That's how you did. I hope you're doing good. Today, I thought it'd be really fun to chat about the 10 series I have to finish this year. It won't be a flop. I'm confident. No, the truth is... Kind of my top series TBR for this year. As many of you will know, probably my biggest reading goal this year is to finish more series. I am a, like, serial series starter. Serial series starter. That could go on merch. Serial series starter. No one copied me. I've trademarked it. My mind. Oh, it amazes me sometimes. I would constantly start series and I have a lot of series on my TBR where I've read the first book and I've not read any more. So a big goal this year is to finish a lot of them. And these are the 10 series I really want to prioritize getting done. I'm hoping by the end of the year these are all pretty much going to be finished. I've got plans for some of them. So yeah, I'm feeling good about this goal so far actually. I think I started the year on, like, 46 or, like, something like that. 45, 46 series on my TBR. I'm actually down to 35, so I only have to finish 9 to get to my series of only being in the middle of 26 series max by the end of the year. Now I am gonna start some more series this year. I haven't yet, but being realistic, I probably will start a few more. Like, a lot of you. I've contained myself thus far, but I probably will start a few more. But I'm feeling good. So even if I were to, like, start another series and just finish these 10, I would reach my goal. Okay, so first is the Farsia Trilogy by Robin Hobb. So I only have the next one. I don't have the third one in the trilogy. I've read Assassin Apprentice and Royal Assassin is what I need to read next. Now listen, they're big boys, this series, and Robin Hobb is, like, really in-depth fantasy. Really in-depth fantasy. Girlie, listen. She's a bit intimidating. She's a bit intimidating. Basically we're following Fitz, who is the bastard son of the guy who was the prince in waiting, and he kind of gets raised within the royal court, and the king figures out that he's in a unique position to basically access royal spaces without being part of the royal family, so he gets trained as a royal assassin. I really, really liked Assassin Apprentice. I gave it four stars, and I would just really like to finish this trilogy this year so that maybe I could start the Liveship series next year. I've heard that, like, Mad Ship, and I think the second one in that trilogy, what is that called? Okay, the Mad Ship is the second one. We have Ship of Magic first. I've heard Mad Ship is, like, a lot of people's favorite Robin Hobb books. So I'm really excited to get to that trilogy, but I feel like maybe one of Robin Hobb's trilogies every two years is, like, a realistic goal. So I started this one in 2021, so finishing it in 2022 and having 2023 and 2024 to read the next one.  My life is going to be, like, in 2024. Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? I really, really like Robin Hobb's writing, world building, and I definitely want to get deeper into this whole world that Robin Hobb has going on, but I think it's important for me to there's a lot of, like, fantasy. Is this all fantasy? Oh my god, this is, this could, all of these series could be classes fantasy. I think I've put these on here because they're some of the more, like, intimidating ones for me to get to. Also with, I mean, most series are fantasy, that's to be honest, but with a lot of my mystery series, they're longer things that I'm not predicting to finish this year, like my Urquiporo series that I'm reading, or the Lady Hardcastle series, like, there are a lot of books, so I'm not predicting to finish them, whereas I have a lot of fantasy series that all the books are already out, so I can get to them. Oh my god, I didn't realize this was all fantasy.  Next is The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steerwater. Now, here's the thing. I have all of the books. I think this will be a series that I read in the next couple months. I didn't love The Raven Boys. I gave it three stars. To me, it felt like it was setting up the whole rest of the series. Do you know what I mean? It felt like a prequel. It didn't feel like a necessarily book in its own right. So that's why, although I only gave it like a three star, I am excited to get into the rest of the series, but I really, I don't know what to expect from it. I'm hoping it's going to get even more fantastical, kind of crazy, but I want to get attached to the characters, and I haven't really done that yet. But it's such like a staple fantasy series that so many people love, that is kind of like close to a lot of people's hearts, that I really do want to finish it, and I don't want to be in the middle of it any longer. I just want to like get it done and know what my opinion of it is, if that makes sense, because I'm kind of nervous. I'm kind of like a little bit scared. But obviously, Kayla loves this series. That's why I picked it up in the first place. I think I want to get rid of some of the older series, like predominantly on my TBR, so that it's more like current series that I'm reading. So okay, bye. Then we have, oh my god, I'm actually weak trying to hold these up. The Poppy War by I.F. Quang.  I don't know why, but I don't think any books terrify me like these do. I.F. Quang terrifies me. They're big. They're massive. I mean, they're very big. This is so big. It's mind-boggling. I read the Poppy War in 2020. It's been a long time. And these are some of my like, whenever I do like, oh my god, the list I'm going to do like this one, books I'm going to read. I always put them on here that I never read them, but I'm going to force myself to do so this year. It's on the list. It's on the plans for this year. So obviously in this we're following Ren who goes to like this military training academy and the Poppy War begins and yada yada yada. I don't want to say too much more than it was for anything. I.F. Quang's next book, Babble, is coming out this year and like, honestly, who am I? Who am I to like pick that up? I mean, I've pre-ordered it. Who am I to do that if I don't finish this series? Generally. My dad has read them all. He like loves them. He read them all before me. So it's time. But I'm just scared by how long they are. And the thing is, I don't like the audiobook narrator. Not anything personal. Just doesn't, I just don't like her audiobooks. Don't know why. So I can't even listen to the audiobook to get me through it quicker. So I'm going to have to read it all physically. That's not me anymore. Every book now I have to like have the audiobook. I'm fashion. I'm style. And if they can't keep up, then let's say prop. Bye, take care. Then we have, I don't know what this series is called. Is it just called The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor? This is another one where I've read the first one and I gave it three stars. And I kind of just want to finish the rest of the series to figure out what I think of it. I really love Laini Taylor's writing, but I just, I just found the plot and the insular and the romance in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It wasn't for me. It wasn't really for me. I am, I'm nervous to get into this, but I really love her writing so I do definitely want to finish the series off. I have, again, both of the books now. It should be pretty easy to finish off, but I think I'm going to finish something else with Laini Taylor first. We'll get into that in a second. And then next is Small Spaces by Katherine Arden. This is a middle grade horror series that Katherine Arden does, and I listen to the audiobooks of these. What is my hair doing? That's on the wrong side. Excuse me. That's very rude, isn't it? As many of you know, Katherine Arden, one of my favorite authors ever with the Varen and the Nightingale series. And I don't, like, love this series, this horror series. Like, it's fine. It's like middle grade, pretty young middle grade, pretty short middle grade, so I'm not like obsessed. But I do really want to finish it. I have the next audiobook, which is Dark Waters, and then the last in the series comes out in August, which is Empty Smiles. And this is just a series that I've really, like, put effort into finishing this year. I'm going to put effort into this year because it's easy. Like, it's like four hour long audiobooks, and I listen to it sped up, obviously. So it's like two hours of my time to finish this series. So it's like a really easy one to tick off the list. I have a lot of middle grade on my series list where I've literally only read the first one, and I don't read a lot of middle grade, so I feel like I really need to prioritize some of the middle grade ones I have. I remember, oh my gosh, you guys, I did a video two summers ago in 2020, like reading middle grade for the first time where I started three different middle grade series, and I have not read a single book in any of those series again, even though I really enjoyed them. It's just something I struggled to fit into vlogs. So the first five are all ones I have multiple books to read in the series before I finish it. But the second five are all ones that I only have one book left, because they're duologies or because I've read the other books in the series, and I decided to do this because I feel like it's realistic, like it's being realistic.  And like, you know, 2022 is all about being kind to myself and being realistic. So that's what we're doing. One of my favorite series that I'm so excited to finish is the Girls of Paper and Fire series by Natasha Nyang. We have the final one which is Girls of Fate and Fury. This came out in like November of last year. So it hasn't been out for super long, but I'm scared.  Like everyone's gonna die. No one's safe. But this is like a fantasy series where we follow these paper girls for the king who are basically young girls forced to sleep with the king. And the first book definitely dives into the trauma of that and how difficult that is. And I feel like the first book is really really amazing. The second book was a bit of a strange book. It had like middle book syndrome which usually I enjoy middle book syndrome. But not so much in this. I feel like it kind of meandered a bit. But I feel like the story is really gonna come to a head in the last book. We've been waiting so long, it's been pushed back and I'm just so excited. It's one of my favorite worlds. I feel like Natasha Nyang's writing is so like beautifully vivid and gorgeous and emotive and captivating. And it's like just like these queer girls like falling in love and like fighting against depression. And I just I just love it. And I'm just so excited. But I'm also I've been putting off. I almost read it a couple weeks ago and then I didn't because I'm scared. Like I feel like it needs to be the perfect moment. Oh, I just can't wait. I just can't wait. This series feels so nostalgic to me. It feels like so. I remember I read the first book. I bought it in Florida when I was on holiday there like many years ago like in 2019. And I read it there. Like the first book I picked up. I remember like I picked up loads of books I'd really been anticipating. And that one was kind of one I picked up on a whim. But I read it and I have like memories of like reading it by the pool and just being so captivated in this world. And so this this world really feels very nostalgic to me. So I'm gonna be sad I think also to let this world go. So that's why I've been putting off a little bit. Then I'm gonna finish The Stranger Dreamer duology by Laney Taylor. This one is is it falls prey to when I read this probably I think in 2020 I said I need to read music nightmares immediately. The ending I need I need to read music nightmares immediately. And then I put it off. And so I really want to get better at not only finishing now the series that I've been on my tbr for a long time but now whenever I start a series being quite intentional once I've read the first one and enjoyed it of like reading the next ones fairly quickly. That's not happening. So in this we're following Laszlo Strange who has this like he's obsessed with the mythical lost city of Weep. But then it turns out the city isn't lost and he gets to go there and it's this magical world and there's gods and it's all very interesting. And this to me is my definitely preferred Laney Taylor series.  I cried so much in The Stranger Dreamer.  I just need to read it. I need to read it. So what I'm actually gonna do is I think I'm gonna read I'm gonna finish off a bigger series and then I'm gonna do a vlog where I read a couple of geologies and finish off the second books in them um because it's kind of something that takes off a lot of series in one go and I think this will be one of them because I'm very excited to finish it. Then we have The Green Hollow Geology by Emily Tesh which are very short like how have I not read this book yet? It's like it's literally a hundred pages. I think I read this towards the end of 2020 and guess what? Yeah I haven't finished it. This is like this magical story about these like beings in the forest and it's hard to explain to you don't want to spoil anything but it's very magical. It's queer, it's lovely, it's dark. Also I really like the darkness. I'm something about this cover I absolutely love. I love the ominousness of it. I love the drawing of this like abandoned cathedral. I just find it really like captivating I don't know but yeah and this one's easy because it's literally one more book and it's like a hundred and something pages. Maybe when I'm doing like a readathon or something like that this is really useful to stick in there if I get a prompt that works for it. Then we have The Song of Race and Ruin series by Roseanne A Brown. Again this is a duology and I have a sum of storms and silence to read. This is like a very vivid African inspired fantasy and very much inspired by folklore where we have these two characters who want to kill each other at the start and you have very interesting backstories. One is a princess in this in this town and I really love I find fantasy around like monarchies very nostalgic again. It has that kind of nostalgic YA feeling which I really love and so again this is on the list because it's a duology like imagine oh my god imagine when I do that video finishing three duologies how much satisfaction I'm gonna feel like sometimes when I need a mood boost I go and I count how many series I've got on the go and I'm so proud of myself. I would like to defend myself but sadly that's the truth. I feel like I'm doing really well and it's it's making me really appreciate like carrying on series. I've really been doing myself a disservice from the beauty of series which is like getting to know these characters and getting to love them. I've really been like cheating myself out of that so I'm intrigued to see where this is gonna go. The writing is very beautiful, their action pack, there's magic, there's romance, they're very vivid so yes really excited to tick this one off. And then we have The Raven's duology by Cass Morgan and Danielle Page. I have the Monarchs to read and then I'll finish the series. I actually read this when did I read this? Towards the end of last year. I think so anyway and I was super surprised by my reaction to The Raven's was. I really loved it. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it that much but it felt like just a very well plotted book. It's about this sorority of witches basically at this college and we have like a newbie perspective and then we have a perspective from one of the older girls and sorority and it's like action packed, it's got amazing magic, it's got the sisterhood, it's got great characters, great character development and I honestly I can't predict where this one is gonna go. Like it really could go so many directions. Every sisterhood has its secrets. Oh my god I don't know if I can handle any secrets. I'm really really excited to see where it's gonna go. So yeah I feel like this will be probably another one of the eologies I finished off in that video that I'm talking about. So there we have it. That is the 10 series that I definitely absolutely have to finish this year. No choice, no choice matter. I really believe I am gonna finish them all. I have good feelings about them all. Please let me know what you thought of any of these series because it's definitely gonna determine what I pick up next. Particularly tell me if you finish any of them and kind of what you thought of the resolution and the journey that the characters went on because yeah I definitely need help figuring out what order I'm gonna read them all in but thank you guys so much for watching. If you've gotten to the end comment a butterfly emoji because a lot of butterflies on the monarch. So comment a butterfly emoji down below if you've gotten to the end. Thank you so much for watching this video and I'll see you very soon in another one. Bye!


The EU sent an eighth flight of humanitarian aid to Gaza on November 7, as Commissioner Yanis Lanarsik promised more support, but said access was key to it reaching the most vulnerable. The flight of mostly medical supplies from Belgium's Ostend Airport was loaded on Tuesday morning and was due to leave for Egypt, Lanarsik said. Questioned by journalists he said he was confident they would reach Gaza's civilian population without falling into the hands of Hamas Gaza services are close to breaking. But without fuel supplies, the UN humanitarian office said on Tuesday, Gaza's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday all bakeries in northern Gaza are out of service due to Israeli attacks and lack of fuel. This eight flights are the first batch, there will be further flights in the coming weeks and of course we'll continue this as long as necessary, there is emergency, humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip, there is shortage of everything, of water, of food, of medicines, medical equipment, of fuel and we need to use every tool available that we have in order to provide this necessary assistance. Everybody knows who supports Hamas and this is not the EU and the European Union assistance, be it humanitarian or development assistance has always reached its destination. When it is humanitarian assistance, we work with our humanitarian partners who are trusted partners who have strong safeguards in place in order to ensure that the assistance reaches the people who need it. There have been never any credible indications or proofs, let alone proofs, that European humanitarian aid has ended in the wrong hands.


Don't worry about your work, you give it up. What do you want? You want a roof, I'll give you. You want food every day, I'll give you. All you have to do is just sit in one place and be blissful.  Can you do? No, you want to mess up something every day. People say they are only working for a living, I say, don't worry. I'll give you shelter, I'll give you food every day. No problem. All you have to do is I want to see tears of blissfulness every day. That's all the requirement. You don't have to do any work. You don't have to serve me. You don't have to produce anything. Nothing.  So the problem is not in your work, the problem is not in your life, the problem is not in the world that you live, the problem is just that you have not done the necessary things for this one to flow through this effortlessly, beautifully. The necessary work has not been done and we are just hoping it'll happen by accident. It doesn't happen by accident. Lot of people in the world think United States of America is heaven, but people who live here don't think so at all. Isn't it so? Isn't it? Lot of people in the world are dying to get an entry into the country. If you open up the southern borders, ten million people will enter tomorrow morning because they think this is heaven. But you are not experiencing it that way, isn't it?  Hell and heaven is what you make out of yourself, isn't it?  If you had made a heaven out of yourself, would you talk about going to heaven?  Once it happened, early twentieth century, an orthodox Greek church, a bishop from that church, you know orthodox Greeks have their own separate church, they have their own pope who lives in Turkey, you know this? So a bishop from this order had heard so much about Indian mysticism and he wanted to go to India, but he never got around to make it because he had to serve the cloth that he wore and after sixty years of age when he semi-retired, he got the opportunity and went to India. So he came to South India near where we are and he wanted to meet a mystic, a yogi. So somebody said, go up this mountain near a cave, there is a yogi sitting, you can go.  So the bishop went and prostrated. He cannot do it, he's not made for that, but they had told him, if you go to India you have to crawl. He prostrated like this and with all his four limbs he got up. The yogi looked at him with amusement. Obviously he has never prostrated anywhere before. And he smiled. Then the bishop said, I am like this, I am a bishop. I have served in the church for so long, but I have a few questions, can you answer? The yogi smiled and said, yes, please, whatever the question. Then the bishop asked, what is life at the age of sixty? What is life? So the yogi closed his eyes, became very blissful and said, life is like the fragrance of a jasmine on the spring breeze. And tears of blissfulness flowed out of his eyes as he was saying this. Then the bishop said, no, no, no. Our pope has told us life is like a thorn and we must renounce it. And even symbolically, Jesus himself wore a crown of thorns. So how come you say this? Our pope says otherwise. The yogi looked at him, smiled and said, well, that's his life. What you make out of it is not because of where you are, what you are. It is just what you make out of it, isn't it? So have you created the necessary mechanism? Have you created the necessary system? Have you created the necessary ingredients within you to make this like the fragrance of jasmine on a spring breeze and not a thorn?  Isn't it so?


Just kidding shabber one thousand here guys, and I'm gonna do an intro happy birthday monkey. Thank you. I'm gonna do the intro real quick What are we doing? Oh, we're gonna eat nothing What are we doing? Am I supposed to be quiet? That'll cool you actually have to answer that and tell them what we're doing We're gonna do a meals on wheels review. Yes and he's got roasted mashed potatoes and Gravy and broccoli roasted pot roast mashed potatoes and gravy and broccoli and you have Mine's harder to read. I can in broccoli egg noodles and carrots chicken and broccoli, huh? chicken and broccoli egg noodles and carrots I'm gonna have to try that too. Okay, so let's open these up. Do you want to show them? Mm-hmm He were already Did don't sit next to me.  It's just a screen. Oh Jesus And there's hers. Yeah, that looks pretty good. Don't it? Not bad so We are going to try and see how they are. Yeah, so I'll get this out Well, I've had broccoli but for the people that haven't seen me do this. Ah That's hot. Are you gonna try something was she mm-hmm. It's like the last broccoli. I had mushy And there might be cracker. These are pretty big. Let's make that carrot is nice I think I'd add butter to it Well, you gotta have whatever you want. Yeah, I explain that to them about the salt and stuff. Yeah, but those are good All right, now I'm gonna try my potatoes They're good. What are you gonna try? I'll try my noodles. Okay. I won't try my potatoes Hmm, well, let's be gravy, but looks that's the noodles. They're stuck together Stir them up Cheers, baby. Very blah. So the potatoes blah Mm-hmm. I'm tasting the reason why I do these reviews without anything people say what something I want to taste what they Taste like for the people that can't use salt and pepper that just have to eat it like this Right. I want to taste the food and not the flavoring. You know what I mean, right? So now I'm gonna try my meat. Yeah Chicken It smells good They're fried chicken, too. I don't know if we got any of those love Hmm All right, there we go. My what is this pot roofs? Yeah, well, that's good. Mmm. Nice. Oh, I like that It's see it's got flavor because It's it's baked in some kind of oil or something might a better Let me try the chicken No, because then I beat my own and That up your potatoes to be alright. Well, I want to taste I wanted to taste each item. Yeah That's not bad. It's alright. I mean I give this one a Five and a half out of ten What about yours? I'm gonna taste it in noodles and carrots before I'm gonna give that one a seven Yeah, out of ten. Yeah, what do you give it? Oh, I was gonna give it about six. Okay, what do you give this one? About the same as six. I think it was pretty good. Not like broccoli broccoli. I love I'm gonna give that a seven and this a five This has got a lot of flavor to it the meat part very nice This is playing on but that's where I wanted to taste the guys now. I'm gonna Soup it up and no pun in yes pun intended That's good I'm gonna season this up and we're gonna finish these these is ours these is These are snacks It's five four minutes after ten o'clock. Yeah, so I'm gonna put some salt on here. Thank you monkey for helping me do the review. You're welcome So that was fun. We got more to come so stay tuned Maybe we'll do some vlogging or something tomorrow. Yeah, I see. Okay. Thanks for watching guys appreciate it. Yep, monkey says shut up for now All right, I love you but All right, love you guys And we'll chat soon she bears I met the man a legend. Thanks for watching. Bye. Bye guys. Take care


Everybody forest here ripping at 2022 pristine baseball hobby 4 box number 25 random team style I'll leave the results on screen for you. You can always check these out at late and sports cards calm Thank you for joining everybody and good luck There's a Lincoln chat for those two. There's also a Lincoln chat for immaculate Baseball random divisions case break for later on guys. It's got two to go. Just two to go. It's two-thirds filled Let's do it pristine Might have to have Bryson rip some pristine you guys I was so scared my first time opening on camera Randy what's up, man? No, I didn't see it six. What uh, I didn't get a notification for what I'm Chat is it in chat channel? We pulled a I think the biggest part we pulled was in the only Osaka Fresh foundation red PMG That was pretty sick There was also a Scotty Barnes PMG a giddy auto Like those like the highlights or some other nice stuff too. Oh, we pulled the fields metalized gold PMG That's right. That was another nice one Justin Fields. So that's pretty good pretty solid for boxes Pulled one other auto. It was there's a non-sport auto.  So base pack Shane Bieber co-ar Show you it's honey pristine boarders. I'll check it out with this six. I promise Got Kershaw pristine boarders Guessing judge gets a ties the record sign or breaks the record, maybe pure power Piazza Mets Go Jags who the Jags plan? chargers Boba Shet fresh faces Fractors now Eddie Murray got a gold coming up here for the Merrifield. It's a gold Ryan Mountcastle With the Orioles number 27 to 50 Connor Wong Pedro a yachty and Molina gold slice of a star jersey auto for St. Louis 47 of 50 awesome yachty Brian Zanino wheeler purple refractor d-back Zach Gallin numbered to 78 of 99 Right in case cards now you got Gallo Non-numbered refractor Yankees blue refractor Tigers out K-line nice color coming up 68 of 75 In orange Nolan Aronato great start for the Cardinals 25 of 25 on the bookend orange and Cardinals again a Nolan Aronato and K-Stado here non-numbered It's got St. Louis. You yeah, I with the Cardinals great break That is an orange. Yeah, orange 14 to 25 rookie out of Diamondbacks Tyler Gilbert nice combo spot hit for Alexandros And he's a Nino refractor. That's a Jake's board there Meg's a Nino Decent parody catcher though So guys I have a question now that we got a few people in chat Who is the biggest? Like great college coach that was like an NFL failure. What's the biggest failure? It's not it's got to be urban Meyer right over like Nick Saban and like Patrino like it has to be It's definitely not Mike Tomlin the guy that has a Super Bowl ring. It's definitely not Mike Tomlin. I'm sorry six Yeah, I'm like Tomlin a college coach. I truly have no idea It's not cow or Super Ring that Super Bowl came like three years later Two years, right? I think it is urban by a mile as bad as Saban was like Urban was a clown show on and off the field Yeah, my car wasn't a coach. We're not we're not playing that game right now six. We're talking earned championships Got to be on the sideline to claim it your own ring Spurrier spurrier is a good one too man. There's a lot of really great college coaches that were terrible in the NFL Yeah, Spurrier is probably worse than Saban was really bad though that one year in Miami. They could have signed Drew Brees. Remember that? He would they were gonna sign Drew Brees. Oh dolphins decades of Mediocrity that rule that rule is getting there too. Yeah But he wasn't I'm talking like like Really successful like pure power Mike trout there like one championships like Spurrier Saban. Yeah, but yeah, Matt rule for sure there's a lot of them that Definitely were good in college, but six you always been it's every week now, man. I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you Steelers stink Chip Kelly is a good one too. He wasn't like terrible terrible He was he was not a good NFL coach, but he wasn't like the pits bad Lindor Yeah, he made some bad personnel decisions, but his offense wasn't like to like he translate his offense, okay He just failed to like he was too much of like a scheme guy like where does the scheme rather than? Using the abilities of the players that you currently have like I don't know pure power Hank Aaron That's true Yeah, that's a that's Chip Kelly Super Bowl we're playing by sixes rules Didn't they sign to Marco Murray with Chip Kelly? Pristine Borders Kepler although to be fair he was really good with Dallas and just they just used him wrong Urban Meyers got I think there's a good gap between Urban Meyer and the next worst Pristine Borders Shohei Otani Like it was active like everybody knew it was terrible when they have brought in like Tebow In the preseason you're like, oh boy. This is off to a bad start Barlow put Rodriguez Kershaw Luis Robert Brett a gold refractor Anthony Rizzo for the Yankees number 3450 Orias raised your zia auto Randy Arosa Reina Love his signature slice of a star Rafi Devers refractor to Grom Aaron judge refractor and purple Joey Gallo Yankees Joey Gallo, right? No, right. Yeah. No Rangers Rangers. He's got his Texas Uni right there That's right. He was a post-deadline acquisition there. That is Rangers 39 and 99. I would definitely tag this one Just show me Rockies a blue refractor. I'm El Tapia 16 of 75 gold refractor. Will you don't miss brewers? 12 of 50 Pink refractor blue jays hong jinhri you five of 15 some nice color here great. She don't lose. There's so many bad ones It's kind of impressive actually Hey Dylan Carlson auto for the Cardinals now non-numbered Cardinals crushing it Pure power auto gold refractor Reese Hoskins for the Phillies numbered 36 of 50 And they Tony Gwyn refractor mr. Padre right two more broke the camera you guys one sec Hey, man, Doug Peterson was good with the Eagles It didn't ends it didn't end well. I think they kind of jumped the ship on firing him But You want a super with Nick Foles the starting quarterback that says that says a good amount, right?  One year still feels kind of weird Definitely an NFL caliber head coach Seems pretty good so far thick pack here Sorry Yeah That that was a weird hire That was a strange hire I think I hired him just for just because of Kyler like they were like, oh, we're gonna have a quarterback Like this. Oh, we need the What do you this guy now? Because he was well offensive coordinator Oklahoma Or no, he played at Oklahoma. Yep off on the homes Had that that crazy good offense where like everybody in the Has a good offense Because they don't play defense there Big 12 football UCF versus Kansas Got pure power grace Harper for the Phillies. Oh, man.  It's gonna be a shock But then again, Oklahoma text won't be there Got Kepler pristine borders This is pristine baseball tops pristine Yeah, I mean bucks even says good. They're just getting schooled right now Got Miguel Cabrera pristine borders for the Tigers Bill's lost. That's cool Pristine borders Freddie Freeman. I'm always just gonna root against the really good teams that one Things are like the best Because as a patriot sound that it's always happened So I'm gonna root against all the other good teams glad to be a great junior fresh faces for the Blue Jays Fractors now one back there Scherzer as a Dodger Gary Sanchez Tony Gwyn orange for the raised Tyler glass now Five of 25. Is he back soon? What timing on that man, yeah He's only supposed to go like Thompson Robuto a Jersey auto Aaron Nola with a Philly slice of a star Yeah, we are Mike. I gotta talk to Sam about it this week They're just it's just been so crazy around here. I'll be his veerling rookie McGuire and Purple refractor Miguel Cabrera Tigers 27 of 99 Mac Jones got an X-ray. They're negative. He doesn't have a fracture Interesting. All right, we got a refractor a is mark. Canna blue refractor nice Dodgers color matches Kershaw 17 of 75 a Gold refractor for the Cubs Ryan Sandberg Rhino number 39 to 50 it's a little shifted to the right you can see there's a little gap on the left here But it's not moving so Leave it alone then rookie auto reds Tony Santee on non numbered Ryan Mountcastle fresh faces insert auto for the Orioles not numbered in an Ernie banks refractor for the Cubs Let's do one more last box here. Good luck everybody Tier one is up next guys that one sold out. There's only one more baseball break left with spots It's that Immaculate Divisions case Down to one. That's like every lightning fan Jake All lightning fans only watch when it when it gets to like April and May Watching every right watching every baseball game That's a difficult okay, maybe not right, but like a lot I would say Baseball is great in that way because there's a lot of like time in between.  Yeah, oh this guy's up to that. I want to watch this one There's a lot of that batch like yeah, I couldn't take a I can grab a bite to eat during this And then Very rarely do you like score in a bunch of different endings in a game usually it's like two or three innings you score That's about it Dude to be to be fair To be fair if I had nights off I'd be watching like every Red Sox I would watch way too much sports if I had nights off I'd be watching sports from like 7 p.m. Eastern every night until like the last West Coast Baseball or basketball or hockey game Yeah, they have a scare Wake is pretty solid though Tennessee before that was cool. I should over the last one. I just went right to this base pack pure powered Griffey Who's gonna win with all in college this year, Georgia? Mm-hmm Cal Raleigh base rookie a fresh faces Luis heel rookie for the Yankees Kutchin Bama. Yeah, could be Bama They're always in contention. Yeah every year Pure power Jesse Winker border state to the playoff Christine borders Yachty Molina. Oh, man, were they undefeated still Yeah On the old cruise rookie base Christine borders Pedro Martinez was what would happen though? They'll be Clemson and then I'll lose the like I don't even know It's definitely better all around that it has been in the past years Story Shohei on the refractor Molina gold rookie angels Brandon Marsh Number 42 out of 50. Yeah, Bama, Georgia Ohio State Clemson's in there. Sometimes LSU does well Sandberg Acunia Kepler Phillies slice of a star Jersey auto GT realm uto Canna Boggs Vladdy got a purple refractor Braves Greg Maddox 60 of 99 and last in case cards here Dodgers base refractor Julio Orias Gold refractor Tatis nice from Padres 32 of 50 on the Tatis color match red refractor Dodgers Duke Snyder Legend right there for a five on the red refractor congrats LA Dodgers Brooklyn Dodgers I said Tigers rookie auto Matt Manning refractor parallel 90 of 99 Fresh faces Pirates Auto Kibri and Hayes Not numbered and a Pedro refractor for the Red Sox once that guys do a recap with like recaps if you mag anything just automatically put in the recap Sometimes the break would tell you other things like it depends on the break to like if we're opening something that doesn't have a lot of Autos over there. Oh, you can put that in the breaker doesn't tell you though. You can always ask if you think Just recap. All right, so we got relic autos here JTL Muto Phillies not numbered a granola Phillies not numbered a Rosa Rana rays not numbered in gold slice of a star auto yadda your Molina Cardinals numbered 47 of 50 Nice one st. Louis. It's a sick card st. Louis did very well Dodgers red refractor Duke Snyder This one was four or five Autos now insert to Brian Hayes not numbered Pirates Matt Manning Tigers rookie auto to 99 Ryan Mountcast Orioles fresh faces insert autograph Reds rookie auto Tony Santian not numbered a Dylan Carlson not numbered auto for the Cardinals a Nolan Aronado not numbered auto for the Cardinals pure power gold auto Phillies Reese Hoskins Phillies had a really nice break 36 of 50 there and Rookie orange Tyler Gilbert Diamondbacks rookie auto 14 of 25 And that is gonna do it. Thanks again, everybody. We've got more baseball coming up


A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to Hindu News Analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS Academy for the date 18th of August 2022. The list of articles we are going to discuss today is displayed on the screen. You can go through it. Now let's start our discussion with this question. Recently, which of the following states launched Krishi Dasan program? Option A, Bihar. Option B, Maharashtra. Option C, West Bengal. Option D, Kerala. To find the answer for this question, we have to look at this news article. See the Krishi Dasan program is launched by the Kerala government. So the correct answer here will be option D, Kerala. See in prelims, UPSE might ask questions relating to some famous regional schemes also. So it is better to be prepared. I ask this question because the program has the word Krishi in it. Krishi in Hindi means agriculture that we all know. So people might guess that the program might be from Bihar or UP as Hindi is one of the widely spoken languages in that states. But as we saw, the program was launched by the Kerala government. As a part of this discussion, let's see a few points about Krishi Dasan program. To this program, the Kerala government aims to address the issue faced by the farmers. As part of this program, the Minister for Agriculture and senior officials of the Agriculture Department will interact with the farmers across the state on a regular basis. This is done to first listen to the problems faced by the farmers. After identifying their problems, prompt action will be taken by the government to address them. This program is one of the steps taken by the Kerala government to achieve self-sufficiency in agriculture in the state. As you can see, it is an innovative program right. It is because the first step in this program is identifying the issues with the grassroots by directly interacting with them. This is a bottom-up approach. If properly implemented, this will bring productive change for the farmer. In the main system also, you can quote innovative schemes like this in the suggestion part or in the way forward part. You can write about how programs like this can be implemented at the national level. This will show the evaluator that you are up to date with the current affairs. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this news article discussion, we saw about a scheme called Krishidashan, which was launched by the Kerala government. With these key learned points, let's move on to next news article discussion. Look at this news article. It says that, the Tiruvananthapuram Corporation's property tax collection has increased in the current financial year compared to the same period in previous year. This is about the article given here. In this context, let us learn more about the property tax. See, first of all, what is a property tax? Property tax is sometimes known as house tax. It is the tax which is assessed, imposed and collected from property owners by the relevant municipal authority. See, anyone who owns a property or which may be apartment, commercial space or land needs to pay some money to the government authorities in the form of property tax. See, the tax is paid to avail basic civil facilities available in and around the property. However, certain categories of properties or certain categories of owners are exempted from paying tax. And sometimes they are required to pay at a lower rate compared to others. For instance, agriculture land or property used for worship are exempt from paying property tax. Similarly, there is a rebate for property owners who are senior citizens, women, disabled or differently abled or ex-servicemen. Now let's see how it is calculated. Know that three methods are used to calculate property tax. One of them is capital value system. It is levied as a percentage of market value of the property. The second one is annual rental value system. It is calculated based on the yearly rental value of the property. And the third one is unit area value system. It is levied on the per unit price of the build-up area of the property. Know that different municipal authorities follow different methods to evaluate property tax. Now after calculating the amount of tax, it is paid annually. But some municipal authorities allow semi-annual payment also. With this knowledge, let's see the significance of property tax. See, property tax are the financial backbone of local governments. They account for a significant portion of local revenue source. See, the collected amount is mainly used for public services like repairing roads, constructing schools, buildings, sanitation works, etc. Okay, so that's all regarding this news article. In this news article discussion, we saw about property tax and its significance. With these learned points, let's move on to next news article discussion. See this text and context article. This article talks about Arctic Amplification. It mainly focuses on three things. First, on the causes of Arctic Amplification. Then on the consequences of Arctic Amplification. And finally, its impact on India. So in this discussion, let's see all these aspects in detail. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is highlighted here. In the prelims, the topic we are about to discuss will come under general issues on environmental ecology, biodiversity and climate change. And in the main perspective, it comes under both paper one and paper three. In paper one, it comes under changes in critical geographical features and the effects of such changes. And in paper three, it comes under environmental pollution and degradation. Now let's start the discussion. First of all, what is Arctic Amplification? We all know about global warming, right? Global warming is nothing but the long-term warming of the planet's overall temperature. See, warming and cooling of Earth's temperature is not new. But what makes global warming dangerous is that it is caused by anthropogenic changes. So in recent times, due to human activities, the planet's average temperature increased by 1.1 degree Celsius. This 1.1 degree rise is not uniform across the planet. When the average increase in temperature is 1.1 degree, the temperature rise that is happening in the poles is more compared to the rest of the planet. This is called polar amplification. Out of these two poles, the temperature change is even more pronounced in the northern latitudes that is around the Arctic Circle. So this increased change in temperature due to global warming that happens in the Arctic Circle compared to the rest of the planet is called Arctic Amplification, okay? See, various studies have shown varying levels of Arctic Amplification. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program in 2021 states that compared to the rest of the planet, the Arctic has warmed three times quicker. So what causes this quicker warming in the Arctic? Or what causes Arctic Amplification? The article highlights three causes for it. They are, number one, ice albedo feedback, number two, lapse rate feedback, and number three, water vapor feedback. But to understand this, we must know what is a feedback reaction and especially we have to know what is a positive feedback. See friends, feedback reaction is a reaction in which the output of a process influences the input and in turn it influences the process. Here, positive feedback amplifies the process. To understand positive feedback, let's see an example. Let's see how a person becomes an alcoholic. See, a person does not become an alcoholic in a single day. What happens is that he or she will consume little alcohol initially. But over a period of time, our body starts building tolerance. So to achieve the same high, he or she will start consuming more alcohol. Then also, our body will develop tolerance to the increased alcohol consumption. So then he or she will start to consume even more alcohol. Due to feedback between the output and the input, the whole process becomes amplified, right? This is called positive feedback. I hope you understood what positive feedback is. And you also understood the ill effects of alcohol. So friends, kindly stay out of alcohol. Now coming back to the discussion, let's first take ice albedo feedback. Now what is albedo? Albedo is the ability of a body to reflect the incoming solar radiation into space, right? And we know that the albedo of a sea ice and snow is higher than water. So due to global warming, when Arctic sea ice starts melting, the albedo in the Arctic region will also come down. Once ice melts and forms water, the water having lower albedo than ice will absorb more solar radiation. This increases the temperature in the region and further amplifies the melting of sea ice. This positive feedback that causes increased warming in the Arctic region is called ice albedo feedback. Now let's take lapse rate feedback. We know what the lapse rate is, right? See normally with increasing altitude, the temperature of the earth's atmosphere will decrease. This is called normal lapse rate. In the Arctic, there will be an inverse in lapse rate as the surface temperature is very low due to the presence of sea ice. That is, in normal conditions in the Arctic, with increasing altitude, temperature does not decrease but increases. See, the atmosphere of the Arctic is highly stratified and due to stratification, it will be difficult for a hot parcel of air to rise to the upper atmosphere in the Arctic region. And due to global warming, as sea ice in the Arctic starts melting, the surface temperature increases. The increase in surface temperature results in an increase in evaporation. But due to the stratified nature of atmosphere in the poles, the hot air finds itself difficult to escape. So this will increase the temperature in the ground level further. The increasing temperature further increases evaporation, but the evaporated air cannot escape, further amplifying the heat in the surface. Thus the loop continues. This is called the lapse rate feedback loop. This positive feedback loop is the next important reason for Arctic amplification. The last important cause for Arctic amplification is water vapor feedback. To understand this feedback, you have to know that water vapor is an important greenhouse gas. Here also a positive feedback loop is at play. What happens here is that with global warming, the air temperature increases and we know that hot air can hold more moisture. Here moisture is nothing but water vapor. As water vapor is a greenhouse gas, the temperature further increases. With increasing temperature adds ability to hold moisture further increases. And the positive feedback loop continues. This water vapor feedback is another reason for Arctic amplification. Having seen the reasons for Arctic amplification, now let's see its impacts. First major impact is sea level rise. The Greenland ice shield holds the second largest amount of ice after Antarctica. With Arctic amplification, the melting of Greenland ice has increased. This has resulted in increasing sea level. Second is the change in properties of the Arctic sea. With Arctic amplification, the sea surface temperature in the Arctic region is increasing. This is causing acidification of the ocean as warm ocean can dissolve more carbon dioxide to form big carbonic acid. In addition to this, warming oceans and associated melting of the Arctic and Greenland ice has resulted in declining salinity in the region. These two factors, that is, declining salinity and increasing acidity are affecting the marine population in the Arctic Circle. Okay? The last important impact of Arctic amplification is the melting of Arctic permafrost. See, permafrost is a permanently frozen layer on or under earth surface. It consists of soil, gravel and sand, usually bound together by ice. The permafrost has naturally sequestered carbon with it. Due to Arctic amplification, this permafrost is also melting. This results in the release of carbon and methane back into the atmosphere. Since methane is a greenhouse gas, melting of permafrost will further amplify global warming. In addition to this, there is also the threat of release of long dormant bacteria and viruses that were trapped in the permafrost. These new bacteria and viruses might result in new diseases. Okay? These are the three important impacts of Arctic amplification. See, Arctic amplification also has some effects on India. Firstly, there is various evidences showing links between rising temperature in the Arctic and extreme rainfall from the Indian monsoon. Already, the Indian monsoon is highly unpredictable. With the Arctic amplification, Indian monsoon will further turn erratic. Since most of India's farmlands are monsoon dependent, the Arctic amplification will affect agriculture production in India. And the next one is regarding sea level rise. Melting of Greenlandic and Arctic ice is resulting in sea level rise. India has a long coastline and many major cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Vaishag and Kolkata will face the threat of drowning due to rising sea levels. So, Arctic amplification will have a direct impact on India also. And that is all regarding this discussion. Here, we saw what Arctic amplification is and its causes and impacts. This is very important from both the prelims and main points of view. If you have time, please practice answer it, because only the practice will make us to clear the examination. Okay? With these takeaway points, let's move on to the next news article discussion. Have a look at this image. It is the Bada Imambada in Lucknow. The news is that this special landmark is undergoing some restoration. This restoration work is being done as its dome collapsed on Monday following heavy rain. So, in this context, let us learn a few facts about Bada Imambada. See, Bada Imambada is a imambada complex in Lucknow. It was built by Asafut Daula, who was the Nawab of Lucknow. It is also called the Asafi Imambada. See, Bada means big. And Imambada is a shrine built by Shia Muslims for the purpose of Hasadari. Here, Hasadari means the remembrance of Muharram. And it is a set of commemoration rituals observed primarily by Shia people. Okay? Now, coming back. Construction of Bada Imambada was started in 1785. But note that this 1785 was a year of devastating famine. In spite of this, Asafut Daula planned this grand project to provide employment for people in the region for almost a decade. So, it is majorly built for employment generation. And the construction of this imambada was completed in 1791. See, the estimated cost of building this imambada ranges between half a million rupees to 1 million rupees. Even after completion, the Nawab used to spend between 4 and 500,000 rupees on its decoration annually. Let's see some more important facts regarding architecture of Bada Imambada. See, Bada Imambada has a unique style of construction. The central hall of Bada Imambada is said to be the largest arched hall in the world. The hall measures 50 meters long and goes up to a height of 15 meters. What makes the construction unique is the fact that the blocks have been put together with interlocking system of bricks. And there has been absolutely no use of girders and beams. The roof stands steady till date without any pillars to support it. So, the Bada Imambada is among the grandest buildings of Lucknow. The complex also includes the largest as if we mask the Bulbulaya. And the Bauli which is a stepped well with running water. And two imposing gateway lead to the main hall. Here you can see that. So, that's all regarding this news article. In this news article, we saw about Bada Imambada and its significance. With these learnt points, let's move on to next news article discussion. See this op-ed page article here. It says that only few Bauli the service officers who are working in the state are coming forward to work with the centre. This is because majority of the officers wants to work in their comfort zone of their states. They don't want to migrate to the capital region or its neighbourhood even for 3 to 5 years to work for the union. And this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us see the tassel between centre and the state over this issue and some important points mentioned in the article. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this article discussion is highlighted here for a reference you can go through it. First of all, let's see the appointment of all India service officers. When I say all India services, it means the 3 civil services of India which is IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service. As we all know, the selection process is done through UPSC. UPSC conducts an annual examination which attracts lakhs of applications from the eng aspirants. And they compete for less than 1000 positions every year. This is very well known, right? We know that civil service examination have preliminary examination, main examination and an oral interview. Based on the marks of the written examination and oral interview, candidates are selected. And after the appointment process, the officers are allotted to different states based on the requirement in that respective state. This CADR allocation is based on the CADR review. Every year, 3 CADR controlling authorities carry out a CADR review. The 3 ATAR Edis are Department of Personnel and Training for IAS and the Home Ministry for IPS and the Environment Ministry for Indian Forest Service. Okay? This CADR review gives an assessment of how many new officers are needed to be recruited in each service in each state. The review is done in consultation with the state. So, each state gives the required number of officers to the center. But here, the ultimate decision is taken by the center government. And based on this CADR review only, the required number of officers in each service is sent to the UPSC. So, when the notification comes out every year with the number of posts available, it is based on this CADR review only. Now, who appoints them? See, the officers recruited by the UPSC are appointed by the President of India. So, this means that the appointing authority is the union government. After this, the selected officers are assigned to the state CADRs by the center. And after working in the state government up to 9 years, the officers can show their willingness to come to the center through their state governments. Their names are then compiled into a consolidated offer list through which the center can choose officers for vacant post. Now, here only some problems are there. One of the problem is unwillingness of the officers to work under the union. And the other problem is the tussle between center and the state over this. Now, let's discuss these two issues one by one. First of all, let's see the reason for unwillingness of the officers. One of the main reasons is that the rigor of center's routine. That is the harsh working condition in the center. The difficulty lies in the long hours of work and there is a need for extreme care in the preparation and submission of reports. And the next reason is that the officer need to operate far away from one's native state. Okay? Now, there is also another reason. See, to work for the union government at the level of joint secretary and above, it is essential for an officer to be enrolled by the center. But this enrollment process lacks transparency. It allows only a minority of IAS officers to be made eligible for senior postings at union. So, the officers lack interest to work for the union government. See, these factors should be addressed because there is growing demand for officers in the ministry at the level of deputy secretaries and directors. You may say that there is lateral entry for qualified personnel from the public and private sectors. But the issue with the lateral entry scheme is that the number of persons recruited through the scheme is too small to make a difference. This is because the number of persons recruited through lateral entry is disproportionate to the demand for officers. As per the article, the case of the Indian police service is also equally bad. There are many vacancies in the central police establishments comprising the paramilitary forces such as CRPF, BSF, CASF, CBI and NIA. See, on one hand, the demand is growing. On the other hand, the non-IPS direct recruits to the paramilitary forces are fighting with the home ministry. The fight is to have a greater share of jobs in higher positions. See, the current cadre rules do not permit such expansion of opportunities for the non-IPS officers because only IPS officers are posted in higher positions. These are some issues with IPS. Now, how can we address the issue? See, firstly, to address the unwillingness of officers for central deputation, they should be made aware of the advantages of working for the union. Some advantages include psychological satisfaction of contributing to the formulation of national policy on many critical issues such as education, healthcare or even the preservation of environment. Then, they should be made aware of the opportunities for foreign travel and a chance to be deputed to work for international agencies. Secondly, to address the issue of mismatch between demand and recruitment, many officers should be recruited both by lateral entry and by deputation. And for non-IPS officers, carrier progression should be made attractive. Steps should be taken to have large number of non-IPS officers in the higher position. Now, let's see the tussle between the center and the state. When we saw about the appointment procedure for all-in-the-service officers, we saw that the officers are assigned to their respective state cadres by the center. And after that, the state has complete authority. See, the state can decide who should be posted in which district and who should be elevated to the level of state secretary and whom to transfer, etc. Here, the tussle is regarding who has the power. Here, states are not willing to send the officers for central deputation even if the officer is interested. The article says that there were instances of unjustified harassment of the officers. For instance, a distinguished police officer was harassed for reporting to the central government after the state government did not relieve her to join a central organization. So, what needs to be done to avoid such scenarios? The article says that the center is having dialogue with the state to amend the all-in-the-service rules. This amendment will empower the center to take control of the services of any officer serving in the states to work for the center. This will help address the issue of growing demand of post in different ministries. But we don't know whether state will agree to this or not. But the need of the harass is a stable system of civil services to bolster democratic and responsive public administration in our country. So, that's all regarding this editorial article. In this editorial article, we saw about all-in-the-service. And then we saw who appoints the officers of all-in-the-service. And then we saw the problems associated with central deputation. Finally, we have seen some of the suggestions given by the author of this editorial to rectify this issue. Okay? With these learned points, let's move on to next news article discussion. Have a look at this news article. This news article talks about the Saguna and Nirguna Bhakti. These are some forms and approaches to devotion. So, in this news article discussion, we will learn about Saguna and Nirguna Bhakti in prelims point of view. See, the term Bhakti refers to devotion. As a movement, it emphasized on the intense emotional attachment and love of a devotee towards God. Okay? This movement originated in South India in 7th and 10th century CE. Mostly in the poems of Alwars and Nainas. These poems were composed in Tamil. See, the poems of Alwars were addressed to Lord Vishnu while the poems of Nainas were addressed to Lord Shiva. Okay? Then, Bhakti soon spread to North India. It appeared most notably in the 10th century Sanskrit text, the Bhagavata Purana. It swept over East and North India from 15th century onwards. It reached the peak between 15th and 17th century CE. Note that the Bhakti saints moved against the austerities propagated by the Buddhist and Jain schools. And the Bhakti saints professed that ultimate devotion to God was the means to salvation. Okay? See, this movement developed under two different schools of thought. First one is Nirguna Bhakti. It is a belief in formless worship. It was introduced by Adi Shankara. See, the Nirguna worship is very demanding. One should have Samadarsana. That means one should have the ability to view both joy and sorrow with an equal mind. This is possibly only to those who are able to control the senses and the mind. Some Bhakti saints who preached this school of thought are Kabir, Guru Nanak, Tadudayal, etc. Now, coming to Saguna Bhakti, it believed in the worship of form. It believed that God is the biggest manifestation of everything perfect. See, in Saguna worship, the Lord is omnipresent. And they believe that the Lord is present in all beings. He rules each and every aspect of creation. And the one who is able to fix his mind and heart in such a God is known as Bagdha. And note that the Lord's incarnations such as Narasimha, Rama or Krishna are suitable to be the object of their meditation. Worship of the Lord's auspicious qualities is a sure means for salvation for all of them. Some prominent people who belong to Saguna school of thought are Ramanuja, Nimbaraka, Madhava, Vallabha, Mirabai, Chaitanya Mahabrabhu, Tulsidas, Surdas, etc. Okay, so that's all regarding this news article. In this news article discussion, we saw about Nirguna and Saguna worship. Okay, with these key learnt points, let's move on to next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article as the title itself hints this news article talks about manual scavenging. See, a complaint was made to the Chief Justice of Metra's High Court. The complaint was regarding the labourers who were made to remove sewage water right outside the High Court premises. So, taking this as an opportunity, let us quickly go through what is manual scavenging. See, manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling human excreta in any manner. Here, manually means doing it by hand rather than automatically or electronically. It often involves using the most basic of tools such as buckets, brooms and baskets. Now, to understand the severity of this practice, we must know a little bit of history about it. See, the practice of manual scavenging in India goes back by a few centuries. Its roots lie deep within the caste-based occupation system in India. Under British India also, where the first municipalities were inducted, manual scavengers were employed to collect waste from public toilets. Within a century, these toilets were equipped with the flush system. But by that time, most homes had outhouses or dry latrines that required human scavengers. Whom do you think they used as a scapegoat to perform all these works? Yes, the so-called lower caste were expected to perform this job. That is, the Dalits, who were lowest in the caste hierarchy, were employed as scavengers. Even within the Dalit community, it is lowest among the sub-caste who undertakes scavenging work. Manual scavengers are regarded as unclean, untouchable and face social exclusion and deprivation from multiple dimensions. Finding an alternative vocation was almost impossible. There are three reasons for this. Firstly, this is due to the fact that power and caste hierarchy are interwind in a complex web. For example, most scavengers have inherited the work from their forefathers. Secondly, the economic and social deprivation for generations have given them little opportunity to be trained for something else. Thirdly, those who dared to question the situation were met with social marginalization, exclusion from village resources, and in rare cases, they were subjected to physical thrashings. Despite its dangerous working nature, the sad reality is that manual scavengers still prevail amongst the poorest and most disadvantaged communities in India. Now, that does not mean that Indian government did not take any steps. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines Act 1993 formally prohibited the construction of dry latrines and employment of manual scavengers. The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act 1993 was a welfare legislation passed to monitor implementation of scheme for sanitation workers and also addresses their grievances. However, it was only in 2013, both houses of the parliament unanimously passed the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their rehabilitation act, which outlawed the practice of manual scavenging completely. Now, talking about this act, it is an umbrella legislation that aimed to look at the issue holistically. This act prohibits the employment of manual scavengers, construction of dry latrines and manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers without protective equipments. It became the first legislation that identified the links between scavenging as a profession and social caste hierarchy. And it also became the first act that placed the responsibility on the owners to demolish dry latrines and build proper toilets. The act overrides all previous state laws on manual scavenging. There is a strong vigilance mechanism in place and offenses under this act are non-bailable. It is also the first legislation to have some concrete notion on rehabilitation of manual scavengers. Additionally, articles like article 14 which is about right to equality and article 17 which is regarding abolition of untouchability, article 21, 42 and 46 of the constitution of India may be invoked for these issues. This further strengthens the constitutional right of a person to seek justice. See, despite so many legislations, the practice still continues. Now, why this practice is still prevalent in India? As we all know, the first reason is the social issue. As I already said, the practice is driven by caste, class and income divides. Even though in 1993, India banned the employment of people as manual scavengers, the stigma and discrimination associated with it still linger on. Even if they want to leave their profession, their untouchability and uncleanness tag and the resultant social stigma makes it impossible for them to find alternate jobs. Secondly, manual scavenging exists mainly due to continued presence of unsanitary latrines where a human waste has to be cleaned physically rather than by machine or sewage system. The majority of such unsanitary latrines are dry latrines that don't use water. Third important reason is the continued reluctance on the part of the state governments to admit that the practice prevails under their watch. Apart from this, poor enforcement of existing laws is also a reason for manual scavenging. Though the construction of dry latrines has drastically reduced, the number of deaths in manholes, sewers and septic tanks continues to remain high. So what can be done to address the issue? Firstly, there should be proper identification of the workers. States need to accurately enumerate the workers engaged in cleaning toxic sludge. Secondly, schemes like the Swachparath Abhyan should make expansion of the sewer network as a top priority and it should come up with a scheme for scientific maintenance that will end the manual cleaning of septic tanks. Thirdly, there is a need for social sensitization. See to address the social sanctions behind manual scavenging, it is required first to acknowledge and then understand how and why manual scavenging continues to embedded in the caste system. Okay? Then it has to be sensitized. Fourthly, there is a need for a stringent law. If a law creates a statutory obligation to provide sanitation services and part of the state agency, it will create a situation in which the rights of this worker will not hang in the air. Lastly, the law should be enforced vigorously to eliminate manual scavenging in the country. Apart from this, there should be trials and testing of protective gears provided to the sanitary workers. Okay? So that's all regarding this news article. In this news article, we saw about manual scavenging, why it is prevalent in India and some of the ways to address manual scavenging in India. Okay? With all these learned points, let's move on to the next part of our news article discussion, which is a preliminary practice questions discussion. Look at the first question. Consider the following statements. Bada ima bada consists of 1000 pillars to support its large roof. Statement two, it was constructed by Asaf Uddhawala, who was the Nawab of Lucknow. Okay? We have to find the correct statement here. Regarding statement one, it is incorrect because in our discussion itself, we saw that the uniqueness of the building is its pillarless roof. It is because of the interlocking system of bricks, there were no requirements of girders and beams. And statement two, it is correct. The Nawab constructed is to provide job to his people during the period of famine. Look at the second question. It is regarding property tax. Statement one, a property of central government is liable to pay property tax. Statement two, vacant properties are liable to pay property tax. We have to find the correct statement here. See here, both the statements are incorrect because central government properties and vacant properties are generally exempted from property taxation. So, here our answer will be option D, neither one nor two. Look at this question. This question is a quiz question for you. This is a very easy question. If you have listened to our discussion today, you can easily answer this question. Find the answer and post it in the comment section. The main question based on today's discussion is displayed on the screen. You can write your answer and post it in the comment section. I will definitely review and tell you my feedback. If you like the video, hit the like button, post your comments and share the video with your friends. And don't forget to subscribe Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.


I'm going to go straight on, talk about what we've called the educator's role, we have put it in apostrophes because we're not talking about teaching necessarily and that's quite important so if I may start with Lisa Ledig from ICT Qatar. Thank you. Thank you and good afternoon. I appreciate this opportunity to share with you information about some of the exciting things that ICT Qatar is doing and planning to do in the near future. I also am going to share a snapshot view of how young people here in Qatar are learning digital literacy. So first of all, what does digital literacy mean? I think we've heard from many speakers today that it varies, there's no one all-encompassing definition depends on the situation, depends on the country. So what does it mean to us? ICT Qatar, how does it shape our programs and our projects, our policies and our strategies? So we have three main drivers. The first is tech know-how. People need to know how to use the latest technologies that are on the marketplace. They need to use the phone to keep in touch with their friends, the computer to do their job well. Also, when they go home at night, they need to use the TV and the remote to relax from a long day of work. And secondly, they need tech skills. How do they make use of that information that's available on these high-speed networks and fancy devices? How do they create information? How do they manipulate it? And also, how do they keep safe online? How do they keep their children safe? How do they make sure people are not getting into their bank account when they purchase something online? How do they make sure that their children are not getting involved in situations that they're not ready for? And finally, they need to be tech savvy. So people need skills. They need digital literacy, e-skills. But they also need the confidence and the aptitude to keep on learning. So I asked a few of my friends here in Qatar who are teachers who are actually teaching ICT in schools to survey some young students and find out how are they becoming digitally literate. So two teachers surveyed 50 students ages 5 through 8. And the first question was, who taught you how to use a computer? And we found out that the students felt 57% of the responses. They said that their parents taught them how to use a computer. And I think a lot of you can relate to this. If you have young children, they see you on the computer. And they come and try to pounce on the keyboard and try to find out what are you doing. They want to be part of what you're doing. Interesting also is that 28% said that they taught themselves how to use a computer. This is ages 5 through 8. Feel that they are teaching themselves. Which is very impressive. Next question was, who taught you how to use a cell phone or a PDA? Again, the answer was overwhelmingly that their parents taught them. Or their friends. Or if you said they taught themselves. Who taught you how to use the internet? Again, it was primarily the parents. But also a significant number of kids said that they are teaching themselves how to use the internet. And then we also asked them if they have taught anyone how to use any of these new digital media devices. I think we have all the experiences that yes, kids are also teaching us something. They are teaching their grandparents or their parents or their siblings. I know that my own parents are becoming so adept with the help of their grandchildren that I recently got a request from my mother to join my Facebook. Not really where I want her, but she's already figured out that's where the action is. Then we asked them where do they use the internet the most? And the majority of them said they use the internet at home. So that information isn't surprising when we consider the statistics that ICT Qatar gathered last year through its landscape report. So although the percentage of schools and homes is almost equal in terms of broadband connectivity, most of the PCs in schools are still not connected to the internet. So it makes sense that kids will be learning these skills at home where they have easy access to the internet and PCs. So now I want to talk a little bit about ICT Qatar and what we are doing as an organization to support people and their development of these skills and also maintaining these skills so that everyone has an equal chance to participate in society. So we're looking at three key drivers, technology which is the connectivity to the networks as well as access to the tools. Making sure that the information is available that people can use and that they want and then also helping people build that confidence to keep on learning. So in terms of ICT infrastructure, ICT Qatar is working with the private sector and service providers to come up with a plan to help drive the roll out of high speed, ultra high speed internet, broadband throughout the country. We also already have initiatives currently in place to connect all government agencies, schools and hospitals to specialize networks. And we have wireless hotspots along the Cornish and we're looking at other areas where the public can easily access high speed internet services. We're working on models to help roll out and integrate ICTs in the school environment so that teachers can use ICTs for teaching, for learning as well as administrators in schools use it to improve the overall operations. We're looking at making sure the tools are available and also that people take up these tools through awareness programs and showcasing. People may not know how certain applications can be used in the home to help them with home financing. Or the private sector may not know in some cases, especially the SMEs, how they could cut costs or improve efficiency. We're also trying to make sure that everyone, even those with special needs, have access to technologies that are suitable for them so that they can become equal members and participants in information society. So information, so we know that people have cut our love information. I've heard sort of secretively that 150% of the population, well there's some mobile subscribers of 150% in this country, which may be one of the highest in the world. And that indicates that people have more than one mobile phone. They have more than one mobile subscription. Maybe they have subscriptions with two providers since we have two providers. They might have a prepaid. They may have a contract service. People like to communicate here in Qatar. So we know that people like information. So our role is to help make sure that information is usable and that people can access it easily and quickly. So we are looking at how we can improve the current government portal we have. It's called Okumi, bringing on new services, making the formats easier so that people can uptake and use these services. We also have plans for an e-participation portal. People can express themselves and their views, share what they think about government and how they can address some of the issues that government is talking about. We also are thinking of incentives to get young people to create their own media, media which is indigenous to Qatar and to the Arab world. And also ensuring that the information that is available online is accessible to everybody, including those with disabilities. And finally, we'd like to think that we can help people get that attitude and confidence to keep on learning and developing skills as needed. So we're looking at how can we build confidence through specific training programs designed for private sector government healthcare so that people who may already have skills continue to keep their skills up to date in ICTs and continue to be valuable members of the workforce. So we'd like to inspire trust in the population to make sure that they do use the internet so that giving them assurance that it is safe and secure, that there are transactions, will not be overtaken by criminals, people will not be getting into their bank accounts, as well as awareness issues on what they can do to keep themselves safe online. We're also looking at, we have an e-learning portal which is currently available for government workers. It offers over a thousand online courses addressing all types of skills, both individual and skills that are pertinent for the workforce. Thinking about how can we bring this out so that other groups of society can benefit from this learning tool. And finally, encouraging people to take risks, trying to develop a culture here in Qatar where local people develop or become innovators and ICT entrepreneurs. Thank you. I'd like now to hand on to Tessa Jolls, who's president and CEO of the Center for Media Literacy. First, let me thank all of you for the warm welcome here. Certainly hearing the presentations, I feel that we all have a lot in common in terms of the kinds of issues we're addressing, the kinds of concerns we have and also our passion in really helping to solve these problems. Not only do we have a lot in common, but as I've observed young people around the city here, they have a lot in common as well. At the center, we often call teenagers screenagers because they spend so much time in front of the screen and they seem to have a lot more in common with each other than they even do with their parents at times. So we want to take a look at the formal education system here and the kinds of system that our children are going into every day. And I thought it might be useful to look at what that current system is. First of all, there's a value in the current system that access to information is scarce. And so it's based on the old print model where you had to get a book or you had to get face-to-face instruction. And we all know that those times have passed, but nevertheless, that is the way information is conveyed. And there's also an assumption in the present system that access to adults by children is plentiful. And so I know we heard some references this morning about how when children go home, you know, they're behind their device and there aren't adults inside the device. But nevertheless, our system, our formal education system, assumes that adults are plentiful in children's lives and that adults are providing screening and filtering for the kids in terms of getting information and making meaning from information. Also, there's a value that content knowledge is something that's transmitted to children and not more interactivity. Subjects in schools are isolated disciplines. So there's math, there's science, there's history. There are all kinds of different subjects, but they work in isolation from each other. And finally, learning is contained. I mean, after all, that's what you go to school for, is to learn. Now, let's contrast that with digital systems and what they're based on. First of all, of course we know access to information is plentiful. But access to adults is becoming more and more scarce. Children ages 8 to 18 are spending over six and a half hours a day with media, an average of 53 hours per week. 53 hours per week without adults, adults supervising filtering. We also know that in today's world it's learning how to learn that's really important, so process skills, learning how to access, analyze, evaluate, create, participate with information is really the key to skill building. Also in today's world the disciplines really need to be integrated for problem solving. So I like to think of a teacher I know recently who gave her children a project of designing a parking lot for their school. And so the children needed to have geometry. They needed their mathematics. They needed communication skills to build their case and write a report for their school board. And so they were really tackling a specific problem from the point of view of many disciplines, integrating those disciplines toward the goal of solving the problem. And finally in today's world learning is universal, it's not contained. Learning doesn't stop and you saw from the survey that Lisa shared that much, much learning happens at home or certainly outside the classroom. Now in navigating the global village where do we want children to wind up? What's the end goal? I think it's important to start with the end goal in mind. We like to say that we want students to be efficient managers of information. We want them to be wise consumers. We want them to really understand how the consumer society works globally. We want them to be responsible producers and we want them to be active and effective participants and citizens. And so Hesse referred this morning to critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is fundamental to all of these particular characteristics of the new global citizen. I apologize for my slides, they looked okay on my computer but technology, so sorry about that. But anyway, okay so how do we get there? How do we get this type of new global citizen? Well first of all we need to have appropriate curriculum and assessment systems. These systems need to be open to the world. We need our children to have access to the best teachers in the world and with today's technology that's very possible. Education needs to be more collaborative, more teamwork and yet because of the power of technology learning can be a lot more individualized so that children can proceed at their own pace. They don't have to be lockstep with each other and just going at the pace of the group. Also timely information is definitely possible to have in today's world. No longer are we bound by textbooks that take years to produce and that are outdated by the time that they come into the hands of our children. So this print based world of education is definitely changing, needs to change and can change even today. We need curriculum that's modular and interchangeable. Curriculum today doesn't have to be as linear as curriculum has been in the past because we have this wealth of information available to us and so new ways of developing curriculum really need to be looked at. Assessments can be student involved. It doesn't all depend on the teacher because the teacher's role has really changed a lot in that the teacher is more of a guide on how to acquire knowledge rather than being the person who just dumps data into someone else's head. Research validated frameworks are really a key to the new educational landscape because today we're really helping students learn how to sift information and again we're not into dumping information so we need frameworks to help us sift appropriately. And finally we need curriculum that's measurable, that's scalable, that's tech friendly. And again when you think about the way most education happens in the classroom today that really isn't true. Okay what about the teacher, professional development? We can't really expect a teacher to be able to deliver this new kind of education unless they have experience with it themselves. So professional development is absolutely essential for success. In our work we found that trained teachers can easily integrate process skills these abilities to access, analyze, evaluate, create into their different disciplines in as little as 20 minutes. But again they need training to be able to make those connections and be able to provide that kind of lesson. And we've also shown that trained teachers who receive only six hours in face-to-face professional development were able to deliver the curriculum and the lessons in a significantly more effective way. So in other words their students were able to acquire the content knowledge in a much better way and faster way than the teachers who didn't have the training in how to deliver the process skills to their students. Now I mentioned about research based frameworks earlier and I do want to give you an example. But basically we want children to learn how to ask the right questions. They're exposed to so much content every day as we are. And so knowing which questions to ask is very important. We want them to think critically but we also want them to have an internalized process for filtering information. Because we're not there all the time to be able to tell them this is right, that's wrong, this is accurate, that's not accurate. So we have to give them the tools that they can make those judgments for themselves. That framework needs to be applied to any kind of media, any kind of message form. So it has to be kind of a universal way of sorting through. And it also has to help them explore their relationship with media and technology, understand the impact that media and technology has on their everyday lives. And finally be able to really problem solve using a framework. So the questions and the concepts that I've listed here are questions and concepts that are based in fundamental media literacy, media studies. And there are five core concepts, five key questions. So it gives the students and the teachers an easy entry point into learning about how to think critically with the media that they're exposed to. Again, teachers are often called upon to teach critical thinking. But the question is how and how can we do it easily? How can we do it today? We have to give the teachers the tools. And they need to be tools that are effective and that are grounded in research and in academic study. So these questions are cross-curricular. They can apply to any subject. They form a common vocabulary for the students and teachers that can be carried and applied into any discipline. They're engaging for students because we found that students really like asking questions and really like to pursue answers. And also they're a tool for lifelong learning because once you've acquired an internalized process for thinking critically, you can carry that process with you, no matter where you are, no matter what time of day, location, subject, et cetera. So, just as a quick overview, I'll give you the five key questions for deconstruction. We also have five key questions for construction that relate. The first question is who created this message. So it looks at the idea of authorship. And I might add that Lynn Masterman out of Great Britain is the person who originally came up with the concepts. And he posited 18. And so over time I think Canada has eight and now in the United States we're using these five. The second question relates to format. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? So really learning about the arts and how the arts are rhetorical devices to attract us to media messages. The idea of exploring audience. How might different people understand this message differently than me? Content, what values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in or omitted from this message. And finally, purpose. Why is this message being sent? Understanding that all media has purpose, whether it's profit, whether it's power, whether it's influence. And so, again, we need to give our students a way of being able to consistently apply these questions to content regardless of the subject of the content and have a methodology for thinking critically about any media that they come across. So we have a lot of work to do in the world of formal education as I'm sure you're aware. But I do believe that media literacy has gained more currency in recent years in education circles. I know I'm certainly hearing it a lot more at the policy level. And I know that the European Commission recently adopted some guidelines for media literacy education which is very encouraging. So we're at the beginning of this whole new journey about how to educate our children. But hopefully with the commitment and with the understanding of how this world has changed, we'll be able to do the job. Thank you. Thank you very much. And may I now hand over to Paolo Celot. Good afternoon. I'm very pleased to have been invited to speak to you today. I'm very pleased also because over there it's very cool. I think that the air conditioning should be adjust. I have worked many years in the television field and doing different things and this gives me an insight on how the media television in particular is working. I understood why a program is transmit, why it is transmit and produced in the way that we see it. And I have always been fascinated also about education. And when I saw that there was such a thing called media education, I thought that, well, this is my professional home. And I started to do these things. I started to attend to conferences. And I noticed that there were two kinds of people that were attending those conferences. One were the academicians, the researcher, the professor in a broad term. They are generally very rigorous. They focus on the problem rather than on the solution. I would say then there were other conferences in which media professionals were present. And the media professionals have other issues to solve. Generally they have to ask for permission to attend the conference. They have managing responsibilities. The academicians are not accountable to anyone, I would say. And this is not the case for media professionals. The people that I have encountered in the media usually work for companies, the aim of a company is to make profit. And their priority is not legitimately public interest. Now I work for, I am the Secretary General of the Avi, that is a no profit civil society organisation. And I like more to speak about citizens rather than consumers, that is how the companies see their clients. The condition of citizens is much more satisfactory than the one of the consumer. The consumer refers only to the market aspect why citizens as a brood approach the social, cultural and economical aspects. And this is one of the reasons why I am pleased to be here. Because these two words, the education and the media words, they are inextricably linked each other. And you have read and heard dozens of times that we are now in the information society, meaning that the creation and diffusion of information is key for the economic, political and cultural activities. Now where is the information society? I think that before it was called the information highway. I mean it's a popular term. I think that it is quite deceptive. And I think that it should be, we are rather in the media society with the omnipresence of media. But the key issue is how to transform information into knowledge. And it is clear that media plays a very important educational role. We are educators as well as teachers and families and the other social agents that we have seen before. Whether we like it or not, is that the media can vaculate values. They can not build, but they can also destroy knowledge. And in that respect, the role and the responsibility of governments is in appointing or to control or to supervise whichever is the most diplomatic term to be used. Those that govern the media is a very fundamental one. And obviously the role of media policy is key in all of this. The information society has two terms. In fact, the first one is information, but the second one that is a bit neglected nowadays is society. Actually, whether we speak about the government or the Emirates, society is a way, is the manner by which a group of people decide to live together to share some values to be organised for a common aim. And at the end of the day, it comes down to people. My point is that the society is made of people. I don't know whether you have read, there are quite a number of books that have been present today. Little Prince is one of the best-selling books in history, I think. He is the story of a little prince that is coming from the space and is telling the story to the author of the book. And in one of his journey, he tells about the planet that he has visited where there was a king and this king was very powerful, but he had no citizens to govern upon. And therefore, he was very, very sad. Again, a kingdom without citizens is empty and citizens are always the most important asset for a country. I appreciate particularly the opening and intervention of Dr Es al-Jaber this morning that he found ample and inspiring. I think that to improve citizens' conditions should be the aim and the mission of a country. Now, within this context, and in order to illustrate what is in that case, I will jump to my, I'm not going to speak about this, and I'm going to skip a couple of slides. This is a study that we have conducted on behalf of the European Commission and that we have delivered it one month ago. What I want to say about it, the entire study is available on our website, and in light of what we have heard this morning, is the fact that the key issue of the key criteria of which media literacy is about is critical understanding, is critical thinking, and the second one is the participation, the engagement, the empowerment of citizens. That is to say that if you look at the pyramid, digital literacy is just, I would say, a technocratic word to indicate the use and the access of technology, but this is not the key. Obviously the availability of this media is a preliminary condition, but what we should focus on is to raise and to increase the thinking capacity of our citizens, whether they are children or adults. This, I think, is the only way forward. I'm not very found of filtering systems that have been mentioned, I don't know whether at lunch or during the conference. In the longer term, we need to have citizens that have built competencies that are good enough for them to understand what is good and what is bad, what is true and what is false to discern between propaganda and the information. As I suggested at the beginning, the crucial factor is that the educational and the media work, they come together to create a successful learning environment, and it is only by engaging with the technologies that are available that opportunities for learning purposes will produce a good future. Now, I think that through learning with all the instruments that we have available is inside and outside schools that spreading knowledge and wisdom and values is that we can contribute to a future bringing in the media, and that would be good enough. I would focus on the opportunities and the positive aspects, although I'm very well aware of the need for protecting our children is to conclude, I want to say that in history is the culture and civilization as a travel in the waters of these seas, and I think that this has brought us both conflicts and prosperity, and I think that we have to work on education, on learning and invest on our citizens. Thank you very much. Go back to Michael. Thank you very much, Paolo, and you made an interesting distinction between information and knowledge, which maybe some people would like to pick up on. I'd like to thank the panel for their presentations and for keeping to time.