are your blindspots

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and why you should change for future. Only 10 to 15% of people ate truly self-aware.

The rest shoots in the dark.

When you realize that the skills you possess have outrun you, you would know what and who to hire/outsource. Drill down further in understanding what works for you better as a best approach to land on better results. You will definitely have to jump around discouraging obstacles in your quest

for a rewarding experience in managing yourself better.

The next step is to be open to be changed, managed and transformed. Think of those people and leaders you admire, think of situations that enlightened you, think of ideas that inspired you – that’s where you want to begin, and that’s what you want to be. Think of how you will sail confidently through to your persistent goals, how you glide with better people

management skills and lead victoriously, what all skills you should store in your arsenal to survive the contingencies, what strengths and values should you play up, what should be your personality and conditioning, what all influences you and what you should quit and neglect.

When you start accepting and then taking true steps in courage forward in truly managing yourself better. In self-management, it is inevi-

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MOTIVATION

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table to be able to admit your own weaknesses and mistakes. Factual changes can be made faster if you take one step at a time, change that involves simple sure steps initially, increasing the dose consistently. Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves. When you ask for more responsibility by yourself, expect to be held fully accountable. No one is going to lose, but you, if you do not keep up.

"The key is in not spending time, but in investing it." -Stephen R. Covey As a part of self-discipline, you definitely will have to do operative time management. Time management is indeed the whole deal – personal management, social management, expectations on you and perceptions of you are adversely affected if you do not arrive on time, or if you cannot keep up a commitment, overran a deadline, or couldn’t complete a task. As we have heard earlier, you can never manage time, you will have to manage yourself to it. It is simply how you plan and organize yourself in order to perform your best by dividing your time between the specific scheduled activities of your day. Activities will have to be prioritized and planned, as per the urgency and importance. No one likes to be around someone who sits on the fence, so always know to take the call, be decisive.

It is important to plan ahead – the time you spend to devise strategies and to look at the situation from a 360 degree angle always save ample hours on the field for you, in getting it done. You have the fixed 24 hours a day; it all depends upon how successfully you push yourself to do better and faster through each hour. It’s all about competing with yourself. Fighting the procrastinations and to know where to say no and have the courage to say it, delegate the low priority tasks to other skilled ones, and eliminating other unwanted distractions with will. It’s about grabbing opportunities and wasting less time on trivial happenings. Individuals who have mastered the art of good time management are able to achieve more goals and objectives in life.

In today’s fast-paced world, it is difficult to reject the appeal of multitasking. Managing yourself better can very well help you take up more opportunities and turn it in your favor. It will be slow in the beginning, hard during the course of it, however once the master how to do it better, things will smoothly fall in place for you – You will be able to manage yourself and eventually will succeed in leading others magnificently. It is not what you do, it is how you do it. You always have a choice to rise up. To make visible changes in self. Devote attention to your own progress. You will see things changing for better for you. Always remember to enjoy though. Without passion, you cannot do things perfectly.

“He who know most grieves most for the wasted time.”-Dante

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GADGETS

OnePlus Nord N100

Rs. 16,990 (Approximately)

Android v10 (Q) OS

6.52 inches Display

13 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP Triple

Primary Cameras

16 MP Secondary Camera

4 GB RAM

64 GB Internal Memory

256 GB Expandable Memory

6000 mAh Battery Capacity

Rs. 16,990 (Approximately)

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10

Rs. 16,999 (Approximately) Android v10 (Q) OS 6.67 inches Display 64 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP +

2 MP Quad Primary Cameras 16 MP Secondary Camera 4 GB RAM 64 GB Internal Memory 512 GB Expandable Memory 4820 mAh Battery Capacity

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Nokia 215

Rs. 2,949 (Approximately) 2.4 inches Display 64 MB RAM 128 MB Internal Memory 32 GB Expandable Memory 1150 mAh Battery Capacity

Vivo X50e

Rs. 34,999 (Approximately) Android v10 (Q) OS 6.44 inches Display 48 MP + 13 MP + 8 MP +

2 MP Quad Primary Cameras 32 MP Secondary Camera 8 GB RAM 128 GB Internal Memory 256 GB Expandable Memory 4350 mAh Battery Capacity

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BEAUTY

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Four Natural Tips to Nourish your Skin

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othing makes a woman more beautiful that the belief that she is beautiful.

How can you define beauty?

Philosophically, we can say that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. The philosophical explanation is the most suitable explanation, undoubtedly. If our soul is blind, we will find everything around us unattractive. At the same time, the reverse is the feel, when it is not. Truly speaking, it is unnecessary to let our mind wander around the topic of beauty.

Though the truth is the above, it is not wrong to spend a few valuable minutes to nourish our skin.

Skin is the most sensitive organ in the human body. As it is a sensitive organ, it deserves serious attention and care. Nourishment is a vital part of this care.

How to nourish our skin? Most of us are unaware how our skin can be nourished.

The best way to nourish our skin is to follow few simple natural tips capable enough to nourish our skin.

Actually, the process is simple.

But we need serious dedication to add this process as a part of our

daily routine.

If it is not added to our daily routine, the nourishment process yields not much benefit.

Let’s go through some of the top natural nourishment tips, one by one.

Drink water

A normal human being must drink at least thirteen to fifteen glasses of water a day. Water, in a sense, is a kind of medicine. It purifies the body. It is important to stay hydrated all the time.

Eat vegetables

Unarguably, the food we eat has a huge role to play in the health of our skin. The more vegetables we eat, the more heathy we become. There are many kinds of diets. A person who wish to improve his or her skin health should follow a vegetable rich diet.

It is advised to choose vegetables grown in kitchen gardens over those procure from outside. It is needless to explain how easy it is to develop a kitchen garden in the backyard of our house.

beauty products, scrubs, moisturisers and many more. If we can replace the chemical products with its natural alternatives, it will bring a serious improvement to our skin health. It is not easy to do that. Some of us are addicted to the chemical products which can show us immediate result compared to its natural alternatives.

Practice heathy lifestyle

Our present job environment has entrapped most of us inside a sedentary lifestyle. Most of us are unaware how much harm this lifestyle does to our body and skin.

To keep a healthy body, heathy mind and healthy skin, it is important to practice a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle means a lifestyle which has a proper space of heathy diet and exercise.

“Happiness is the secret to all beauty. There is no beauty without happiness.”

Stay happy! Stay Beautiful!

Avoid too much chemicals

As skin is a very sensitive organ, it is important to protect it from harmful chemicals. We often punish our skin with hard soups,

Dr. Elizabath Chacko, MD-Kalpana International

Mob: 9388618112

November - December 2020

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TRAVELOGUE

Adam’s Peak is an amazing mountain situated in the central region of the Island country of Sri Lanka. It is a pilgrimage site. The peak is locally known as Sri Pada. There is around three popular stories around this peak. According to Buddhists, Sri Pada is the footprint of Lord Buddha; considering the fact that Buddhism is the dominant religion in the country, the said belief has more popularity in the country than the rest. As per Hindus, Sri Pada is the footprint of Lord Shiva. The third dominant belief is the one preached by Christians. They believe that Sri Pada is the first step of Adam after being exiled from the Garden of Eden.

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Sri Lanka:

ENJOYING THE BEAUTY OF NEWLY FOUND PEACE, GROWTH AND STABILITY

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y school is this nature. Her language is love. The way she teaches me is not easy to be described with words. It is an endless process of interaction. It is a combination of learn and relearn. What makes this school special is the elements that are used to impart knowledge.

Rivers, mountains, forests and beaches are some of the main elements that are used.

To those who wonder how these elements can teach us, it is important to be told that these natural elements are the true source of real knowledge.

There is a clear difference between text book learning and real-life learning. Learning from the school of nature

comes under the category of real-life learning. It stands out from the rest for that reason also.

To become a part of this learning process is simple.

Just what we need is determination. It is not easy to overcome a haunting urge for turning back. People normally fear to break free from the frameworks erected by the establishment. Learning from nature does not come under any of these frameworks. It sometimes tents to challenge this framework even.

Thus, to choose this path needs great determination. It is believed that the world will shed its inhibitions and jump into this path to liberate itself from its limitations.

Let’s begin our exploration from our neighbourhood.

Though Sri Lanka is only few kilometres away from the southern tip of India, it shares an entirely different identity from that of ours. Its rich culture, art, architecture, tradition and many more define its identity.

In this edition, a humble attempt is made to explore this Island country, which shares an undetachable relation with India – in terms of culture, tradition, art, architecture, religion, history, language and many more.

Sri Lanka, which is officially called the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an Island country situated in South Asia. It is popularly

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TRAVELOGUE

Sigiriya Rock Fortress, the Temple of the Tooth, Adam’s Peak, Yala National Park and Arugam Bay are the main tourist attractions in the Indian ocean Island country of Sri Lanka.

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known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It is its shape and location that gifts this nick name to the Island country.

The modern history of Sri Lanka begins with the arrival of Portugal. The arrival of Portugal to this Island was accidental. It was its closeness to the International trade channel that invited the attention of foreign forces to this Island. Once Sri Lanka was a powerful trade hub in the Asian region. It was popular not only in Asia but also in other continents such as Europe.

Portuguese had controlled a considerable portion of the country and its trade until those were taken over by Dutch.

In the early 19th century, British pushed Dutch away from the

region, and established its dominance over the entire country.

From 1815 to 1948, almost the entire country, including the trade route adjacent to the country, was controlled by the Colonial Briton.

In the year 1972, the country became an Independent Republic. It was in the year it adopted its name.

The period post the independence sadly was as eventful as that of the period prior to the independence. The most crucial event the country witnessed post the independence is the 26-year-long civil war between the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It was a brutal war. It culminated in the year 2009, with the victory of the Sri Lankan Army and the dis-

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TRAVELOGUE

mantling of the LTTE – which projected itself as the voice of Tamil, the country’s prime ethnic community.

Sri Lanka is now a very peaceful country. It is a member of SAARC, UN, G77 and Non-Aligned Movement.

Tourism is the backbone of the Sri Lankan economy. The country is very keen to develop its tourism sector.

Sigiriya Rock Fortress, the Temple of the Tooth, Adam’s Peak, Yala National Park and Arugam Bay are the main tourist attractions in the Indian ocean Island country of Sri Lanka.

Sigiriya rock fortress is often referred as the eighth wonder of the world. It is also known as lion’s rock. There are several myths surrounding this fortress situated atop a giant rock. Tour operators offer day trips to this amazing destination from various cities near the location such as Colombo.

The Temple of the Tooth is one of the

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sacred buddha temples in the world. It is situated in the second largest city of the Island country, Kandy. The city of Kandy is exceptionally beautiful. It is its natural beauty that makes the city spectacular. The Festival of the Tooth, which is one of the most famous festivals celebrated in this part of the world, comes in August. The festival is popular for its vibrant religious procession.

Adam’s Peak is an amazing mountain situated in the central region of the Island country of Sri Lanka. It is a pilgrimage site. The peak is locally known as Sri Pada. There is around three popular stories around this peak.

According to Buddhists, Sri Pada is the footprint of Lord Buddha; considering the fact that Buddhism is the dominant religion in the country, the said belief has more popularity in the country than the rest. As per Hindus, Sri Pada is the footprint of Lord Shiva.

The third dominant belief is the one preached by Christians. They believe that Sri Pada is the first step of Adam after being exiled from the Garden of Eden.

Yala National Park is located in the south-east part of the Island. It is the most famous National Park in this part of the world. It is known for its leopard population. The National Park is house of numerous elephants, crocodiles, monkeys, buffalos and birds. There is a popular saying that Sri Lanka is the true paradise of animal lovers.

Arugam Bay is one of the less crowded beaches in the country; Sri Lanka is popular for its spectacular beaches. This beach is different from the rest for its calm and quiet ambience. The beach definitely offers a rejuvenating experience. It is situated in the dry region of the Island. The topography of the region is entirely different from the rest of the Island.

Kumana National Park is a popular tourist attraction situated near the bay.

The food culture of the Island is not different from the one followed in the southern part of India, though the Island does have some unique dishes.

Let’s plan a trip to this amazing Island!!!

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AUTO REVIEW

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.

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The BMW 2 series Gran Coupe is based on the new front wheel drive 1 series hatchback platform. It is a similar chassis as used by the X1 and several Mini models. The styling is modern BMW and takes inspiration from the larger 8 series Gran Coupe.

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he entry level luxury cars is an important segment that BMW had been missing out all these years while rivals like the Mercedes CLA and Audi A3 have been racking up good numbers. While the sensible ones among us would buy a Superb or Camry at that price point, there are people who can’t resist the allure of a prestigious German brand. Cars like these are important to get a certain breed of new customers into these brands and

their attractive price point makes them relatively affordable to an elite aspirational buyer. We know the next gen Audi A3 may take some time and Mercedes will be bringing the new A class sedan instead of the CLA, so the 2 series Gran Coupe can enjoy its time as the only offering in its class, for a while.

The BMW 2 series Gran Coupe is based on the new front wheel drive 1 series hatchback platform. It is a similar chassis as used by the X1 and several Mini

BMW

2 series Gran Coupe models. The styling is modern BMW and takes inspiration from the larger 8 series Gran Coupe. You can see some Asian influence in the overall design and truth be told, from the sides, it could pass of as an Elantra or the next gen Verna. Unlike the controversially big grilles on other cars, BMW uses an inverted trapezoidal grille in its sportier models like the Z4 and 8 series and that’s what the 2 series Gran Coupe gets too.

The LED headlamps are angular and have twin elements inside them. The bumper ex-

tends all the way to the top of the headlamps and merge with the relatively small bonnet. The sides are quite aggressive and a stark departure from the traditional long bonnet, cab backward rear wheel drive proportions we have loved of BMW sedans.

The rear is much higher and has thin tail lamps that sit below an integrated spoiler and above the recessed number plate area underneath. The M sport version we tested, has great looking 18 inch wheels, deeper bumpers and more aggressive air intakes

giving it a sportier character.

Open the frameless doors and you are welcomed by what is unmistakeably modern BMW interiors. The design of the dash is quite similar to the bigger BMWs of the current generation. Quality is also up there with everything feeling solid and well made.

What you won’t like, is the space at the rear. The seat itself is quite low and while legroom is fine, there is so little headroom and the middle seat is best left, unoccupied.

The seat back is a bit upright and to liberate some room,

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AUTO REVIEW

BMW has provided two small recesses for your head, in the roof lining. It is best suited for children and most owners would enjoy this car from the front seats which are quite nice. It offers electrically adjustable side bolstering and an extendable thigh support. The digital dashboard with the reversed tachometer still hasn’t grown on me, but liberates space in the middle for navigation and other data. The minimalist controls on the dashboard for the dual zone AC and music system are good and so is the ambient lighting strips with a built-in design. The 10.25 inch touch screen comes with ‘Hey BMW’ voice assistant and gesture controls but only Apple Car Play and no Android Auto. Other kit include wireless charging, park assist, rear view camera, panoramic sunroof, six air bags etc.

The 2 series Gran Coupe will initially only be available as a 220d with a 2.0L four cylinder diesel engine. It produces 190bhp and 400Nm which are channelled to the front wheels through an 8 speed Aisin automat-

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ic. Performance is brisk with 0-100 in 7.4 sec, although it can’t put its power down as well as a 3 series diesel. There is some wheel spin as you floor it every time and it feels more enthusiastic in Sport mode. Refinement isn’t its strong suit and you do know it’s a diesel underneath.

The gearbox is quick to shift up and down on its own and you can do it manually using the paddles behind the steering wheel too.

The acid test for any BMW is the handling and how it makes you feel from behind the wheel. The switch to front wheel drive architecture will put off many traditional BMW lovers, but BMW says most new buyers for this sort of car won’t care or understand which end of the car, the power goes to. While it can’t quite match the dynamics of their rear wheel drive sedans, it is still a very sorted front wheel drive car. The chassis is quite agile and with features like cornering brake control, it feels quite sharp to drive. The steering is nicely weighted and very precise, but at times, gets a bit over-

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whelmed when putting the power down. Ride quality is also good with the suspension working hard to iron out most road imperfections, but it isn’t as refined as it could be. You can hear it working, and the 18 inch wheels with low profile tyres aren’t really helping it here.

The 2 series Gran Coupe thus, is well made, looks modern, compact enough to be an urban commuter and fairly engaging to drive. It’s the stepping stone to the world of BMWs. But and this is a big one, it is priced a little too high. For Rs.39.3 lakhs for the Sport and Rs. 41.4 lakhs for the M sport variant we tested, it isn’t the best pricing we have seen from BMW in recent times. A more practical X1 is only Rs. 60,000 to 1.5 lakh rupees more. And if you are still looking for the best BMW experience, get a proper rear wheel drive sedan like the 3 series. That stonking 330i in Sport trim is only a lakh rupee more than the 2 series Gran Coupe M Sport and for that you get one of the best driver’s cars on sale today. It’s a no brainer

MOVIE REVIEW

Hillbilly Elegy

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t is an interesting film directed by American filmmaker Ron Howard, who is also a producer and actor.

The film revolves around a Yale law student. It is a family drama. Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Gabriel Basso, Ethan Levy, Sunny Mabrey, Keong Sim and Bo Hopkins appear in the lead roles.

The film is the adaptation of popular novel Hillbilly Elegy, written by J D Vance. The screenplay of the film is written by Vanessa Taylor. The film can appeal all kinds of viewers, though it is more suitable for family audience. What makes the film special is its selection of actors.

Free Guy

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t is a comedy film directed by Canadian filmmaker Shawn Levy, who is also an actor and producer. Mr. Levy is popular for his extra-ordinary television career. The film comes under the action-comedy category. The film revolves around a bank teller. An open world video game, Free City, is also an important character in the film, just like the bank teller. The screenplay of the film is written by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn. Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, Matthew Cardarople and Aaron W Reed appear in the film. The film can attract all kinds of viewers.

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Chhalaang

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t is a social black comedy film directed by veteran filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who is also a writer, actor and producer. Mr. Mehta is the recipient of the National Film Award for Best Direction. The screenplay of the comedy drama is written by Luv Ranjan, Aseem Arora and Zeishan Quadri. Rajkummar Rao acts as the central character of the film. Apart from Mr. Rao, Nushrat Bharucha, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Saurabh Shukla and Jatin Sarna appear in the film.

There are several mind-blowing comedy sequences in the film. The film can attract all kinds of viewers, though youngsters may find it more interesting.

Ludo

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t is a crime thriller directed by acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Basu, who is an actor, producer and screenplay writer. What makes the film special is the fact that it beautifully portrays four wildly different stories. The screenplay of the film is written by its director, Mr. Basu, itself. Fatima Sana Shaikh and Aditya Roy Kapur act as the central characters in the film. Apart from Ms. Fatima and Mr. Roy, Sanya Malhotra, Rajkummar Rao, Abhishek Bachchan, Pearle Maaney, Pankaj Tripathi and Rohit Saraf appear in the film. The film can appear all kinds of audiences, though it can excite youngsters more.

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BOOK REVIEW

The Battle of Belonging: On Nationalism, Patriotism, And What It Means To Be Indian Author Price

: Shashi Tharoor : Rs. 650 (Hardcover)

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he writer is an International reputed figure. He is a parliamentarian from the Indian state of Kerala. He is known for his political writings.

This book deals with a very sensitive topic: Nationalism. It is high time to bring up a clear definition on what is nationalism. The book explores the concept extensively. The book covers everything that is connected to this sensitive topic. The book has the potential to open up an unbiased discussion on this topic. Though it is a political topic, the book deals with the subject in an apolitical manner. What makes the book special is its crystal-clear approach.

Red Fear: The China Threat Author Price

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: Iqbal Chand Malhotra : Rs. 639 (Hardcover)

ndia at present not in a good relation with China. It is not easy to analyse the topic of Ind0-China relation rightly without a clear understanding about the history of this relationship. The said relationship does have a long history to tell. This book covers the history of Indo-China relation.

The book explores each and every area necessary to understand this sensitive topic. The book is suitable for all kinds of readers, but is highly suitable for researchers, political science students and political and international relation enthusiasts. This book is the first attempt to throw light at all the important twists and turns of this least explored topic.

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BOOK REVIEW

Azim Premji: The Man Beyond The Billions Author Price

: Varun, Sood Sundeep Khanna : Rs. 559 (Hardcover)

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hat do you know about business legend Azim Premji? Mr. Premji is one of the most successful business persons India has ever seen. He is one of the top richest persons in the country. But it is not his business achievement that makes this humble human being special. What makes this successful business leader special is his altruism. He is the founder of Azim Premji Foundation, which is primarily focused on the area of education. This book is the first attempt to develop a perfect biography about this exceptional businessman. The book is suitable to all kinds of readers, especially young business enthusiasts.

Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World Author Price

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: Sumant Sinha : Rs. 559 (Hardcover)

he present world is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. This over dependence has contributed towards the depletion of ozone layer – which protects the earth from the harmful ultra violet rays from sun.

This depletion is one of the main reasons for the natural disasters the world has seen in the recent past. To save the world, it is important to strengthen the fossil free alternatives in the near future itself. This book discusses about this fossil free alternatives. The book is more like a research document, than a normal business-related book. The book is suitable to all kinds of readers, especially those who dream of a fossil free world.

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Printed On 09/ 11/ 2020

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