Every year, the university invites renowned scholars to deliver the foundation day lecture. And this year, we feel privileged to invite the Honorable Vice Chancellor of Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management, Prof. Debra Bhattatas, to deliver the keynote address. Prior to joining as the Vice Chancellor of Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management, Prof. Das worked as a member of Arunachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission in Danaka. He is on deputation from the position of professor in the Department of Business Administration at Tejpur University and head position of head of the department. He was also the director of Center for Open and Distance Learning in Tejpur University. Earlier in his career, Prof. Das also served in Guwahati University and Rajiv Gandhi University. He has served as chair and is member of various national level committees and holds of UGC, AICTE, NEG and government. Prof. Das is also member of statutory parties of several universities, management institutions and colleges. Prof. Das has completed senior academic leadership program from State School of Business, University of Oxford under leave of MHRT. He is also a qualified associate of Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai. He has over 25 years of postgraduate and doctoral level teaching and research experience in various universities in the discipline of commerce and management. May I now take the opportunity to invite Prof. Devavattu Das sir to kindly deliver the keynote address. Prof. Devavattu Das is the founder of Kutarabhushwari Aptalapur Foundation. He is the chair of Honourable Vice Chancellor of Chirgat. Honourable Vice Chancellor of KK Handik State Open University. Prof. R. P. Das, chief guest of today's function Honourable Vice Chancellor of Igno New Delhi. Prof. Nageshwar Rao, registrar of this University, Dr. R. K. Choudhury. Senior Professor of this University, Prof. R. Nageshwar Rao. Sitting in front, founder Vice Chancellor of KK Handik State Open University, Prof. Srinan Purvasar. Another former Vice Chancellor, Dr. Dekasar. And I could see a galaxy of former officers sitting out here, with whom I walked in different capacities in Guwahati University. Current professors, faculty members, officers, staff members, students, centre coordinators, gays, invited ladies and gentlemen. It is a real delight to stand before you and take the podium for some time on this auspicious occasion to deliver a key note address on Foundation Day of the University with whom I have been associated for different occasions. And the University, which is established in the name of a great scholar, Kishnopanta Phantikuri. Today we not only remember about our establishment of the University, but also remember about the personality on whose name this institution has set up. A great scholar, a great organiser who established the first institution of, higher learning institution of Assam, not only Assam of Northeast, that is Guwahati University. And to me, as per my little learning, could not see so far such a great scholar in Assam born. So we must remember his works, and also we must remember and follow his philosophy for scholars and also for organising the institutions. There are a couple of institutions after his name. But I would like to specially mention here that the KKK Phantikuri University should take certain concrete steps so that his work and philosophy, his life should be researched and taken forward for further learning and for further analysis for the society. With this, I would like to share some of the experience of mine, some of the thoughts of mine in the way of the keynote address, but then this is not a structured address. I would like to just give a formal, informal kind of talk, which may be not very technical. First of all, I would like to share before you certain data, not very technical, very simple data on achievements of the higher education in India. If you would like to look back on 70, completion of the 75 years of independence of India and where does the higher education space stand? Then we see that the last couple of decades, specially last decade has been very fruitful for Indian higher education space. If we see the decadent growth from 2060 onwards till the current decade, I am taking 2060-61 because prior to 6061 government actually had put the policies into place and took some preparation time, so data are available from 2060-61. Total number of universities in 6061 was 56 and colleges was 1500 or so, 1500, to be precise 1542. During the next decade, 7071, that number has doubled. In one year it has doubled from 56, it became 102 for the universities and in colleges it has become 3604. Likewise, in 2010-11 we find that the number of universities is 256 and the colleges to 12806. But in 2010-11 these 256 universities have become 343, very stiff growth and the colleges 12800 colleges have become 17600 colleges. There are good number of colleges and universities on the rise. But if you see the last 10 years, 2020-21 data, it speaks that from 343 there are more than 3 times growth in 10 years and it has become now 1045 number of universities and the colleges 42142. So during last decade we see that there are more than 300 percent growth in number of higher education colleges and universities putting together. Today if we put the colleges, universities and all other higher learning institutions, then we find that there are almost 50,000 educational institutions which is a huge number of the institutions in the sphere of higher education. If you see the IIM and IIT and such centrally funded institution of national importance, then we find that there in last 20 years, last 2 decades there are huge number of colleges and universities, institutions established under IIM and IIT tag. If you see the central universities, state universities, deemed universities and private universities comparison, then we find that during last 2 decades the number of private universities have emerged as a very important part of higher education and total number of today the private university is equal, almost equal to the state universities. So today the state university, the number of state universities 425 and number of private universities 375, almost same and there are half a century of central universities. So the higher education space is controlled by state universities and private universities only. If we talk about a sum, similar trend is shown. In 2010 we had 9 state universities and 2 private universities and even in 2022 if we see the data has gone to such point like from 9 state universities it has become 19 state universities and from 2 private universities there are now 6 private universities. So this shows us the picture that the last 2 decades, specially last 1 decade had been a great exponential growth for the Indian higher education system. However, if we see the growth of open universities we do not see such kind of growth that probably because of the fact that there is a principle that there should be only 1 state universities in a state, state open universities and even then there is no more than 14 state universities in the world, only one central university that is called in the national open university. So it shows that the growth of higher education has been tilted towards the regular mode of education or traditional mode of education as you say. It is not towards the open and distance learning mode because of maybe another myth that the open universities should not have any number of any limit of intent so they can give any number of intent that is why there is no setup of 2 universities in a state or more than that. If you see the gross environment ratio then we find that in 1961 the gross environment ratio was 1.5. The gross environment ratio means the number of qualified students and interested students to take up higher education available divided by the environment. Sorry, the number of higher education divided by the number of interested and qualified eligible students. So this ratio is called GDR. So in 1961 it was 1.5, 70-71 it was 4.2 and it has gone to 19.4 in 2010 and 11 and it has become abruptly 27.1 in 2021. So there is also a stiff kind of growth in higher education in GDR gross environment ratio because the higher education institutions number has gone up. Here there are three categories of gross environment ratio. One is called elite system, higher education as elite system. So when GDR is below 15%, below 15% 1.5 then this is called higher education elite system. And we have crossed that because it is more than 15%, we have crossed that and that system is called massification of education. So thereby India has entered the massification of education in the year 2010-11 and now we are made of massification because we have achieved 17.1. And the next stage is called universalization of higher education and universalization of higher education is that when the GDR is more than 50%. So the target of India is to achieve the universalization that is 50% of GDR by the year 2030. So with this target we are moving forward. China has already achieved, they have touched 50% and the advanced countries like Germany, US, those are about 80% of that. And of course in South Asian countries the India is one who has achieved that and most of the South Asian countries are below 15% which are struggling for massification of higher education. These are very rosy data that I have shared with you but one disturbing data that I am going to share with you very small is GDP share in higher education. GDP share in education in totality was 1.4% in 2016-61 which has gone to after 20 years 2.98 after another 20 years 4.14. It means it reached 4.14 in 2001, year 2000-2001 and during last 20 years what happened is it has gone from 4.14 to 4.14.39. So there is basically, practically there is no rise in the share of GDP towards the higher education. Number of higher education has increased manifold, universities have increased, colleges have increased, everywhere the number has increased but GDP share on the pie has not been increased. So this is a cause of concern and probably whatever we could see now as per the government's initiatives recently taken we are hopeful that the 6% of GDP recommendation given by the then education policy education commission in 1986 probably this time is going to be fulfilled. And specifically for Assam the number of initiatives that have been taken by current government and the investment that they are promising I hope that there could be even more than 6% in statewide GDP. These are some of the achievements that I have shared with you. Now what are the actions that in 75th celebration of our independence year what actions have been taken so far higher education is concerned. We all know that NEP 2020 is going to be placed next year in Assam and for that matter in entire country and some universities have already started like Delhi University, Lagnaw University and Mangalore University they have already started the new NEP we are also going to start so we are not going to repeat anything on NEP 2020. But the gist I am going to share with you is there are certain areas where there is going to be a transformation in entire higher education space be it regular or traditional education or distance education. The number one is institutional transformation we are going to see we are going to witness a huge transformation in the entire higher education institutions. Maybe probably the colleges we see now would not be a college like this very soon that is going to be changed. It is also possible that we will not see the distance education universities as it is today. I don't know Professor Rao is a learned person in distance education. He is in the helm of the affairs and he is in almost all bodies related to higher education and specially in the ODI mode. But I from my little knowledge I foresee that years to come there will not be bifurcation of the open and distance learning and traditional mode. Because all the policies whatever policies we study now talks about transformation and there is no bifurcation of ODI. Because they talks about all the time you know superimposing the ODI system, superimposing online education, flexibility, student centric education here in regular mode also. In NEP also it is categorically mentioned that there should be 40% of MOOCs, there should be 40% of you know flexibility in credit transfer. There should be 40% of you know online courses also and so forth. So if it is so then probably there is time to think about again about the future of the education specially you know this open and distance learning education. And also possibility of expanding its horizon to overlap the regular mode of education with the distance mode of education. Then the quality transformation, it talks about the quality transformation, what kind of quality is going to be there next. There are a lot of things there they want to show, they want to see that their education should be holistic, it should be multidisciplinary, it should be analytical, it should give the inquisitiveness to the students with critical learning, critical thinking. Here probably the distance and open learning institutions have to rework and they have to redesign and redevelop their programs. So that they specifically the analytical and critical thinking part to be incorporated. I understand closely from the ODL system because I have been working since my earlier career, earlier you know time in Guwahati University. I was the first coordinator of the entire you know largest center of the North East when I was working in Guwahati University. I was the founder director of ODL Center in Tejpur University. I have also been having the opportunity to work with Professor Rao while you know creating the manual for the ODL NAC evaluation. What I understood from my reading is that giving study material, delivering a study material and ensuring that it reaches the students in time is not enough now to go you know on giving the open and distance learning. Probably somewhere we have to ensure that they have achieved the objective of learning that we are going to deliver. Probably not only the study material but probably could be something else on continued monitoring and proctored way so that we ensure that they are not even happening. That is more important. I would like to share a very small story here to just comment on monotony. Is that one person, it's a life story do not take it very seriously. One person from UK research college comes to India to do some research in village life of India. Then he roams around in the villages of West Bengal and somewhere he witnessed that a cow is being worshipped by a lady. A cow is being worshipped by a lady and then he thought, how come? Is it possible a cow is worshipped by a human? Then he thought that maybe it is a special kind of cow so she is worshipping. Then he went by past and he had seen after some time that in a wall of a villager is Madhval and there are some of the cow that what is called pitha cow-dung pitha. So that is being there very decoratively in the whole wall from top to bottom is in very lined way.  So he thought how come he went near to close to it and he just saw like this and smelled and found it is a cow-dung. Then he saw and he found he was thinking how is it possible that a cow grown doing you know pathing like this is so stylish way and then from top to bottom you know how is it possible. Then he finally concluded asking himself and getting the answer from himself he is there because they are very powerful cows because they can do all these things that is why they are worshipped. So he went back and wrote in thesis that in Indian system so cow is very powerful they can do you know pass their stool in very decorative manner wherever they want very well sized and designed and that is why they are worshipped. Now he said care what I mean to say here is that the inclusiveness and analytical there are two different things and if you analyze if you do not analyze if you get the information from your knowledge that's fine but if you analyze without having proper inquisitive mind and critical thinking that is more dangerous better not to analyze you just get the information. So probably we have to rethink you know about making our learners so that they get the information as well as they also inculcate critical thinking in their mind. So that is what probably need to you know redesign and rethink our open and distance learning here. Then another point of action which is being designed by the NEP is inclusiveness and equity which is already there from earlier but in that case specifically the open and distance learning education has been from beginning people established with the objective of inclusivity and equality. So it is a in that case equally there is a there is a ranking separate ranking parameter for inclusive and equity probably the open universities will be number one in the world probably who knows the ignore will be world's first ranked inclusive and equality education. This is the largest educational institutions in the world which is named as people's universities. So we have that kind of university here and with the footprint of that university all the state universities are now doing similar way. So for inclusivity and equality probably the open and distance learning education take the advantage of it. But for inclusiveness sometimes we limit by thinking that inclusive means those who cannot take education otherwise we have included those who are disadvantage position we have included that is why we have ended up with inclusiveness. Probably this is the wrong form of primary form of inclusiveness irrespective of caste, creed you are including or other giving disadvantage socially disadvantage physically disadvantage gender wise disadvantage we will include that is a primary. But the wholesome inclusiveness is including inclusiveness in the syllabus in the course. Say for example now we see that traditional knowledges culture yoga wellness all these things are included now there are there are talk of these things including in the syllabus this is probably more one step ahead towards inclusiveness includes including the chapters on unsung heroes including the chapters are not his in national curriculum it does mean that irrespective of your geographical, spatial, cultural, historical, religious biasness you should include everything in your design in syllabus. So then thereby probably we may walk or rethink how we can make more inclusive in our design of curriculum and syllabus. There are talk about internationalization here also we need to talk thing about how internationalization can be done but internationalization simply doesn't mean that we go to foreign university we go to foreign and then give education or some foreign universities come to India to provide foreign education. It means creating international environment in your university. Your university should be an international university in terms of number one student diversity, number two faculty diversity. If you have student diversity if you have students from 29 different countries if you have faculty and researcher from 18 different countries that probably is real sense of internationalization. Apart from that to achieve that you have different modes that modes may be dual degree that mode may be joint degree there may be collaboration there may be student access program there may be faculty access program these are mode but we should not talk about the modes but we should talk about the principle of it. Then there are a lot of modes and we can take one or two which is suitable for us. So there probably we have to think about for this is for traditional university as well it is not only for open and distance education. Another very important thing is that when you talk about globalization or transformation there is a global column. This apart from this local NEP thing the similar way we find that globally the transformation column is going on. It is not that only India is thinking about that transformation. In May in Barcelona there is one UNESCO World Higher Education Conference and they say they have prepared roadmap to 2030 and in 2030 they said that there are suggested six principles to be followed by higher education institutions worldwide and they are number one greater inclusion and promoting diversity the same that we have already discussed. This is a meeting held in May 2022 UNESCO meeting. Second is academic freedom balanced by public accountability. Third is enquiring critical thinking and creativity. Unlocking the potential of every kind of science literacy for integrity and ethics. Generating new kind of citizenship in future which is in the making of India. Fifth is a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. And going forward one step they have also urged all the higher education institutions over the globe is to contribute to the 17 sustainable development goals with 169 targets. They categorically mentioned though goal 4 is specifically for inclusiveness and equality in higher education but all the 17 other goals also have to be addressed by the higher education institutions and I am very happy to see that there is a separate ranking for the world universities separate ranking for the world universities which are ranked as party goal. Just to say a few is that in 1922 times impact ranking goal, impact ranking on goals and number one goal no poverty the award goes to western university Kanata and as this is to zero hunger it goes to Hokkaido University in Japan. Number three good health and well being it goes to Iran University of Medical Sciences Iran. Number four quality education it goes to Alberg University Denmark. Gender equity it goes to Chiang Mai University. Clean representation it goes to Western Sydney. Affordable clean energy it goes to Fudan University so and so forth. There are a whole list that all universities are contributing towards the sustainable development goals and they are getting awards. Here I would like to make a comment or tip on it is that we also in India should not go haphazardly for all 17 goals and 169 targets whenever there is a later council will do something upload photos and bomb and then next activity comes and we do it wholeheartedly and then after that event is over we are also fine. So instead of doing that I think all universities should you know holistically think as part of our expertise and capacity and capability take one or two as dizzy and should warm on that so that we can achieve we can show something some results on that particular goal. For example honourable vice chancellor has explained that this university has adopted five villages for some activities. So what kind of activities now which goal they are going to achieve that is to be determined that these five villages we have taken we are putting intervention on a particular or two particular goals we are not going to do anything else than that so that we can show something to the world that yes we have made some change of the lives of these five villages. Then another is co-operation for excellence and rather than competition that is also another kind of appeal that they are making that universities should not compete with each other but they should co-operate worldwide so that entire entirety of the education is enjoyed by all the student community and they are asking to make it more student centric. So they presume that eventually there are four situations that can happen in higher education and that higher education is documented in a report called the reimagining of future of higher education report. It is published by UNESCO and they say these four scenarios are number one please mind it number one is open education they could foresee that future of education is having four scenarios number one is open education number two is technology enables network learning hubs number three ecologically sustainable higher education and number four development driven higher education these are the four scenario that is forcing by the UNESCO in coming decades and I'm sure that here open and distance learning has to play a very important and greater role these points these scenarios reminds me the University of London there is a part of the University of London is called Big Back you can Google it and you can find that that is called London's evening university it's a part of London University of London I had the opportunity to visit that and I could see I was wondering by seeing how the education is being done it's not exactly open and distance education but then probably that is the future of open and distance education what they do is it's a part it's a kind of evening university but it is class is done from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. people walk whole day and they come in the evening to take classes but there is not necessary that every day you attend the classes what is necessary is you have to attend the classes wherever you are in there are recorded classes there are a lot of kiosks outside there are a lot of kiosks suppose you miss the class you come to the next class you are not allowed to sit in the live class unless and until you do the recorded class in the kiosk or somewhere from somewhere else with your own equipment so I have seen the students coming and sitting in kiosks and they are attending the classes after the class is over there are small kind of set of questions they have to fill it up there so that it is ensured that they have already done that there are some question answers so they give the answers and then they are allowed to sit in the classroom next so probably this is a kind of alternative model of education that can be initiated by open and distance learning universities ecologically sustainable higher education that I am not going to talk much because it is already the higher education system and the open and distance learning education who is more having you know there is a research also the other day I was reading the lecture of professor Asha Kanwar who is the chairperson of president of COL component of learning in her recent lecture in component of learning I had seen that there are research which tells that the carbon footprint is much much lesser by the open and distance learning education compared to the regular model of education so that way also the open and distance learning is much much much ahead it is also been found in research as shared by you know professor Asha Kanwar president of COL is that the blended learning mode of education has better learning experience than the regular mode of education that is also got by the research so I am going to get here that while congratulating the KK Hindi Open Universities for achieving the landmark of 34,000 students enrollment which is very good to ponder how now the university will justify giving the proper learning just learning holistic learning critical thinking analytical skill to those 34,000 students and that is the change in open and distance learning I know the number of students that you require sorry number of teachers you require part students is not there and probably now we have to rethink on that what is the exact ratio of the student teacher we have to maintain because in a classroom in traditional mode we do not go beyond 1 is to 20 we do not go beyond 1 is to 20 but in that way if you have to cater 34,000 students you must have some teachers so how do you come to that here I would like to also say please give me indication if I have crossed that time so here another things comes to my mind there is a ranking in universal ranking and the main two ranking rather three rankings are number one is QS ranking number two is times higher education ranking and number three is Shanghai ranking the Shanghai ranking we will not compare because we cannot go even you know close to them because they are only based on the Nobel laureates and field awards of their faculty members in alumni these two are the most important criteria of Shanghai although we say that Shanghai is an Asian ranking but who is not that is the toughest ranking if I have to say because the highest number of weight is given on the number of Nobel laureates and field awards your teachers have got and your alumni have gotten where India will be close to no now talking about the QS ranking and times education, higher education ranking if you are talking about those ranking believe me there is no any criteria on ODL mode there is no separate ranking for ODL you have to compete with the traditional mode of learning and as I tell you I foresee that tomorrow there will be an overlapping of open and distance learning education you have to target the QS ranking or times higher education ranking and days are coming that government will also link up the institutional fund and other things facilities with the ranking now 40% of the QS ranking 40 weight 40 weight comes from academic reputation 20 comes from faculty student position and 20 comes from politicians 80 out of 180 comes from your research that academic reputation means the research why it is research because that reputation is done by reputation survey of world over the QS ranking authority will send questionnaire to renowned professors and academicians around the world to tell about 10 of the institutions of their country and 50 of the academic institutions around the world so on the basis of what research research is only the passport where you will be you know introduced in the entire world be it in open or distance education or in higher education the times higher education also is like the teacher students ratio number of faculty members publication impact factor and all that H index and all that and the academic survey so what I mean here is it is time to think about research alongside the teaching one I am saying the quality of your education number of enrollment achievement is one success another success more important more crucial is how to maintain the quality because we claim that it is equivalent equivalent of a regular degree MBA from the school university and MBA from KK Hendrik Open University will be same MBA from Delhi University FMS which also be having the same claim but can we claim same quality from our students there are two different notions I would like to tell you here one is notion of the faculty members and the outsiders and notion of the students now very dangerous thing is that there is a notion of the students that this mode of education is a software option for us to get a degree so when these kind of students come it is even more dangerous that is why we must be very careful offering the degrees and offering the education unless and until it is a good education really equivalent education in terms of quality I tell you this high number of enrollment will be boomerang talking about the research if you are not doing research as a faculty members then you are perishing and you are vanishing yourself from the picture of the higher education and then tomorrow when suddenly it will come that open education now can offer you know regular education also and days to come you have to start the blended mode of education I had go get the blended mode of education even before Kovid also I was I go getting in my university test for university to start the blended mode of education but there was nobody to listen to me but suddenly when Kovid outbreak happened then my son-son calls me and tell me what he was saying to me I told him to be corona so suddenly we had to do that but it was not exactly blended mode because there is a technicalities in blended mode it is not now all the universities are in the name of blended mode what they are doing is they are clubbing some online classes and then at the ease of difficulty members and ease of these students some classes are given online and they say we are giving blended mode it is not there is a technical course in technical training is given by the COL common land of learning all the faculty members of ODL mode should go for that training I am sure that in a modern half of you have already completed if you have not then please go through one program offered by Athabasca University and common land of learning about blended mode I have done that in online mode and you will know how you design your one course on blended mode you can do experimentation you can do experimentation by one program through blended mode it is not online mode it is not offline there are lot of activities designed synchronized and as synchronized activities which you can offer now also taking one paper of yours one course of yours at least initially and then when you get the test you will automatically go to the blended mode of learning and it has been already established by the research that the blended mode of education has better efficiency than even the regular mode of education not to talk about the traditional ODL mode of education with this I will not go much into it with this I would like to congratulate all the faculty members all the staff, all the students, all the officers of this university along with the members of all the statutory bodies present here and founder vice-chancellors who have started this institution which is so much difficulty I know starting an institution an university how much difficult it is because currently I am also facing similar kind of thing though I am not the first vice-chancellor but for all practical purposes I have become the first vice-chancellor kind of thing so I now realize what is the pain of being a vice-chancellor so I honestly from my core of the heart I congratulate founder vice-chancellor, former vice-chancellor professor Dekha and other officers retired officers Mr. Dr. Swamasa is there who was registered when I was in Guwahati University later on he joined here I see a lot of known faces Finance and Accounts Research, earlier Finance and Accounts Research and current leadership without his vision I know whatever I have said will go into futile and I would like to see that more researchers, more research paper in terms of good journals impact factor will come out of here may it be ODL mode, may it be your own discipline or area and I am sure that this university has been the leader of the North East so far ODL is concerned and it will be the leader in future coming days also and for giving this opportunity is sometimes somewhere I have studied that when you keep a patience on God it is called faith, when you keep patience on your elders it is respect, when you keep patience on your family members it is love, so you have put patience here on me so I can assume that it is your love for me with that I would like to end from here, thank you


A very good evening aspirants, I welcome you all to the Hindu Daily News Analysis brought to you by Shankar Ayes academy. Today I am going to cover important news articles from the Hindu newspaper dated 16th of February 2023 and displayed here as a list of news articles that we will be discussing today. You can go through it and a kind request to you all those who haven't yet subscribed our YouTube channel, do subscribe and hit the bell icon button to get regular notifications regarding our current episode videos. Now let us get into our first news article discussion. Now have a look at this front page article, the news is that yesterday the union cabinet approved the creation of seven new battalions of the Indo-Tibetan border police. This is being done with a view to bolstering the social and security framework along the China border. Apart from this, the central government also allocated Rs.4800 crore under the vibrant villages program to stop migration and to boost tourism in villages along the China border. This is the crux of the news article given here. Now in this context, let us learn about the Vibrant Villages program from exam perspective. See the Vibrant Villages program has been announced in the Union budget 2022-23. This program aims to strengthen infrastructure in border villages which are located along India's border with China, that is in the border villages in states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. So the Vibrant Villages program basically aims to transform India's border villages. This is a basic about Vibrant Villages program. Now talking about the activities that are being carried out as a part of this program, see the primary activities under the project will focus on enhancing the village infrastructure then establishing proper housing and developing tourist centres. In addition to all these, the Vibrant Villages program aims at boosting road connectivity. Apart from this, this program aims to generate skills for livelihood opportunities in such border villages. It is being done by providing direct home access to Durdarshan and other educational television channels. Apart from this, Vibrant Villages program also includes provision to ensure decentralized renewable energy in these areas. And finally one of the main features of Vibrant Villages program is to merge the existing border development schemes with its own. And there are also provisions for additional funding for the development schemes. See these activities are critical in order to protect the country's sovereignty and to avoid any potential conflict with its neighbours. Now before concluding our discussion, we will see some benefits of the Vibrant Villages program. Firstly, the Vibrant Villages program helps in promoting the tourism sector. As we all know, the border areas are filled with beautiful sceneries especially in the border areas of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. Therefore, opening up the villages along the Chinese border will boost the tourism sector in the country. Secondly, this Vibrant Villages program will promote inclusive growth. As I said earlier, this program aims at boosting road connectivity. This in turn improves accessibility to the border villages. So the border villages will be able to enjoy the same benefits as enjoyed by other villages in the same state. So this is an inclusive growth. And that's all regarding this discussion. This discussion we saw about Vibrant Villages program. Then we saw about the activities that are being carried out as a part of this program. And finally, we saw some benefits of this program. Now with these key points in mind, let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now have a look at this editorial given here. It talks about the issue of antimicrobial resistance. As you all know, excessive use of antimicrobials has now led to microbes developing resistance against them. This editorial discusses in detail about the dangers of growing antimicrobial resistance. Then the editorial also discusses about Indian governments various initiatives to control this silent pandemic. This is the overall essence of the article given here. Now in this context, let us learn about what is mean by antimicrobial resistance. Then about the recent international efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance. And we will also see about India-specific information regarding antimicrobial resistance. Now before getting into discussion, the syllabus relevant to this topic is given here. You can go through it. Now first, let's start with antimicrobial resistance. As you all know, microorganisms like virus, bacteria and fungi cause a wide variety of diseases when they enter our human body. These infections are usually treated by using a variety of antimicrobials like antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics. All these types of medicines are only called as antimicrobials since they are used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Here note that microorganisms over a period of time evolve themselves to evade the resistance created by the antimicrobials used against them. When this happens, we term the resistance developed by microbes against the antimicrobials as antimicrobial resistance. So this is what called antimicrobial resistance. Now why suddenly antimicrobial resistance is gaining prominence? See antimicrobial resistance is an age-old phenomenon, but nowadays we are hearing it often due to understricted usage of antimicrobials in many parts of the world. Because of this wide-scale improper usage, many antimicrobials are losing their prominence to effectively treat microbial infections. Also, their ability to act as a resistance against the microbes are falling steeply. Now the author says that diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis and blood poisoning are becoming harder to treat because of antimicrobial resistance. During COVID also in many parts of the world, patients were treated with huge doses of antimicrobials. This has again fueled the microbes' capacity to evolve faster to evade the resistance created by antimicrobials. So the author termed antimicrobial resistance as a silent pandemic. Okay, now let's look at the data provided by the author regarding antimicrobial resistance. See according to the author, in the year 2019, antimicrobial resistance was associated with an estimated 4.95 million human deaths across the globe. See this is a huge number because of the fact that it will keep on increasing in the coming days. So to keep a check on the increasing trend of antimicrobial resistance, global high-level ministerial conference on antimicrobial resistance was held in Muscat in last November. Over 30 countries participated in the conference with India also being a participant. These countries adopted the Muscat ministerial manifesto on antimicrobial resistance. Now let us see briefly about this muscat manifesto. See the muscat manifesto recognizes the need to accelerate political commitments toward the implementation of one health action plan for controlling the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Here note that one health action plan has six major focus areas and one among them is antimicrobial resistance. Then the manifesto also recognized the need to address the impact of antimicrobial resistance not only on humans but also on animals and in areas of environmental health, food security and economic growth and development. Apart from this, the muscat conference also adopted three new health targets relating to antimicrobial resistance. The first target is to reduce the total amount of antimicrobials used in the agri-food system at least by 30 to 50 percentage by 2030. Here note that antimicrobials are increasingly used in a disproportionate manner in the treatment of animals and plants to make them resistance against the diseases caused by microbes. Secondly, the muscat manifesto tries to completely eliminate the usage of certain important type of antimicrobials in animals and food production which are medically important for human health. And thirdly, it tries to ensure that by the year 2030, at least 60% of overall antibiotic consumption in humans is from the WHO assess group of antibiotics. Here note that WHO has classified antibiotics into three groups. The groups are assess, watch and reserve groups. This classification is done taking into account the impact of different antibiotics on antimicrobial resistance. And to emphasize the importance of their appropriate use. Among the three classifications, usage of antibiotics in the assess group is going to be pushed forward by WHO according to the muscat manifesto. See, these are all some of the important targets relating to antimicrobial resistance mentioned in the muscat manifesto. Now, let's move on to see about India's efforts to curb antimicrobial resistance. See, India has a specific national action plan on antimicrobial resistance. This plan stresses the importance of preventive measures against the microbial induced disease. Various initiatives like Swachbara Dabiyaan, Kaya Kalp and Swach Swasth Sarvatra are being implemented as a part of national plan on antimicrobial resistance. Now, coming to the next important step taken by the Indian government to combat antimicrobial resistance. See, National Health Policy 2017 also offered specific guidelines regarding the usage of antibiotics. It aimed to limit the usage of antibiotics as a first stop over medication. It also tried restricting the usage of antibiotics for growth promotion in livestock. See, these are the two important steps taken by the government of India in dealing with antimicrobial resistance. Apart from all this, the author wants the G20 presidency of India to focus on the issue of antimicrobial resistance. Various meetings which are planned to be organized all across India as a part of G20 can be used to discuss the steps which need to be taken to control antimicrobial resistance. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about what is antimicrobial resistance. Then about the various problems associated with antimicrobial resistance. Then we saw about the initiatives taken by the global health community. And finally, we saw some points about the steps taken by India. Now, with these key points in mind, let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now, have a look at this snippet here. It says that Indian government is planning to display the old antiquities relating to Kajaraho temples in the upcoming G20 meetings. These antiquities were retrieved from the foreign countries. Especially, the sandstone sculpture of a woman holding a parrot is also going to be displayed in the G20 meetings. This sculpture was brought back to India from Canada in the year 2017. This is what is given in this article. Now, in this discussion, let's learn about Kajaraho group of temples in Pulum's perspective. First of all, know that there are mainly three different types of temple architecture which got developed in India. They are Nagara, Vesara and Dravida. See, the Kajaraho group of temples comes under the Nagara style of architecture. If we take the Nagara style, there are again minor variations. With variations, the Nagara style is subdivided into Kajaraho style, the Odisha style and the Solonki style of temple architecture. So, we can say that Kajaraho group of temples comes under Kajaraho style of Nagara architecture. Now, with this basic information, we are moving on to see Kajaraho style of architecture in detail. Now, firstly, let us see the geographical location of Kajaraho group of temples. See, the Kajaraho group of monuments is a group of Hindu and Jain temples located in the district of Chattarpur in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Most Kajaraho temples were built during the 11th century AD. They were built by the rulers of Sandela dynasty. Historical records of this period say that the Kajaraho temple site had 85 temples by the 12th century. But presently, the sites only have 25 temples. Of the surviving temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva temple is the most famous one. It is known for its intricate details, symbolism and expressiveness. See, Kandariya Mahadeva temple is famous for its curvilinear architecture. Now, see this image here, this temple is having the tower structure which is slightly curved inwards as we go towards the top. So, curvilinear architecture is one of the features of Kajaraho style. Another important feature of Kajaraho temple is, it is famous for its erotic carvings made on the walls. See, sculptures of women with broad hips and open eyes are commonly found in the Kandariya Mahadeva and Vishwanath temple in the Kajaraho group of monuments. These sculptures are believed to reflect the idea of female beauty and fatality.  This is all about the temple architecture of Kajaraho group of monuments. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about Kajaraho group of temples. Then we saw some architecture features of the temples. Now, with these key points in mind, let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now, for our next discussion, we are going to take this text and context article. This article is about the mental health care institutions in the country. As per the National Human Rights Commission report, the condition of 46 government and mental health care institutions across the country are inhuman. The report notes that the facilities are illegally keeping patients long after their recovery.  This is the crux of the news article given here. Now, in this context, let us understand about the mental health care act 2017 and the challenges in it. Now, before getting into discussion, the syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here. You can go through it. Now, let's start with mental health care act 2017. Now, firstly, we are going to see about the section 19 of mental health care act. This section focuses on individuals and acknowledges their right to live as a part of the community. Apart from this, section 19 also focuses on rehabilitation. It says that a person with mental illness has the right to live as a part of the community and they should not be segregated from society. And accordingly, it is the responsibility of the government to create opportunities to assess community living. Here, community living means halfway homes, sheltered accommodations, rehab homes, and supported accommodation. These are less restrictive community for mentally ill people. When the mentally ill persons no longer require treatment in more restrictive mental health establishments, they should be able to live here. Secondly, the mental health care act 2017 discourages using physical restraints, such as chaining and unmodified electroconvulsive therapy. Thirdly, the mental health care act pushes for the right to hygiene, sanitation, food, recreation, privacy, and infrastructure. Fourthly, the act recognizes the fact that people have a capacity of their own unless proven otherwise. This will address the stigma and stereotype prevailing among common people about the mentally ill persons. Additionally, under section 5 of the act, people are empowered to make advanced directives. This means that they can nominate a representative for themselves in case they are not able to make health decisions in the future. At the time, the representative only will take the decisions on behalf of the person. This helps in eliminating the absolute forms of guardianship. Instead, it is in favor of supported decision making. Here, supported decision making means a tool that allows people with disabilities to retain their decision making capacity by choosing supporters to help them make choices. According to experts, this was the first time a psychological approach to mental health was adopted. Finally, the act acknowledges external factors such as income, social status, and education which imparts mental well-being. Therefore, recovery needs a psychiatric as well as a social input. See, these are all some of the important provisions of Mental Health Care Act 2017. Now, let us see the challenges in the Mental Health Care Act 2017. Firstly, as per the 2018 report by Hans Foundation, almost 36.25% of residential service users were found to be living at state psychiatric facilities for one year or more. This is against the provision of community living. Secondly, state mental health authority and mental health review boards are yet to be established. And if it is established, they are not functioning properly. See, these mental health review boards are required to be established under the Mental Health Care Act 2017. These bodies will further draft standards for mental health care institutions, then oversee their functioning and ensure they comply with the act. But the challenge is that they are not established or in some cases they are not functioning properly. Thirdly, many states have not identified minimum standards which are meant to ensure the quality of mental health institutions. Fourthly, poor budgetary allocation and utilization of funds leads to under-equipment of shelter homes, under-staffing and establishments, and lack of training for professionals and service providers to deliver proper healthcare. Finally, as we saw earlier, section 19 recognizes the right of people to live as a part of society and they would not be segregated from society. But according to experts, there have been no concrete efforts towards implementation of this section. So, while concluding, the author is saying that Mental Health Care Act safeguards the rights of people in mental health care establishments, but there are some enforcement challenges which still remains. So, the challenges should be addressed to ensure proper and effective implementation of the provisions of Mental Health Care Act. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about important provisions of the Mental Health Care Act 2017. Then we saw some challenges associated with Mental Health Care Act 2017. Now, with these key points in mind, let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now, have I looked at this news article? The news is that yesterday, the chief of the Naval staff said that INS Vikrant, which is the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier, will be fully operational by air end. See, INS Vikrant is currently undergoing aviation trials. Earlier this month, the indigenous light combat aircraft that is LCA naval version and the MiG-29K fighter jet undertook maiden lands on the aircraft carrier. And this is the crux of the news article given here. Now, in this context, let us learn about INS Vikrant from an exam perspective. See, INS Vikrant is an indigenous aircraft carrier of India, which means that it is constructed or made in India. Know that INS Vikrant is also referred to by the term IAC-1. INS Vikrant was designed by the Indian Navy's direct rate of naval design and it was built at Cochin Shipyard Ltd. Know that Cochin Shipyard Ltd is a public sector shipyard under the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways. INS Vikrant was planned in 2007 and construction started in 2009. Finally, it was commissioned in September 2022. This is a basic about INS Vikrant. Now, let us see the specifications of INS Vikrant. See, INS Vikrant is 262 meters long and 62 meters at the widest part. It has a superstructure and 14 decks. Here superstructure means the structure built on top of the ship. Then INS Vikrant is powered by four gas turbines and its speed is up to 28 knots. See, INS Vikrant is so huge that it can carry around 1,700 people. Along with this, it can also house 30 aircrafts including fighter jets and helicopters. See, MiG-29K fighter jets and Kamo helicopters are going to be operated from the INS Vikrant. In future, it may also carry Rafale fighter aircraft. Apart from this, INS Vikrant also has specialized cabins to accommodate women officers. The aircraft carrier is a mammoth steel structure of 21,500 tons. The steel used in the construction of INS Vikrant is a special grade steel developed indigenously and used in Indian naval ships for the first time. Additionally, INS Vikrant contains a very high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability. Therefore, Vikrant is the largest warship built in the country. It will boost the indigenation of ship building materials and processes. INS Vikrant is also a best example of Atman-Eber Bharat and it provides thrust to governments making India initiative. Apart from this, INS Vikrant showcases India's naval capability and India's patience in enhancing its maritime security, thus bolstering India's position in the Indian Ocean region. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about INS Vikrant, then we saw about the specifications of INS Vikrant and finally we saw some points regarding the significance of INS Vikrant. Now with these key points in mind, let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now have a look at this text and context article. It talks about windfall taxes. On February 3, the union government hiked the windfall profit tax levied on domestically produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and aviation turbine fuel. Now in this context, we'll learn about windfall tax in detail and then we'll understand what this article says. Now first, we'll start by understanding what is windfall tax. See the windfall taxes are designed to tax the profits of a company derives from an external unprecedented event. For example, the energy price in the market has risen as a result of Russia-Ukraine conflict. So the oil companies might make profit out of this right. Now this profit cannot be attributed to something the firm actually did like an investment strategy or an expansion of business and so this profit will be taxed and this is what called as windfall tax. Okay now what is the need for such a taxation? It simply seems to be a burden on the company right but there are so many reasons behind this. Firstly, through windfall tax we can achieve redistribution of wealth. See the unexpertor gains due to high prices benefit producers but at what cost? It is at the expenses of consumers who space the bills right so by taxing such profit the government would fund social welfare schemes thereby redistributing the wealth to poor people. Clear? But there are some downsides as well. See firstly, the windfall taxes discourages the business activities because the investors are not sure when the conditions would become uncertain. Businesses usually prefer countries with a certainty in their tax regime. Also companies see such unexpected profits as a reward to their risk taking approach and so in the sense this windfall tax seems harmful to the businesses. Some also argue that profit should be reinvested by companies to promote innovation that will in turn benefit society as a whole. So windfall taxes curtail the initiatives of the industries. Secondly, the windfall taxes will tend to reduce future investments as well. Thirdly, windfall taxes are considered as populist measures taken by the governments to seek political opportunities. And another major issue with this tax is that it is not defined. See there is no answer for these questions like what exactly constitutes true windfall profits and how it can be determined or what level of profit is normal excessive. See only if these terms are known the profits could be taxed otherwise it would lead to chaos. This is a brief about windfall taxes. Now we will try to see what the article says. Now see this table here it shows the revisions made in the special additional excess duty on domestic crude oil production. Here this excess duty is nothing but the tax on the rainfall profit of the companies. The special additional excess duty on domestic crude oil initially was Rs 23,250 per ton and after revisions it was brought down to Rs 10,200 per ton by 2020 to end. And now it is around Rs 5,050 per ton. So as we earlier discussed Russia's actions in Ukraine is central to the volatility observed in the oil market. So it is because of this volatility the global oil prices have increased. Now I will quote a data given by the author here the author says that ONGC's profit after tax until September end in the ongoing financial year stood at Rs 28,032 crore when compared to Rs 40,306 crore in the complete fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. Now what does this mean in the last financial year 2021-22 ONGC's profit stood at something around 40,000 crores. The next financial year that is 2022-2023 if you see the data from April to September the profit was around 28,000 crores. This is an enormous rise in profit rate so this profit is not because of any new innovation by the ONGC but because due to rise in oil prices. Now how did the oil prices rose because of Russia-Okraine war? See the western countries imposed sanctions on Russian oil however Russia made use of the Asian markets to sell its oil. By this many developing countries including India made gains in terms of lower oil prices. In fact during this crisis Russia emerged as one of the largest oil supplier of India but now you might wonder will the sanctions not affect the global market by pushing up the demand which will affect the global economy for this purpose the G7 placed a cap on the Russian oil prices and this would ensure proper supply of oil and at the same time this will ensure that the Russia does not make more profit in the Asian markets. So these kinds of actions have ensured that demand does not shoot up and led to hike in oil prices. Despite these efforts oil companies have been making huge profit. Now another problem is that the oil companies are prioritizing investments in conventional sources to provide for energy security than transitioning towards cleaner energy to meet energy requirements. So this would affect the transition to a greener economy. Now what would be the solution to all these problems? The international energy agency says that world oil supply looks set to exceed demand through the first half of 2023. However global oil demand is set to rise by 2 million barrel per day in 2022 101.9 million barrel per day. This is because of economic activities spurring back in the Asia-Pacific region after series of lockdowns and that's all regarding this discussion in this discussion we saw about what is windfall tax then we saw about the merits and demerits of windfall tax and we saw some points about the ongoing discussions about the windfall taxes. Now with these key points in mind let's move on to the next part of the news article discussion that is to discuss preliminary practice questions. Now look at this first question this question is regarding vibrant villages program now look at this first statement it aims to strengthen infrastructure in border villages along India's border with Bangladesh. See this statement is incorrect because it aims to strengthen infrastructure in border villages along India's border with China and not Bangladesh. So statement one is incorrect. Now coming to the second statement it aims to generate skills by providing dare-to-homes for Durdhoshan and educational TV channels. See this statement is actually correct this we saw in the discussion itself. The scheme aims to generate skills by providing access to educational TV channels. So statement two is correct now the question is asking for correct statement here second statement alone is correct so the correct answer for the question is option B2 only. Now coming to the second question this question is regarding windfall tax now look at this first statement taxes on lottery can be construed as a windfall tax yes this statement is correct because windfall taxes can be levied on individuals also so the taxes on lottery can be collected from individuals only so statement one is correct now coming to the second statement windfall taxes are levied when the profits of the industries fall to an all-time low. See this statement is incorrect because as we saw in the discussion the windfall taxes are levied when companies earn excessive profit okay so statement two is incorrect now coming to the third statement windfall taxes can be levied on individuals also this we saw in beginning itself windfall taxes can be levied on individuals also so statement three is also correct here the question is asking for incorrect statements so statement two is alone incorrect so the correct answer for the question is option C2 only. This is the question for you today I will pose this question in a community section try to answer it and don't worry the answer for the question is posted in the comment section of the question itself you can verify and display it here are the main questions for your practice go through the questions write your answers and post it in the comment section with this we came to the end of the video if you liked our analysis please like comment and share and don't forget to subscribe to Shankar ISE Academy YouTube channel thank you for listening


So we're talking a little bit about the culture of fitness. I know there's a lot of changes going in there tangibly for sailors. If you score three outstanding, there's going to be a military decoration that you can get and eval documentation to kind of show where sailors fall on the spectrum of PFA scores. And there's just a lot more going into these changes. What can you tell us about the reason behind these changes or improvements to the culture of fitness? Well, the reasons behind the change and the needed changes, it has become pretty clear to me over the last 22 months talking to a lot of sailors out there. And by the way, at every old hands call, you get the young guy or gal that stands up that's shaped like a sculpted form. And they go, hey, how come you're not giving me more credit towards advancement because I'm scoring outstanding on my PFA?  It's kind of built big and solid, but they look sharp. And they say, hey, I'm really struggling because I can't meet the height weight standards or the BCA. And so we took a hard look at that. And when you really peel it back, what you find out is the PFA, as we instituted today, is really not measuring better health or encouraging or incentivizing better health. It is simply a test. And so we're partnering with Bumad to figure out what defines better health. What do we do to incentivize better health? And then use the standards that we have to get more people to take the test. So we're going to be more forgiving in terms of the BCA measurements or whatever measurement we decide to use to determine who's healthy enough to go ahead and take the test. So we've got more people taking the test. And then really giving them more latitude to really pay most attention to, am I doing the right things to be healthier? Am I lower on my blood cholesterol levels? Am I lowering my chance for diabetes? Am I improving my blood pressure indications? All of those things are really, are true measures, are true or measures, I should say, of better health. So it's a combination of all those things. And I think at the end of the day, when we roll this all out later this summer, I think sailors will understand it and they'll appreciate the fact that this isn't about a foreshaping mechanism. This is about we want to make sure you get healthier and we're going to do what we can. So things like expanded gym hours across the fleet. Things like adding hours on the front and the back end of CDC child care development centers so that more sailors get to participate in healthier activity. That's putting our money where our mouth is. And I think those are important indications to the fleet that we're serious about it.


Hey guys! This is my next Redbubble poster review. Now I know that I technically have Emerald City Comic Con in the title, but it's not a poster from there. It is a poster from Redbubble that I took there, so that explains everything. Also, for some of you might be wondering why I'm back. Well, I went there this morning and then I'm back because basically I don't know how anyone could stay at these things for more than three days without going broke because that's what would happen to me. And I had to spend $200 to get to this thing. And I'm not saying $200 American. I'm saying $200 Canadian because we can't...  It cost me like almost $160. So that was crazy. So I basically spent almost all of my money within the first hour by getting John Berenthal and Will Friedl's sign. Now let me show you the poster. Now this is from Rustin Coates. Sorry if I got that wrong, man, but look at that. Look at it. So amazing. And that is of course John Berenthal's signature down there saying one batch, two batch, and he died. He was such a nice guy. And originally I actually wasn't going to go to this con because the only person I saw there was Will Friedl. It's not worth that the drive down just for one guy. I actually didn't even know many of the artists. But when I saw he was there, I've been trying to get something signed by him for the last three years. He's either been out of my reach or he's had to reschedule for cons that I was going to. So the fact that he was going at this, I even told him that when I went to get this sign, I was like, hey man, I was actually about to not come.  And I had to just see you in person. And no word of a lie here. He stopped what he was doing. He stopped writing and he held out his fist. And I probably looked like this when he did what we were doing. But no, he was really nice guy. He was really awesome to me. I can barely remember it because I was probably like, oh, but I can remember the fist bump. And I remember and as you thought, this was pretty cool. So there you go, Rustico.  And the work itself is amazing. It's a lot more rigid, a lot more battered, damaged and perfectly reflects the character. And I also love the fact that the Daredevil part is up here. And if you can see, you can see that there's in the silhouettes of the shadow of the face. So be really sweet is I have Berenthal signature, so if I could get Charlie Cox's signature up in the top, top right, that would be your top left, the top right, that would be sweet. Anyway, guys, if you guys want to check out where I got this work from or you want to check out more of the artist's work, just go and it's the first link in the description below. You know what though, the funny thing is talking about this, doing this, it really makes me want to do a comparison video talking about who is better, not talking about Duff Lundgren or not talking about that Terrible Warzone movie. I'm talking about the one with Thomas Jane and it has nothing to do with the fact that I found the original of the Xbox game recently at the flea market and the fact that I own the extended cut of the Thomas Jane version. So maybe I will do a comparison. We'll see. Anyway, guys, I hope you enjoyed this video. I'll see you later.


This is my new studio and I've been working hard to get it all ready to film. But it's missing something. My name's Jim and this is The Edge of Tech. So if you've watched the last few videos or live streams you realize that I'm in a new space now and I've been working hard to get it all set up for filming and make it more efficient so I can make more videos faster to get them out to you. And recently I've added these shelves right here but there's one problem. They're still empty and that's where you come in. I want this space here on these shelves to represent what makes this whole channel possible and that's you, the community, the 3D printing community, the maker community, everybody who watches and views the channel and interacts in some way. I want to show the awesome stuff that you guys make. So here's the deal. If you have something cool you want to see on the shelves during a future video all you got to do is package it up and shoot it to the address in the description below. Once I get that package we'll open it on HotMakes. HotMakes is our live show that airs on Monday nights. We feature guests and artists and makers from all around the community and the really cool stuff that you guys are working on. If you haven't seen it there's also a link in the description below to check out the show. It's every Monday so tune in. And if you guys want your cool stuff featured on HotMakes use hashtag HotMakes as seen right here and we'll find it and we'll drop it on the show too. Once it's unboxed I'll come back here after the show and I'll place it on one of the shelves for an upcoming video. You never know your cool thing could become a permanent staple on these shelves going forward. Just remember it has to be appropriate. I don't want to get demonetized otherwise I wouldn't have all this stuff anyway so make sure it's appropriate and I definitely reserve the right to show it live on HotMakes and or on the shelves back here just in case somebody sends me something questionable. I am so pumped to proudly display whatever you guys send in and show it during one of the future videos here on the shelves. I cannot thank you and the community enough for supporting me and the channel and it's allowing me to have this awesome space to make even better content just for you. So grab the address below in the description. Shoot me over your cool stuff. Start watching HotMakes if you don't already and we'll get it unboxed and placed on the shelves soon. I can't wait to see what you guys send. Let's do this.


Hello again. This second e-lecture about the phonological differences between RP and German takes up the segmental differences that were discussed in RP versus German 1 and suggests remedial action for those German learners of RP who have difficulties with the RP sounds. Furthermore, we will add the main suprasegmental properties of RP that might be problematic for German learners of English. So let us start with the systematic repetition of the contrasts between the two sound systems. In RP versus German 1, we categorize the following segmental contrasts. For example, inventorial contrasts, that is phonemes that exist only in either of the two languages. As you can see here, the rounded front vowels and the H only exist in German. Whereas in RP, we have phonemes such as the low front vowel, the Ash, the mid-central vowel, and the two dental fricatives that are confined to RP. Typical inventorial problems. Then there are distributional contrasts. Both languages have the same phoneme, however, their alophones are distributed differently. For example, the alophones of the alveolar fricative phoneme Sir in RP and in German. And then there are realisational contrasts, that is, the phonemes of two languages might be similar. However, their precise realization is different. For example, the low back vowels in RP versus German or the realization of the r phoneme in the two languages as indicated over here. Let us inspect the segmental differences between both languages in a contrastive manner in order to find out the precise remedial actions to overcome these segmental difficulties at a later stage. Let us start with the monophones. Of the 12 RP monophones, the following RP phonemes are unproblematic for German learners of RP. They are almost identical with their German value and do not require any remedial action. Let us listen and produce the German values. There is a short E as in bit, not really a problem, bit. There is a short E as in bet, bet. Not a problem, perhaps in some cases we make it too low as Germans. There is the long vowel R as in bra, bra. Apart from the continental problem where Germans would say bra, we should pay attention to the fact that we should make it a real true back vowel, bra. Then there is a low back vowel, or as in cot, cot, cot. Germans tend to make it a little bit higher, but that's not a problem as long as it is really a short vowel. Then there is the long R as in cot, cot. So concentrate making it really long, cot. The short U as in put is not a problem, put. Perhaps some Germans produce it a little bit too high and the schwa as in letter. Here Germans should concentrate on the fact that the final element is really a schwa and not the low central R which is triggered by the occurrence of a German post-focalic R in spelling. But apart from these slight problems, these are not really problematic at all. But what about the problem cases? Well, these five RP monophones are problematic for German learners of English. Three of them can be defined as realisational problems and two are clearly inventorial. Let's look at the realisational problems first. Now the two high vowels E as in C, C and U as in two. Two, they're often produced too high and Germans tend to produce the monophongal variance instead of the slight diphthongal realisation RP. So Germans would come up with a phrase like he sees you too instead of he sees you too. So make it diphthongal. We will come back to this later. Another realisational problem is associated with the wedge. Now this low central vowel exists in both languages. However, whereas Germans use it in unstressed position in the context of post-focalic R as in Mutter or Vater, it is stressed in RP. Thus Germans tend to use a stressed short A as in Hutt or Mutter instead of using the central RP variant. The remaining two vowels are inventorial problems for German learners of RP since they have no true equivalent in German. The mid-high central vowel E does not exist in German. Instead Germans look for alternatives. One such alternative is the mid-high front vowel U. And since the RP vowel occurs in words with an orthographical R after it Germans want to realise this R in the German way and use the German off-glide for down-gliding diphthongs that is the low central R. Now this is the German result for fur. They would say something like fur or German or hur and so on. Even more problematic, perhaps the most problematic RP phoneme of all is the low front vowel A symbolised by the ash. Here, German has a gap. This gap is even larger now due to the merger of A and A in most varieties of German. So Germans make it far too high using a variant of A or A instead. This might lead to dramatic misunderstandings such as bed experience instead of bad experience or bed men instead of Batman. So this is the RP value once more. Bat. Bat. It is clearly a low front vowel. So what can Germans do? In two cases we can deliberately produce off-glides. So concentrate on saying something like C. The J symbol indicates this off-glide. C. He. Fee. And the same applies to the U as in 2 where the W symbol indicates the off-glide. Shoe. Two. Clue. And so on. Well, and with regard to the realisation of the wedge and the ash, we can use similar German phonemes as substitutes. So use the low central vowel in hut. Mud. As in fata. Mud. Hut. In the case of the ash, we recommend to use the low front vowel A which exists in German in words like man and hut. Just use it. Hut. Man. Batman. Bad experience. And so on. In the case of the mid-high central vowel, we can only practice. Make it a steady state monofong. A deliberately avoid realising the orthographical R as an off-glide. Well, let us now look at the RP diphthongs. Of the eight RP diphthongs, the following RP phonemes are unproblematic for German learners of English. They're almost identical with the German value and do not require any remedial action. Let's listen and produce the German values. So here we have the I as in by. Here we have the I as in now. And we have the OI as in boy. Not problematic for German learners of English. But what about the problem cases? The three in-gliding diphthongs involve the same problem. They occur in words with a post-vocalic orthographical R where German uses a down-gliding diphthong. Thus they are typical examples of realisational contrast. So we're saying near instead of near. Here instead of here. And sure instead of sure. The remaining two diphthongs have no equivalent in German. The closest we have are monofongs such as A and O. And using these is exactly the German mistake. Instead of saying say we're using something like say or in an even worse case with the wrong consonant say and something like no instead of no. So again a true monofong. So what can we do? Well in the case of the in-gliding diphthongs Germans are confronted with the R problem. Thus as soon as we see a post-vocalic orthographical R we should avoid the low central off-glide and use the schwa instead. Furthermore we should not make the onset too high in all three cases. So we should really concentrate on saying near. We should say here and not here. We should say sure and not sure. In the two remaining cases Germans should concentrate on the addition of an off-glide. So again we could indicate this by means of an off-glide symbol as in say. So concentrate on saying say rather than see. And O as in go. I'm very bad at this last one. This is my personal problem case in the pronunciation of RP. Let's now continue with the consonants. Both languages have 24 consonants with 10 of them being absolutely identical including their allophonic variants. So these consonants behind me do not involve any problems at all. Secondly there are several phonemes that exist in both languages but their occurrence is different. That is some of the allophones occur in different contexts. And finally there is a set of continental phonemes or allophones that have no equivalent in the German phonemic or allophonic inventory. The remedial actions for the problematic phonemes depend on the type of problem involved. Let us start with the distributional problems. Now these phonemes exist in German but have a different distribution. The first group of them is affected by the phenomenon of final devoicing. That is they all exist in German but have no voiced allophone in word final position. In order to help German learners of RP to pronounce words like big, bid, big, live and lizz a good strategy is to tell them to simply make the vowel longer. The auditory effect is almost the same. And moreover the lengthening of the preceding vowel automatically weakens the subsequent consonant. The consonants in group 2 exist in German but have no typical allophone in word initial position. Many Germans say for example schüss and not schüss, English bye bye.  The best remedial action in these cases may be a contextual one. That is find German context and point them out to your learners. For example the chair exists in German in words like much or kitsch or quetchen. For the teaching of the initial voiceless alveolar fricative sir it is suggested to make use of voiceless context such as steak, Stratford, skillet. Now in these German words Germans cannot avoid producing a voiceless initial sir and thus there shouldn't be any problems anymore. The following phonemes do not exist in German and may thus be difficult for German learners of RP. The main way of teaching these phonemes to German learners is by pointing out the exact articulation of their alophones by means of diagrams, animations. For example you can see these animations by typing in IPA consonants into the VLC cross-searcher. In some cases it may be helpful to refer to similar articulations. The labiovila approximate for example can easily be taught via OO replacement. In words like wet or we learners may first start with wet and we and then gradually make the initial OO shorter and shorter. The result will be the RP realization of the labiovila approximate were. A second case of inventorial problems concerns particular alophones. You might want to call this a realisational problem too. The alveolar lateral is a special case for German learners. Word initially it is not problematic. After vowels however many Germans cannot produce the dark L. There's one trick. In Cologne the German city of Cologne. They have a special type of beer, the Kolch. And almost all Germans know how speakers with a Cologne accent pronounce this word. They use a dark L. Well if you still can't do it then the only remedial action is an articulatory one. Show animations, point out the exact tongue position etc. Well and then there's the case of the R. Where we have an approximate of flap in RP but a trill or a fricative in German. And here only articulatory advice can help. Let us now look at some selected suprasegmental aspects. The central suprasegmental problem for German learners concerns the connected character of RP. For example liaison effect. Now you might have seen this sentence before in our e-lecture about connected speech. And then you know that Germans tend to insert glottal stops between two words where the second one starts with a vowel. So a typical German mistake would be the aroma of tea greeted you as you entered our office.  Now in English we have liaison effects which are optional. For example we can have something like the aroma of tea greeted you as you entered our office where the R would be realized. The second problem concerns the use of the so-called weak forms. Now Germans and this is their main problem generally do not make them weak enough. So the aroma of tea would be a typical German mistake greeted you as you entered our office. Instead of the aroma of tea greeted you as you entered our office. So weak forms are generally not weak enough. The differences between English and German can best be illustrated by a passage read with a typical German accent. Now here is this passage. The north wind and the sun. I will now read this passage using a strong German accent that includes all possible problems. So a typical worst case scenario. Can I have the text please? Yeah thank you very much. Okay here we go. The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak. They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveler take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other. Then the north wind blew as hard as he could. But the more he blew the more closely did the traveler fold his cloak around him. And at last the north wind gave up the attempt. Then the sun shined out warmly and immediately the traveler took off his cloak. And so the north wind was obliged to confess that the sun was the stronger of the two. Well such a terrible pronunciation of English should be avoided shouldn't it? It's a bit hard for me to get back now. In order to achieve this goal we need a number of so-called avoidance strategy for German learners of RP. These strategies are the result of the study of the segmental and the suprasegmental differences between RP and modern German. Here are the most important ones. Avoid the devoicing of final consonants when they are voiced. So tab, bed, dog, leave, buzz. Make the vowel extra long to achieve this voicing effect. The second. Make the short ah, the ash, as open as possible. Hat, bad, man. Use the German short ah rather than the German short eh. Avoid the use of the low back ah in the context of an orthographical ah. Say here, here, sure, and mother. Use a true schwa in these contexts. And drop it all together in monofungal contexts such as door and her. Well and then we have some obligatory principles of connected speech. Avoid the glottal stop before syllable initial vowels. Do not say when a traveler came along, but when a traveler came along. And finally, make all weak forms deliberately extra weak. So do not say, and so the north wind was obliged to confess that the sun was the stronger of the two, but rather. And so the north wind was obliged to confess that the sun was the stronger of the two. So a deliberate, even exaggerated weakening might help here. If you adhere to these and some other principles, you will be able to improve your own English. But more importantly, you can correct a large number of mistakes made by your present or future students. So this e-lecture and its predecessor RP versus German 1 compared the phonology of RP and standard German with special emphasis on the difficulties from a German learner perspective. I hope I could provide you with the necessary amount of information to improve your own English as well as that of your current and future students of English. So thank you very much for your attention.


First of all, how does he how does the ankle feel? All good Just praying what happened on that? I just stepped on that adds food. I think food You look you look comfortable from day one had your best game in a net uniform. What was the difference feet in that? Maybe one difference between what what was the difference in you finding that comfort zone and Another career hiding around the team the guys that people around me I think they just they just give me this that power, you know an energy and I just give it back on the court I Good, I just brand. Yeah, I spread it all the time. So it's not that bad


Antimicrobial stewardship programs, ASPS, are essential to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and improve patient outcomes in both developed and developing countries. In Latin America, however, there is limited evidence of successful implementation of these programs due to lack of resources and knowledge about best practices. To address this issue, it is important to understand the current state of antimicrobial stewardship in the region and identify gaps in knowledge and resources. This paper provides an overview of existing antimicrobial stewardship initiatives in Latin America and identifies key elements necessary for success. This article was authored by Valeria Fabre, Sara E. Cosgrove, Clara Siqueira, and others.


Brain Power Wellness provides mindfulness training, social-emotional learning, brain training, holistic wellness, and team building to about 500 schools around the country. We've been really honored over the last 12 years to work with up to half a million students at this point and about 25,000 teachers. Before Brain Education, I was a stressed out elementary school teacher and after Brain Education, I am a hopeful and passionate leader for holistic health and wellness in education. My name is Dave Beale. I am from Long Island, New York, and I'm the executive director for Brain Power Wellness and the author of the Brain Power classroom. So I first found Brain Education through my wife. I was trying to deal with the stress of being a new teacher in a really challenging elementary school, actually the fifth lowest performing school in all of New York City, and I was a new teacher and also a new father. My son was about two years old and just all the experiences of stress of the job and parenthood really started to wear on me and I started developing some physical problems from headaches and insomnia to chest pain and when I started developing chest pain and explained that to my wife, she got very concerned and the line that I like to tell is she looked at our son, our two-year-old son, and then she looked at me and she said, if you die, I'm going to kill you. And that was her loving way of telling me that I needed to take better care of myself. So then she invited me to take yoga and Tai Chi at the studio that she was practicing at. So that's how I first learned about Brain Education. Brain Education has changed me in many ways. So I think the biggest thing is that it's given me tools to manage my stress better. So I've always been a very passionate person, but also have been quick-tempered. And so Brain Education has really helped me to manage my emotions more evenly and just given me tools to decompress when I have stress from work or from my personal life. Just given me some tools to lead a healthier lifestyle. The other thing I think the biggest thing for me is it's helped me kind of rediscover my life purpose because all the changes that I went through really inspired me. And as I've shared this over the last 15 years with students and teachers, it's just really inspired me about my life's journey. And I always knew, you know, as an adult, I knew that that would involve education and teaching, but I didn't know it was going to be involving teaching Tai Chi and wellness and meditation and things like that. So it's actually given me, I think, a really cool kind of path in life to share and connect with people. So it's given me a lot. Favorite Brain Education exercise probably is chi gam energy ball and danmu energy dance. So just kind of letting go of all the stress and just feeling energy pulsing through my body and just connecting with the essence of life inside me. I think my favorite brain education principle is either where your mind goes energy follows or if when you choose it will happen, which are pretty similar to me. So that was kind of a very new concept for me just about tapping into my manifestation power and the power of not only positive thinking, but just persistence through positivity until the result that you're shooting for is manifested. Brain power wellness provides mindfulness training, social emotional learning, brain training, holistic wellness and team building to about 500 schools around the country. And we've been really honored over the last 12 years to work with up to half a million students at this point and about 25,000 teachers. And what we do is really simple. So we offer four levels of professional learning for teachers. But what's pretty special and unique about our system is in addition to that professional development, we also push into the teacher's classrooms because it can be really hard for a teacher first learning about this to feel confident to actually use the techniques that we've given them in the PD. So the step of us pushing into the classroom and introducing those exercises and routines to the students is really impactful not only for the kids, but also for the teacher as well. And we also do some pretty amazing student leadership programs in the schools. One of my favorite things that we do is the student leadership program. And we train 25 student leaders in a given school. And these are kids who have natural leadership ability, but maybe have fallen through the cracks of the traditional system and are using that leadership maybe in negative ways. And so we do a really great three day self development workshop for those students and get them to buy into being a positive force in the school. And we continuously mentor them throughout the year. And at the end of the year in May, we have a huge celebration this year, we're going to have 3000 student leaders from over 100 schools have all those students come together upstated Honors Haven Resort in Ellenville, New York for a three day student leadership celebration. So that's one of the most inspiring things that I get to participate in each year, because I get to see the future leaders of our country really tap into who they are and connect with nature and connect with with their fellow students that they get to meet from all over the city and all over the country. So some of the benefits from brain education in the classroom range from social emotional benefits, such as fewer negative incidents because students are self regulating their behavior in a more productive way, and just a more confident attitude, more kind of positive affect to more cognitive outcomes. So we have some great research on our website that shows the impact of our training on things like learning efficiency on memory and recall and on sequential and quantitative reasoning. So the combination of stress management and meditative techniques also combined with the really cool neuroplasticity and brain training exercises that we do create a pretty powerful impact that's not only good for us emotionally and socially, but also cognitively and academically. So the best way to get involved with Brain Power Wellness is to visit our website at brainpowerwellness.com and you can connect with us on all forms of social media and please follow us. We've sent a lot of videos and pictures of the great work that our teachers are doing every day in the schools and message us and see how we can connect. Before Brain Education I was a stressed out elementary school teacher and after Brain Education I am a hopeful and passionate leader for holistic health and wellness in education.