India's Covid Crisis

We thought that the worst was over. We thought that we had overcome this new disease and were going about our lives. But a more devastating crisis was about to unfold. The strain changed in the second wave. And the ability of the strain to impact or infect other people faster was much higher than the first wave. The virus does not want to kill its host. The virus wants to livein our genome forever, and multiply and replicate. A terrifying wave of COVID-19was about to grip our country. The minute you got up in the morning,you could smell smoke in the air. It was the bodies burning everywhere. The death rate had become very high. And we would need to do whatever it takesto battle this unseen enemy. The spring of 2021. It is business as usual in India. COVID-19 cases had peaked in September 2020. And by early February 2021, the national daily was around 10,000 cases. More than half of India's states weren't even reporting COVID-19 deaths. Life seemed to get back to how it was. But in a couple of days,things started to change. And I, just another ordinary Indian,would watch the devastation unfold. Signs of the second wavefirst show up in Maharashtra. The COVID-19 cases in Mumbai,the state's financial capital, begin to rise. Mumbai has reported more than 9,000 daily COVID-19 cases which is the Maharashtra state capital's highest ever single-day spike, according to Mumbai's municipal body,the BMC. We always knew that the second wave was coming because we were closely monitoring countries in Europe, such as Italy, Germany, France and the UK. The first wave was not very infectious. The second wave was highly infectious. We knew that it was the same virus. If the second and third waveswere happening in the UK, why wouldn't it happen in India? For the second wave, the virus had mutated,becoming more transmissible. And when there was the surge of cases, the country's oxygen supplywas quickly depleted because the demand for medical oxygenwent up ten-fold during that peak. Soon, infections begin to spreadacross the country. Daily deaths increasedby over 500% in just one month. Deaths have been rising at a scary rateof almost 10% a day in April. The national capital, Delhi,is hard hit. This time,young people were getting sick. There were 17-year-olds and 16-year-oldswho were getting sick. It did not happen last year. Last year, it was people above 65, and people above 55. And anyone younger than that would just get better. But this time, they were getting much sicker. Any amount of oxygen given to them was not enough. Any amount of medicinethat we could give was not enough. The treatment protocol was the same. The disease was the same. The way it looked on the CT scan was the same. But this time,the mortality was very high. Within two to three daysafter being hospitalised, some of them would die. And at the same time,the oxygen crisis started. The main thing people required was oxygen, which was suddenly not available any more. Last year, a regular COVID-19 patient would only require about four or five litres of oxygen per hour. This year, a regular COVID-19 patient who is admitted in the ward would require an average of about 10 litres of oxygen per hour. And when the patientis on the ventilator, the required oxygen is almost 45 litres per hour. So, we were scaredto put patients on ventilators or to keep patients on ventilators because one cylinder would only last for one patient. Over 24 hours, on one ventilator, I would need six such cylinders. The lack of oxygen cylinders was because the publicwas buying cylinders in bulk, filling it up and keeping it at home. And not understanding that if these cylinders were to go to the hospitals, and were filled by the hospitals, there would be more available bedsin the hospitals to treat patients. We had beds. We had a lot of beds,but we had no oxygen. We were running from one place to another. We ran between 300 and 700 miles, to a place where we could find oxygen. We were continuously on our phones, trying all the leadsthat can provide us oxygen. We have over 4,000 oxygen cylindersin distribution. And this facilitycan accommodate 500 people. The patients who come hereare the ones who can't find a bed. Some have been in their cars, finding a hospital bed for the past 30 hours. So, the patients who come here are in very critical conditions. I still remember the first day when we set up the facility. We had one patient coming inin an auto-rickshaw. They didn't have the moneyto even get the patient an ambulance. We have seen patients who were calling us and saying, "We are coming from 50 kilometres away. So, please keep something for us." We call them after some time, and we found out that they had passed away during transit. We prioritise people whose oxygen levels are below 80 because we know that the people who have an oxygen level of 90 and above will easily survive and be stable. But the one who might come in after 10 minutes may be a more severe case. So, this is how we plan. There is no solution to it. You need to draw a line at some point. But yes, saying no to someoneis the hardest thing you can ever do. Our focus now is, for each bed that we haveat our O2 centre facilities, we will always haveone concentrator for backup. It will help us to not rely onthe supply chain of oxygen cylinders, and on oxygen refilling stations. We just need the electricity connectionto run an oxygen concentrator. And our volunteers will be all setto keep this facility running 24/7. The journey doesn't just end today. I am fortunate enoughto be waking up tomorrow to serve more people. So, that in itself is an inspiration. We started Mission Oxygen with a group of friends, who are all entrepreneurs and founders of technology companies and other businesses in Delhi. Mission Oxygen is just an initiative that was started from a feeling of helplessness and a feeling of motivationthat we all had to do something. When Mission Oxygen came upon our WhatsApp group, I couldn't stop myself from saying, "Yes, I would like to be partof doing something good for my country, and for the frontline workers out there." When we started speaking to hospitals in Delhi NCR (National Capital Region), we realised that every hospital was asking for 10 to 100 pieces. And within a few hours, we all realised that this is not a problem that is going to be solved with 100, 200, 500 or even 1,000 pieces. We require thousands and thousands of them. We couldn't find anything in India. And that's why we started looking outside India, and how we can import these. And one of the reasons why we chose China was because one of the factories that we found was a WHO-approved supplier for oxygen concentrators. In fact, it was the only one in China. We had to book charter flights so that we could get these concentrators to India in time, because there were a lot of flights that were getting cancelled. So, all the airports in China were overloaded with cargo. There were about 700 to 1,000 tonnes of extra cargo. So, we had to make the decision that everything we were bringing in had to be brought in through charter flights. What we have been doing has been very difficult and taxing. We have all been working between 18 and 20 hours a day. And sleeping between three and four hours. The goal is to get these out within next two to three days so that it reaches the destination. The oxygen crisis escalatesin the last week of April, especially in Delhi. Today, desperate Indians around the country are begging, pleading and dying, waiting for beds,oxygen and medicines. There is a national oxygen emergency and it has to be called exactly that. And hospitals face a devastating truth. They may not have enough oxygen for their patients. That particular night was really like a horror movie. You didn't know what to do. People were gasping. The families were crying. They were desperate. And you know that these peopleare totally dependent on the oxygen. The minute the oxygen level dips, the saturation dips and they start becoming sick. The helplessness that was the reat that point in time was beyond imagination. There was no authoritythat I did not beg. Nothing could be done at that time. We contacted the ministry,we contacted the MLAs, we contacted peoplein the higher-up stations. But nobody could help us. People stopped answering the calls. I had this vision that the staff in our ICUwere standing. The oxygen was finished. One by one, the patients were dying. At that point in time,I took to social media. We don't have enough oxygento sustain our patients for the next two hours. We have been trying since 4.30am. Our vehicles have gone to Bawana. They have gone to Faridabad and Noida. We are not getting oxygen from anywhere. We have young patients who will die in a matter of two hours. I would like to request that you send oxygen to us, please. We need oxygen for our patients. Luckily, four to five hospitals came to our rescue. And some how, I managed to get enough oxygen for that night. But oxygen wasn't the only thing we are running out of. Hospital beds, medicines, ventilators, all critical tools to fight the pandemic,are in short supply. A lethal second waveof the COVID-19 virus engulfs India. And there is an acute shortageof oxygen and hospital beds. People were dying because of the fact thatthey couldn't get a bed in a hospital. They couldn't get an oxygen concentratorto save their lives. I think that these are really hard times, and all of us have come togetherto support this cause. It wasn't our responsibility to have to step up and do the work. But we did, because we couldn't let the lives of the people be another number on the screen. We also need to set upthe Facebook helpline because the Instagram helpline is kind of glitching and it got blocked. Let's have a meeting tomorrow at 12.30pm. I will send a text the group if you want to. Initially, when we started Uncut, we were two teenagers who thought thatwe should try and engage the youth more. A month and half ago, we had a little bit of extra timeon our hands. So, we decided to put that free timeinto doing COVID-19 resources work. We just compiled a couple of resourcesfor the region. We put them on our website, and we started circulating those linkson social media. Instead of having to frantically run around 10 hospitals and getting denied everywhere, we could direct them to the one place that they could getthe life-sustaining things they needed to save themselves and their families. As you can see,there are all the states below. And you have to work with the state that you are assigned to. We managed to make a database of all the resources, whether it was for beds, injectionsor anything that was available. And we managed to get it live on our website within 14 hours. I have some ambulances resources. I'll just send them to you. And can someone add those to the database as well? On the first day we did our database and had put it on social media, we received a text from someone asking,"Can you find me these resources?" And the entire team just worked on it, making phone calls and reaching out to personal contacts to try and find the resources. And two hours later,we got a call from that person saying, "The patient is stable now." And the doctors are very hopefulthat he'll make a recovery. I think that was the moment when we realisedthat we were doing a big thing. We have divided the entire teaminto fragments. We have a teamwhich is sending in resources to a group. We have a teamwhich is adding it to the database. And we have a separate teamwhich is verifying it side by side. So, the whole processbecomes a lot faster and smoother. Is there anything that went wrong? Is there anything that we can improve onas a team and can work on? Database-wise? Helpline-wise? Anything? I am going to forward the number to you. One of our volunteerswoke up in the morning for his first DM shift at around 8am. And the first thing he had to do was to look for a body bag for someone in Lucknow because the patient had passed away half an hour before and they needed a body bag. So, things like this just takes a huge toll on the team. (Foreign Language) Our next consignmentof oxygen concentrators has just come in from the airport. About 1,000 pieces or sohave come in this consignment, and they are just getting unloaded from the vehicles and being sent to the warehouse. If you think about it,in such a short span of time, we have gotten 6,000 pieces. We have paid $7 million to the vendors. We are flying charter flights into India. We have already sentmore than 2,000 concentrators to more than 13 states in India. I think it's just something that happened because the more we kept doing it,the more we felt that it was not enough. And that feeling of it not being enough is what led us to doingwhat we are doing right now. As the paperwork come, hopefully, it will leaveby tomorrow morning. And we will get it all out. The goal is to get themto the best place possible. And what is the best place? It is where the need is the most critical at this point in time. We have partnered with multiple NGOs and organisations on the ground that understand where the real need is in rural India today. Because the problem has extended down to the rural levels and to the smallest villages. Smaller towns like Dhampur in North India are not spared. Some even lack the basic infrastructure to deal with the crisis. Infection rates crossed 21 million by May 2021. There were 400,000 new cases every day,a world record. ...have been reported in the last 24 hours alone. This is the highest number of cases that have been reported in the country. Over 40 countries, including the US,UK, Russia and Singapore, rushed to our aid. The Indian Air Force does non-stop sorties. Warships bring oxygen plants from abroad and special oxygen trains are pushed into service. How did we get here? We had battled the first wave successfully, with nationwide lockdownfor over 70 days. The numbers had come down by early 2021. But did we let our guard down too soon? At the start of the year,large-scale celebratory events took place. The virus had mutated, and a highly infectiousvariant of the virus, the Delta variant,had begun to spread. Every virus has its genetic code. When we talk about its genetic code, this virus has an RNA,the Ribonucleic Acid, for its genetic code. I would describe it as a necklace made up of almost 30,000 beads. And the 30,000 beads comprise four main colours. And for its genetic code, the beads comein a pre-ordered sequence. And when it is multiplying very rapidly, sometimes, errors happen in the order of those beads. So, those changes are known as mutations. And these mutations are the variants of the virus. The whole genome sequencing is really lookingat that necklace of 30,000 beads. It is examined from one end to the other to see where the beads have changed. And sometimes,when these beads are changed, it confers different properties to the virus. The ability of a virusto be considered as a virulent strain is dictated by its genes. So, what contributes to virulence? One factor could be thatit becomes more infectious. It's able to quickly get into a cell and even jump from cell to cell. The other factor is its impact on the infected person's immune system. We have all heard of this so-called cytokine storm in people who have severe COVID-19. So, it can cause a hyperimmune or an exaggerated immune response. It could also spreadfrom one organ to another organ. In this case, the B.1.617,or the Delta variant, has been found to be highly transmissible. In the second wave, our daily oxygen requirements tripled from pre-pandemic times. What was the real problem with oxygen? Typically, hospitals don't generatetheir own oxygen, anywhere in the world. They are typically supplied with liquid oxygen which is then stored on-sitein cryogenic tanks. It is not that India doesn't makeenough medical oxygen. India makes a lot of oxygen,over 7,000 tonnes a day. And it happens to be in remote locations which are close to steel plants. When the government of India realised that there was a crisis all over, the question then was where they could get the oxygen. The answer is that it is available at the steel plants, because steel plants use oxygen and part of that,about 10% to 15% of the oxygen, is kept in storage as a reserve. Because whenever we havea power shutdown, a maintenance or a breakdown in our oxygen plant, we need at least 24 hours of buffer. So, this is a reserve quota that we always have. What is liquid oxygen? From the air,we separate nitrogen and oxygen. At a particular temperature of -180 degrees Celsius, we separate the nitrogen first and then, we separate the oxygen. And at that particular negative temperature, oxygen turns into liquid form. It looks like water. And then, we fill it up into the tanks. You can transport it as liquid from one location to another location. There are seven large steel plantsin the country. And every day, we can produce 2,000 tonnes of liquid oxygen. So, at its peak,the country's demand was at 2,200 tonnes. We had a capacityto produce more than 2,000 tonnes. But how do we transport it all the way from the central or eastern part of India, sending the oxygen to a particular city? That was a marathon of a task. We're experiencing an average of 2,000 deaths a day. But we are fighting to get things back under control. This is a nationwide effort. My father was an army officer who told me that wars are fought by systems,and not by individuals. And as a student of history,when I joined, I knew that the earlier pandemics, whether it was the Bubonic Plagueor the Spanish Flu, were around for years. So, I told my team that it was not an ad-hoc responsefor one to two months. This is a battle or a war,which is going to go on for years. So, we must build systems. It can be shifted here. For the first wave, we created 26 different systems, initiatives or models. And I would say that each of these models is unique. So, the second wave came,and the systems were on autopilot. Mumbai is also the only cityin the world today where the COVID-19 positive report does not flow directlyfrom the test lab to the patient. So, I said that these reports should come to me. This was a very risky decision that I took. It created panic in the market. They started running around and started to visualise death. And we created ward war rooms. Each ward gets about 40 names. Each dashboard would get four names, and each dashboard is manned by a professional doctor. And that doctor had to ring uponly four people, announce their positive results to them,send ambulances to their homes, and then we decide what category of bed they are entitled to. There is social equity. So, we call this system,"Chase The Patient". Right from his test reportto putting him on the bed. It worked greatly in our favour because we made the patient captive at his residence. Otherwise, if he had goneto a couple of hospitals seeking for a bed in taxis or private cars, by the evening, he would have infected dozens of people with COVID-19. We created these seven jumbo hospitals, with 9,200 beds, 612 ICU and 70% oxygenated beds. Not even one bed was shut down despite the fact thatin the whole of December and January, we had almost no cases. From the end of March, we were watching what was happening in Maharashtra and we were also kind of hopingthat it would not happen here. But at the same time,we were also planning. For Bangalore, cases peaked at around 4,000 last year. And we never expected that the number of cases would reach around 23,000. So, the surge in the number of cases has been quite unexpected for us. We have around 60 triage centres in operation. And the purpose of these triage centres is that if any patient tested positive, he has the option ofwalking into a triage centre. India is battlingits worst public health crisis. We have a huge populationof over 1.3 billion people. And one of the ways out of this crisis is to vaccinate everyone as quickly as possible. In early 2021, we had embarked on one of the largest vaccination drives in the world. The plan was to vaccinate 300 million people by August. But just as the second wave peaked, the vaccination drive stumbled. India's vaccination journey,with regard to COVID-19, has been mixed. India makes about 2.5 million doses a day. So, if you convert that into the number of people to be vaccinated, about 1.2 million people can be vaccinated a day based on the number of vaccines that are made in India. But considering that India has a population of about 900 million or 1 billion that need to be vaccinated, you are talking about over 900 days,or three years, to vaccinate at that rate. So, due to the size of the population, the production capacity hadto be ramped up by five to six times so that we could vaccinate peoplein six to eight months, instead of over a three-year period. Because that did not happen, we are now stuckwith having to import vaccines. Nandurbar is a district situatedin the northwest corner of Maharashtra, with a population of around 2 million. Around 70% of the population is tribal. And in terms of literacy and income,it's one of the lowest in the state. In many cities, there were long queues. People were waiting to get vaccinated. Here, despite active involvement, and actively persuading many local leaders and tribal people, they were apprehensive or fearful. And they were not believing us. Someone had said that this vaccine would make you impotent. Someone said, "They will kill you. Your kidney would be given to someone and sold to the market." Someone said thatafter taking the vaccine, you would die in four or five days. So, we deployed all our teachers,ASHA workers and Gram Sevaks. And we made it like a competition. If you vaccinate your village and your ward, make your village reach a vaccination rate of 100%, we will then give you a certificate. So, many people came upwith very innovative ideas. Someone dressed up as Mahadev (Great God). The second thing is the use of technology because this is based on the CoWIN app. You have to register to use the app. The availability of Internet is an issue. So, rather than having people come to our centres, we deployed the centres to the public. If the public is not coming to the centres,we should go to the public. Buses will go to the hamlets. They will pick up the peopleand bring them to the vaccination place, where the vaccination will be done. It's heartbreaking when you see someone die and you can do nothing about it. There are stories of people dying from the virus because they had to go out. They had no other choice. There are stories of people who tried to get a vaccine, and never got a vaccine. And in the end,they died because they got infected. These are extremely hard storiesbecause they didn't have to die. But they died because of the way we have created our systems and created this world. And they died simply because of inequalities, which are inherent in this world. Is it the first or the second doseof the vaccine? If it was the first,then you check when it was taken. It becomes critical to have those touchpoints. I am blind,and that's just a medical condition. But someone like meis not able to access the software because they have not designed itto be used by someone who is blind. Someone who is in a wheelchair can't access physical spaces because they are not designed for someone in a wheelchair. This has nothing to do with their disability. These are handicaps that have happened simply because of the way we have constructed the world. Our fundamental focusis to enable people to get vaccinated. So, starting from there, to helping them registeron the CoWIN app, understanding their needs of transport,or financial needs, such that every single person can have a dignified vaccination experience. It has been three and a half weeksof trying to procure the vaccine for someone with a disability,like myself. And through the helpof the ABBF foundation, we are on our wayto the SL Raheja Hospital where I have managed to secure a spotfor myself and my care giver to get a shot of the vaccine. And I am very excited to go and get it. No two persons with disabilities have the same needs. The needs of Rustom in a wheelchair are very different than those of someone else that he knows, or someone else in a wheelchair. There are certain pockets in every city where you have higher concentrationsof people with disabilities. So, our on-ground volunteersgo door to door. They know these people. They are part of the community. So, they are familiar with the people. They go speak to them, and stay in touch with them until they come to the vaccination centre. I really believe that all of usare inherently good human beings and want to do good. It's just that we all needsome opportunities. We all need to knowthat what we are doing does bring a difference to someone's life. Sudhir put it very beautifully once and he said, "If not now, then when?If not me, then who?" And I think that's what really drivesmost of the volunteers, and the people who are on the grounddoing such amazing work. And while the country grapples with the aftermath of the second wave, the battle with COVID-19is far from over. When I took over,I closed my eyes for five minutes. And I said, "Look, God has chosen me." And I promised in my heart and soul that I will do whatever possible,to the maximum. Our vaccination is ongoing. And you see in the United Kingdom and the United States of America that mortality has nosedivedafter vaccination. And we have floateda global expression of interest to acquire 10 million vaccines in one go. So, even if we get the next wave in one or two months' time, in five months' time, we would have reached that position where everybody in Mumbai is vaccinated. We are building 4 jumbos (field hospitals)with 6,500 beds. These jumbos can handle over 15,000 patients. This is the Paediatric ICU. We have oxygen, suction, lines air, as well as the ventilators ready. And we also have the medicines for these children ready in case of an emergency. And this is all ready for a third wave which will be coming. Even as cities begin to slowly unlock, and people returnto some sense of normalcy, the devastation brought by the second wave lingers. We had a lot of fear because we were surroundedby COVID-19 patients since we were a COVID-19 hospital. There was the fear of bringing it home. And there was a lot of fear of actually getting COVID-19 and dying. But after seeing so many deaths, personally, I am now not scared of death any more. For the first time, we were seeing so much more positive news as compared to negative news. For example,people are helping each other, irrespective of gender or caste. So, it just felt really good to see that as a country, we can be so united if we put in that effort. I've gotten COVID-19 twice. Even if I get it one more time, the worst case would bethat I lose my life. But with the number of people I've saved, I know I've made a difference which nobody can take away from me. I know that I've lived my lifeto the fullest. It's a complete journey. As we're survivingthe catastrophic second wave, we remember the lives lost, the lessons learnt, and hope that we never have to go through this devastating crisis again. 

Amazon Quiz Answers Today 20 February 2020 – Win ₹10,000 (5 Winner)

Amazon quiz today prize – ₹10,000 Amazon Pay Balance

Amazon quiz Time – 8 AM to 12 PM

Amazon quiz Date – 20 February 2020

Winners List Will Declare On – 29 February 2020

___________________________________________

Play Now 😍

Amazon Quiz Answers Today 20 February 2020 – Win ₹10,000 (5 Winner)

Question 1. The ‘Kala Ghoda Arts Festival’ is organised annually in which
Indian city?

 Answer – Mumbai

Question 2. Which Asian country has introduced a ‘sustainable development
fee’ for tourists?

 Answer – Bhutan

Question 3. NS Dharmshaktu has recently been presented an award by the
President for his work in combating leprosy. After whom is the award named?

 Answer – Mahatma Gandhi

Question 4. Which Indian company recently launched services in London,
offering services in Comfort, Comfort XL and Executive Ride categories?

 Answer – Ola

Question 5. The Indian Institute of Veterinary Research has recently
developed a vaccine to combat CSF. What does S stand for in ‘Classical S___
Fever’?

 Answer – Swine

8 Tricky job interview questions asked at Google

Google, one of the biggest tech giants, is a desired job destination for software engineers. The reason behind its enormous popularity is considered to be the benefits Google offers, i.e., high salaries and quirky perks, beside a good workplace culture.

However, landing a job at Google is not as easier as it looks. The company often asks very bizarre and out-of-box questions in job interview to give it a whirl to the candidate’s mind. Here, we have enlisted eight most bizarre questions that Google asked to the software engineers during a job interview.

1. How could you solve humankind's biggest crisis given $1 billion and a spacecraft?
2 How would I explain the importance of HTML 5 to Larry Page and then to my grandma?

3. Let’s say you have to construct Google maps from scratch and guide a person standing on Gateway of India (Mumbai) to India Gate (Delhi). How do you do the same?

4. If you had access to a bank's database, how would you use that information to design an ATM for elderly people?

5. A man pushed his car to a hotel and lost his fortune. What happened?

6. What is your opinion on whether or not individuals should be required to use their official name when opening a Gmail or Google + account?

7. Tell me what you think about Google charging users $1 per month to use Gmail.

If you find all the above questions hard to answer, here comes the last one which will definitely give you a stroke even in understanding the question.

8. You’re the captain of a pirate ship, and your crew gets to vote on how the gold is divided up. If fewer than half of the pirates agree with you, you die. How do you recommend apportioning the gold in such a way that you get a good share of the booty, but still survive?

Digital India programme

Digital India programme

Minister Narendra Modi launched the much ambitious 'Digital India' programme on Wednesday,
July 1, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the national capital. Top industrialists like RIL
Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, Wipro
Chairman Azim Premji and many others, were among the business honchos who shared their
ideas of taking digital revolution to the masses.

What is Digital India? 

With the launch of Digital India programme, the government is taking a big step forward to
transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy. Includes various schemes
worth over Rs 1 lakh crore like Digital Locker, e-eduction, e-health, e-sign and national
scholarship portal. BharatNet in 11 states and Next Generation Network (NGN), are also a part
of Digital India campaign. The programme includes projects that aim to ensure that government
services are available to citizens electronically and people get benefit of the latest information
and communication technology. The Ministry of Communications and IT is the nodal agency to
implement the programme.

Apps for Digital India 

Digital India Portal, MyGov Mobile App, Swachh Bharat Mission App and Aadhaar Mobile
Update App.

Vision Of Digital India 

• Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen 
• Governance & Services on Demand 
• Digital Empowerment of Citizens 
• Pillars Of Digital India 
• Broadband Highways 
• Universal Access to Phones 
• Public Internet Access Programme 
• e-Governance - Reforming government through Technology 
• e-Kranti - Electronic delivery of services 
• Information for All 
• Electronics Manufacturing - Target NET ZERO Imports 
• IT for Jobs 
• Early Harvest Programmes 

Impact of Digital India by 2019

• Broadband in 2.5 lakh villages, universal phone connectivity 
• Net Zero Imports by 2020 
• 400,000 Public Internet Access Points 
• Wi-fi in 2.5 lakh schools, all universities; Public wi-fi hotspots for citizens 
• Digital Inclusion: 1.7 Cr trained for IT, Telecom and Electronics Jobs 
• Job creation: Direct 1.7 Cr. and Indirect at least 8.5 Cr. 
• e-Governance & eServices: Across government
• India to be leader in IT use in services - health, education, banking 
• Digitally empowered citizens - public cloud, internet access

Top GREAT FESTIVAL SALE Products which you can buy.

https://amzn.to/2o3dl0i

@41,990

Acer Nitro 5 AN515-52 15.6-inch Laptop (8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H/8GB/1TB/Windows 10 Home 64-bit/4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Graphics)

*BEST BUDGET GAMING LAPTOP*

*Mi LED TV 4C PRO 80 cm (32) HD Ready Android TV (Black)*

@10,990

https://amzn.to/2nT4C0C

*MOBILE ACCESSORIES STARTING AT RS. 49*

https://amzn.to/2nVehUr

*Mivi ThunderBeats Wireless Bluetooth Earphones with Mic - Gun Metal*

@999

https://amzn.to/2nR9kfb

*ASUS VivoBook X507UA Intel Core i5 8th Gen 15.6-inch FHD Thin and Light Laptop (8GB RAM/1TB HDD/Windows 10/Integrated Graphics/Stary Grey/1.68 kg), X507UA-EJ852T*

https://amzn.to/2ndDdGi

*Lenovo Legion Y540 9th Gen Intel core i5 15.6 inch FHD Gaming Laptop(8GB/1TB SSD/Windows 10/MS Office/4GB NVIDIA GTX1650 Graphics/Black/2.3Kg), 81SY00C7IN*

~70,000

https://amzn.to/2lFuT1z

*Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming 9th Gen Intel Core i5 15.6 inch FHD Gaming Laptop (8GB RAM/1TB HDD/GTX 1050 3GB Graphics/Windows 10 Home/Black/2.2Kg), 81LK004LIN*

~50,000

https://amzn.to/2nfbQM9

*ASUS VivoBook X407UA-EK558T 14.0-inch Thin and Light Laptop (8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U/8GB/1TB HDD/Windows 10/Integrated Graphics/1.55 Kg), Starry Grey*

Under 30,000

https://amzn.to/2nduO5I

*boAt Rugged v3 Extra Tough Unbreakable Braided Micro USB Cable 1.5 Meter (Black)*

@99

https://amzn.to/2niq7Yc

*Syska Power Port100 10000mAH Lithium-Ion Power Bank (Black)*

@599

https://amzn.to/2moWwfN

*Poco F1 by Xiaomi (Steel Blue, 6GB RAM, 128GB Storage)*

@14,999

https://amzn.to/2nLPq5d

*BATA Men's Tim Formal Shoes*

@675

https://amzn.to/2nrkzL2

*BATA Men's Synthetic Lace- Up Formal Shoe - Black*

@719

https://amzn.to/2o2L8qq

*SET WET DEO*
Pack of 3
@178

https://amzn.to/2lS5sdm

*Amazon Brand - Solimo Antibacterial Handwash Liquid, Rose - 250 ml (Pack of 2)*

@130 PRIME EXCLUSIVE DEAL

https://amzn.to/2mmTQPV

Communication Barriers

What is Communication?

Communication is an integral instinct of all living things. At its simplest, communication is any exchange of information between two entities. It can be observed to take place at the cellular level between microorganisms, and on a larger scale between members of a herd evading a predator. As modern humans living in a busy world, we rely on good communication every day to make our way through life. Every interaction we have with another person, from a raised eyebrow in a busy checkout lane, to an obscene gesture at another motorist in traffic, to the simple wave to your family as you pull out of the driveway in the morning, is a form of communication. Today, communication has gone from individual levels of conversing to mass communication. The most important aspects of communication are best understood when there is a lack of it. In the following pages, we will discuss different types of communication, common barriers in our daily communication, as well as strategies for overcoming them.

Good communication is not just a process of transferring information from one entity to another. It's an art of first listening or reading the information, comprehending it, processing it and then transferring it. There is a huge amount of effort that goes into communication. Gestures, tone of voice, body language and spoken language are some of the important aspects of communication. If the other person is unable to comprehend any of these factors, then the process fails.

Four Types of Communication

Communication comes in four basic types. Below, we will look at the different types in depth.

Verbal Communication This mode of communication relies on words to convey a message. This is the standard method of communicating that most of us use on a day-to-day basis, though we rarely use it without augmenting it with one of the other communication types. Other cues people use while communicating verbally include, tone, gestures, and body language. Verbal communication helps in expressing thoughts, emotions and sentiments. A phone conversation, chat with a friend, an announcement made, or a speech delivered are all verbal forms of communication. For most of us, it comes with ease. As children, we learned verbal communication through the sounds around us. We soon develop and start understanding the language which helps us to communicate verbally as we grow older. Verbal communication is further divided into four subcategories:


1. Intrapersonal Communication This form of communication is extremely private and restricted to ourselves. It includes the silent conversations we have with ourselves, wherein we juggle roles between the sender and receiver who are processing our thoughts and actions. This process of communication when analyzed can either be conveyed verbally to someone or stay confined as thoughts.
   
2. Interpersonal Communication This form of communication takes place between two individuals and is thus a one-on-one conversation. Here, the two individuals involved will swap their roles of sender and receiver in order to communicate in a clearer manner.
   
3. Small Group Communication This type of communication can take place only when there are more than two people involved. Here the number of people will be small enough to allow each participant to interact and converse with the rest. Press conferences, board meetings, and team meetings are examples of group communication. Unless a specific issue is being discussed, small group discussions can become chaotic and difficult to interpret by everybody. This lag in understanding information completely can result in miscommunication.
   
4. Public Communication This type of communication takes place when one individual addresses a large gathering of people. Election campaigns and public speeches are example of this type of communication. In such cases, there is usually a single sender of information and several receivers who are being addressed.


Non Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication is a process of communication without using words or sounds. Non-verbal communication uses gestures, body language, facial expressions, eye contact, clothing, tone of voice, and other cues to convey a message. Like verbal communication, this method of communicating is rarely used alone. Non-verbal communication could be considered like a spice we use when communicating to add a little flavor. You might raise your eyebrows emphatically when speaking to help make a point, or shake your finger at your child when you’re angry. These are all non-verbal cues that help convey a message.


Written Communication Written communication is the medium through which the message of the sender is conveyed with the help of written words. Letters, personal journals, e-mails, reports, articles, and memos are some forms of written communication. Unlike some other forms of communication, written messages can be edited and rectified before they are sent to the receiver, thereby making written communication an indispensable part of informal and formal communication. This form of communication encapsulates features of visual communication as well, especially when the messages are conveyed through electronic devices such as laptops, phones, and visual presentations that involve the use of text or words.


Visual Communication This form of communication involves the visual display of information, wherein the message is understood or expressed with the help of visual aids. For example, topography, photography, signs, symbols, maps, colors, posters, banners and designs help the viewer understand the message visually. Movies and plays, television shows and video clips are all electronic form of visual communication. Visual communication also involves the transfer of information in the form of text, which is received through an electronic medium such as a computer, phone, etc. Icons and emoticons are a form of visual communication. When these icons are used in a public place, phone or computer, they instruct the user about their meaning and usage. One of the greatest examples of visual communication is the internet, which communicates with the masses using a combination of text, design, links, images, and color. All of these visual features require us to view the screen in order to understand the message being conveyed. Media communication is developing at a meteoric rate in order to ensure clarity and to eliminate any ambiguity. The aforementioned four types of communication have played a vital role and continue to do so, in bridging the gap between people, commerce, education, health care, and entertainment. There are many reasons why interpersonal communications may fail. In many communications, the message may not be received exactly the way the sender intended and hence it is important that the

Communication Barriers

There are many reasons why interpersonal communications may fail. In many communications, the message may not be received exactly the way the sender intended and hence it is important that the communicator seeks feedback to check that their message is clearly understood. The skills of Active Listening, Clarification and Reflection, which we will discuss shortly, may help but the skilled communicator also needs to be aware of the barriers to effective communication. There exist many barriers to communication and these may occur at any stage in the communication process. Barriers may lead to your message becoming distorted and you therefore risk wasting both time and/or money by causing confusion and misunderstanding. Effective communication involves overcoming these barriers and conveying a clear and concise message.

Some common barriers to effective communication include:

• The use of jargon. Over-complicated or unfamiliar terms.
• Emotional barriers and taboos.
• Lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver.
• Differences in perception and viewpoint.
• Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties.
• Physical barriers to non-verbal communication.
• Language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents.
• Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping. People often hear what they expect to hear rather than what is actually said and jump to incorrect conclusions.
• Cultural differences. The norms of social interaction vary greatly in different cultures, as do the way in which emotions are expressed. For example, the concept of personal space varies between cultures and between different social settings.

A skilled communicator must be aware of these barriers and try to reduce their impact by continually checking understanding and by offering appropriate feedback.

Barriers to Communication by Category

• Language Barriers Clearly, language and linguistic ability may act as a barrier to communication. However, even when communicating in the same language, the terminology used in a message may act as a barrier if it is not fully understood by the receiver(s). For example, a message that includes a lot of specialist jargon and abbreviations will not be understood by a receiver who is not familiar with the terminology used. As nurses, we are especially prone to making this mistake. We must remember to use language that can be understood by the receiver.
  
• Psychological Barriers The psychological state of the receiver will influence how the message is received. For example, if someone has personal worries and is stressed, they may be preoccupied by personal concerns and not as receptive to the message as if they were not stressed. Stress management is an important personal skill that affects our interpersonal relationships. Anger is another example of a psychological barrier to communication. When we are angry it is easy to say things that we may later regret and also to misinterpret what others are saying. More generally, people with low self-esteem may be less assertive and therefore may not feel comfortable communicating - they may feel shy about saying how they really feel, or read negative sub-texts into messages they hear.
  
• Physiological Barriers Physiological barriers may result from the receiver’s physical state. For example, a receiver with reduced hearing may not grasp the entirety of a spoken conversation, especially if there is significant background noise.
  
• Physical Barriers An example of a physical barrier to communication is geographic distance between the sender and receiver(s). Communication is generally easier over shorter distances as more communication channels are available and less technology is required. Although modern technology often serves to reduce the impact of physical barriers, the advantages and disadvantages of each communication channel should be understood so that an appropriate channel can be used to overcome the physical barriers.
  
• Attitudinal Barriers Attitudinal barriers are behaviors or perceptions that prevent people from communicating effectively. Attitudinal barriers to communication may result from personality conflicts, poor management, resistance to change, or a lack of motivation. Effective receivers of messages should attempt to overcome their own attitudinal barriers to facilitate effective communication.

Overcoming Barriers

Most of the above mentioned barriers can be overcome by the skilled communicator. Obviously, bridging gaps in geography and communicating through disabilities are a topic for a different discussion. Below, we will look at some tools that can be used to bridge barriers in everyday communications.

• Active Listening Active listening is a skill that can be acquired and developed with practice. However, this skill can be difficult to master and will, therefore, take time and patience. 'Active listening' means, as its name suggests, actively listening. That is fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just ‘hearing’ the message of the speaker. Active listening involves listening with all senses. As well as giving full attention to the speaker, it is important that the ‘active listener’ is also ‘seen’ to be listening - otherwise the speaker may conclude that what they are talking about is uninteresting to the listener. By providing this 'feedback' the person speaking will usually feel more at ease and therefore communicate more easily, openly and honestly. There are both verbal and non-verbal cues that convey active listening. Non-verbal signs include smiling (if appropriate), making eye contact, nodding at appropriate times, and avoiding distractions. Theses non-verbal cues convey the message that you are interested in what the speaker has to say, and that your attention is fully invested. Offering verbal signs of active listening can also be useful. Reflecting on something the speaker has said by asking a clarifying question is a terrific way to do this. Paraphrasing involves finding slightly different words to repeat the main idea of the speaker, and is also great way to show active listening.
  
• Use Simple Language It’s important to remember the audience that you’re speaking to, and use language that can be easily understood. Avoid using medical terminology or jargon when speaking to clients and their families. People are often intimidated by such language, and can be afraid to admit that they don’t understand the message being delivered. An important tool to use when speaking is to pause occasionally and ask questions to ensure that your message is being understood as intended. You may also allow the listener to ask questions to clarify any points.
  
• Give Constructive Feedback Remember that feedback was part of the communication chain we looked at on the first page. While the feedback that you give the speaker/sender may occasionally be negative, it is important that it be constructive in nature. The intent of the feedback should be to further the abilities of the speaker. This will strengthen the interpersonal relationship, and enhance future communications.

Summary

As living beings, we need to express and understand the expressions of others. Like it or not, human society thrives on communication. Civilizations have risen and fallen based upon how good they were at maintaining sound relations with the rest of the world. Communication is, indeed, the very lubricant that makes the machinery of human relations function smoothly. Therefore, the significance of communication cannot and should not be underestimated. Sometimes, difficult situations in life can be resolved by just sitting down and talking it out. Similarly, most personal, professional and social disasters can be averted by maintaining clear, appropriate and unambiguous communication. All we need is some effort on our part to identify and avoid barriers to effective communication to make our lives and the lives of those around us better.

Your New Apple iPhone 11 Could Cost As Little as Rs 51,700 With Amazon Preorder Offers

Buy Now: https://amzn.to/2M2HftT

You can now preorder your new Apple iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max on Amazon now. The listings for the latest iPhones have gone live with a bunch of offers as well, which includes exchange offers, cashbacks, flat discounts on HDFC Bank credit and debit cards, cashbacks on HDFC Bank debit cards as well as discounts with HSBC cards and Axis Bank EMI transactions. You can prebook the iPhone 11 line-up now, and shipping starts September 27. But what does it mean for you and how much would you pay for the new iPhone 11 line-up?

There are offers galore for the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max if you preorder now. First up, there is the exchange offer in place which gives you as much as Rs 7,200 for your old phone, if you wish to trade one in, depending on the device, the model and the condition. If you decide to pay for the iPhone 11 with an HDFC Bank credit or debit card, and this includes EMI transactions as well, there is a straight discount of Rs 6,000 on the new iPhone 11 as well as the new iPhone 11 Pro, and Rs 7,000 discount on the iPhone 11 Pro Max. There is also a 5% cashback on a minimum transaction of Rs 2,000 on HDFC Bank debit cards. If you wish to pay using the Axis Bank EMI option, there is a 5% Instant Discount on Axis bank Credit EMI and 10% Instant Discount on Axis Bank Debit EMI transactions. There is also a 5% instant discount on HSBC Cashback card up to a maximum of Rs 250.

Let us start with the iPhone 11, the entry point to the new iPhone line-up. This is available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB storage options. The entry price is Rs 64,900 for the 64GB storage option, while the 128GB variant costs Rs 69,900 and the 256GB option is priced at Rs 79,900. This is the successor to the iPhone XR and does solve the biggest complaint that people had with the iPhone XR—the single camera, though that didn’t stop it from becoming the largest selling smartphone in the world by a huge margin in the first half of this year. The iPhone 11 gets a dual camera setup at the back, with a new wide and a new ultra-wide camera, working with the updated Smart HDR and image processing algorithms as well as a Night Mode. The updated specs include the new Apple A13 Bionic chip and the immense power and AI prowess it packs in, faster Face ID, longer battery life, support for faster LTE and new colour options as well. This retains the 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display, though that has been tweaked for better colours and brightness. There will be three variants on sale in India. The very fact that this year’s entry point into the iPhone line-up is Rs 10,000 or so lesser than last year itself is a massive advantage.

The iPhone 11 Pro is the first time the Pro moniker has been used for an iPhone. The prices for this are very similar to the pricing of the iPhone XS from last year—Rs 99,900 for the 64GB option, Rs 1,13,900 for the 256GB storage and Rs 1,31,900 for 512GB storage space. Triple camera, a very powerful A13 Bionic chip, a new Night Mode for photography in low light, a new textured matte glass at the back as well as the improvements in performance and security that iOS 13 brings to the table are just some of the many highlights. This has a new 5.8-inch Super Retina XDR display which supports the HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG high dynamic range (HDR) standards as well.

Then there is the larger iPhone 11 Pro Max, which has a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display. In fact, apart from the all the power, the new triple cameras and the AI capabilities, the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s battery life is as much as 5 hours more than last year’s iPhone XS Max. The prices are also similar to the launch prices of last year’s iPhone XS Max—Rs 1,09,900 for the 64GB option, Rs 1,23,900 for the 256GB option and Rs 1,41,900 for the 512GB option.

You can also get the no-cost EMI with Amex, Axis, ICICI, Amazon Pay ICICI card, HDFC, Citi Bank, SBI, IndusInd, Yes Bank, Kotak, RBL, HSBC, Standard Chartered credit cards as well as select debit cards.

A sample memo report.

NATIONAL MARKETING COUNCIL RESEARCH DIVISION NEW DELHI INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM

To: Marketing Manager, National Marketing Council

From: Research Officer

Date: 18 September 2019

Subject: Purchasing power of consumers across the nation during Jan-Mar 2015 

Please refer to your letter no. MM/IM/001 in which you have asked me to study the purchasing power of consumers across the nation during January March 2015 I would like to present my findings and recommendations.

Findings

The data for the report was collected from distributors retailers and customers of our Market Sector. Digital data was collected with Facebook AI and advance algorithm for monitoring customer behaviour. A preliminary look into the status first add people in middle income group spend 10% less on food than in earlier quarter. There was no change on expenditure of tobacco and liquor. Zero demand in housing sector was seen. Clothing sector shows a 15% decrease. 5% increase in medical care expenditure was seen. No change is observed in education sector.

Expenditure on public transportation remained same while there was a decline of 20% in sales of new vehicles.

Overall expenditure on necessities like food, clothing, housing and medical care remains same while expenditure on other items decreased.

People spent as usual on tobacco and liquor while still cutting cost on their other expenses.

Overall expenses of people

It is observed that there is a downfall in economy after recent national elections due to which overall purchasing power of people have decreased. 10 to 15% dismisal of employees in all sector is observed, which also effects the data and purchasing power of consumers. Due to wind fall of economy prices of raw material and transportation cost of it to processing plant have increased significantly which has lead to increase in prices of commodities.

Recommendations

Given below are few suggestions which may help in overcoming the problem of consumers.

• Removal of some parties in supply chain and integrated it with enterprise resource planning software will lead to cost cutting in production and will help in keeping price constant and retention of customer in purchasing same quantity of items.

• Decreasing quantities tightly and keeping the prices also help in detention of consumers as observed from past experiences.

• Establishing with Company online and doing E-Commerce help cut cost and easy management of inventories. I hope that this report will give you an insight into the nature of problem and also its possible solutions.

I would be glad to provide any clarification or additional information regarding required in this regard.

Neeraj Kumar 

Research Officer

10 Year Old Kid Creates Paytm Account; Steals Rs 35,000 From His Dad’s Bank Account!

In a bizarre case of Digital India gone wrong, a class 4th student, aged 10 years, not only created a Paytm account in his father’s name, but also stole Rs 35,000.

How did this happen?

And more importantly, why did he do that?

Rs 35,000 Stolen From Fake Paytm Account For Online Games

The case happened in the capital of Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow.

A class 4th student, aged no more than 10 years, is addicted to online games.

Unable to source money to buy newer versions of games, and to make in-game purchases, he devised a plan.

Using his father’s name, he created a Paytm account, and then started using the wallet for purchasing new games, and to buy in-game products from his favourite games.

He regularly added money to this fake Paytm account from his father’s bank account.

How Did This Happen?

The most interesting aspect of this bizarre case is the fact that the 10 year old kid was able to add his father’s bank account into this Paytm account.

And then, gradually, he used to add money into the wallet, and continued his purchases of games.

Initially, the father didn’t notice, but after a year of this incident, he realized that Rs 35,000 has gone from his bank account.

Since he never created his own Paytm account, he never realised how this happened.

Once he came to know about this ‘theft’, he contacted cyber crime department.

How The Kid Was Caught?

The case was pretty easy: The cyber crime department quickly found out that the Paytm number into which the money from his bank account was deposited, and the phone number linked with bank account are the same. 

Hence, they knew that it was an ‘inside job’, and someone close from the family was conducting this ‘fraud’.

They talked with the kid, and soon, he gave in, and admitted that he was the culprit.

The cyber crime officials and police personnel at the Hazratganj station counseled the kid, and then let him go. 

Our Opinion

If we try to extract the positivity from this news, then it would be the fact that even a class 4th child can create Paytm account (and mobile wallet), attach bank account with the same, and then use it to buy products/services online.

But the bad news is that, the process has become so easy, and anyone, even a class 4th kid can do this, and his father had no idea how the money is being spent from his bank account.

Do we need more awareness about digital transactions or we need to make the process even more sophisticated?

This incident has certainly ignited an interesting debate.

Do share your opinions and viewpoints by commenting right here!

Sulabh Article: A clarion call to protect, preserve the environmen...

Sulabh Article: A clarion call to protect, preserve the environmen...: A clarion call to protect, preserve the environment Environment sustains all living creatures. It has been the topic of discussions on telev...

Cashless Society/Economy

Cashless Society/Economy

Introduction

A cashless society describes an economic state whereby all the financial transactions are done using cards or digital means. The circulation of physical currency is minimal.

Such a concept has been discussed widely, particularly because the world is experiencing a rapid and increasing use of digital methods of recording, managing, and exchanging money in commerce, investment and daily life in many parts of the world, and transactions which would historically have been undertaken with cash are often now undertaken electronically. Some countries now set limits on transaction sand transaction values for which non-electronic payment may be legally used.

How Can We Do This?

We might think how a cashless economy is possible when money is the major source to run day to day life. Well, such an economy might have been a bad dream if it was planned to be implemented a century ago.

We are now living in a world where Internet has taken over every place. Wherever we go, we carry our Debit Cards and Credit Cards. If we were to apply the concept of Cashless Economy keeping in mind the age old practice of seeing Money as a paper, may be the cashless economy would sound like a pointless scheme. But when we think of such an economy with the appliance of today’s technology where no liquid money is used, the whole idea of Cashless Economy can be understood.

Advantages of Cashless Economy

A cashless economy will allow less tension of tackling a wallet full of notes along with us, which is not at all safe in a world full of anti-socials. We can rather use our mobiles as a one stop solution for all kinds of transactions such as bill payments, fees payments, funds transfer, recharge etc.

Crime rates will be diminished due to cash ban as most of the terrorist activities are funded with black money. In addition to this, other crimes such as burglary, extortion, bank robbery etc. will also decline.

One of the biggest advantages is the increase in the span of the income tax.

Conclusion

Above all, the cashless economy will lead to the most convenient and secure economy for all. In short, a cashless economy can only be possible with sufficient infrastructure and planning that are required for supporting an economy like India.