B E N N E T T, C O L E M A N & C O. LT D. | E S TA B LI S H E D 183 8 | T I M E S O F I N D I A . C O M | N E W D E L H I

Newspaper inEducation

STUDENT EDITION

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

WEB EDITION

MANN KI BAAT

PM RECALLSTHE VALOUR OF OURSOLDIERS INTHE KARGILWAR

Recalling the valour of the Armed Forcesduring the Kargil War,Prime MinisterNarendra Modi onSunday said thatIndia's brave soldiershad defeated theenemy perched on themountain heights.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

1 In his monthly, 'Mann kiBaat' radio address, the PMalso said that the threat of

coronavirus is not over yet, andwe need to remain vigilant againstthe deadly virus.

2 He said the focus on wear-ing masks and maintainingsocial distancing has

to continue.

3 Modi also applauded theefforts of groups in variousstates, including Bihar,

Jharkhand and northeast to promote local products during the Covid-19 pandemic.

4 He said this year'sIndependence Day will becelebrated amid the pan-

demic, and urged youth to resolveto make India self- reliant and freeof the pandemic.

CLICK HERE: WWW.TOISTUDENT.COM

women army officers

Centre grants permanent commission to

The ministry of defence has finally issuedthe formal order to grant Permanent Com-mission(PC) to women officers in the In-dian Army, paving way for empowering

women officers to shoulder larger roles in the 13-lakh-strong force.

The order specifies grant of permanent commis-sion to Short Service Commissioned (SSC) womenofficers in all the 10 streams — army, air defence,signals, engineers, army aviation, electronics andmechanical engineers, army service corps, armyordnance corps and intelligence corps, in additionto the existing streams of judge and advocategeneral and army educational corps

FAIR PLAY

What's your take on this landmarkdecision? Let's know your views.Please share your thoughts attoinie175@gmail.com/times-mail175@gmail.com

➤ In the Armed Forces, while male SSC officers could optfor permanent commission at the end of 10 years of service,this option was not available to women officers, who com-prise just 4% of the total strength of the commissioned offi-cers in the Army

➤ They were, thus, kept out of any command appointment,and could not qualify for the government pension, whichstarts only after 20 years of service, as an officer

➤ Last November, the apex court had directed the Army to takea decision on the permanent commission to eight women armyofficers, who had approached the apex court in 2010, against thebar on their absorption in the Armed Forces. The case was firstfiled in the Delhi high court by the women officers in 2003, andhad received a favourable order in 2010. But the order was neverimplemented, and was challenged in the SC by the government

➤ In a landmark verdict in February this year, the SC had direct-ed that women army officers be granted permanent commis-

sion and command postings, rejecting the Centre's stand oftheir physiological limitations as being based on "sexstereotypes" and "gender discrimination against women"

THE STORY, SO FAR

TIM

ES V

IEW

CLICKHERE FORMOREBRIEFNEWS

IN CHELSEA’S NEW BOOK 'SHEPERSISTED' SERIES HON-OURS WOMEN IN SPORTS MASSIVE STUDY SHOWS SHARKS ARE

'FUNCTIONALLY EXTINCT'

SERIES ON HILLARY CLINTONIN DEVELOPMENT AT HULU

P olitician Hillary Clinton's life is the sub-ject of a new series, 'Rodham', whichtracks her story, when she was not mar-

ried to the former US president Bill Clinton.Hulu has optioned the rights to Curtis Sitten-feld's alternative history book, 'Rodham' for aseries that will tell the story

of an ambitious youngwoman, developing herextraordinary mind inthe latter part of the20th century, movingfrom idealism to cyn-icism, and all the wayback again. SarahTreem is allset to writeand pro-duce theproject.

TAYLOR SWIFT’S 'FOLKLORE' EXCEEDS 1.3MN COPIES SOLD IN 24HRS

Pop icon Taylor Swift delighted herfans by releasing a surprise newalbum recently. 'Folklore', her

eighth studio album, comprises 16 songs.According to The Hollywood Reporter,on Spotify, it was streamed 80.6 milliontimes, breaking the record for the first-day album streams by a female artiste. Itwas also the most-streamed pop albumon Apple Music on its first day of release,with 35.47 million streams.

I n a global study of the world's reefs, scientistshave found that the ocean's top predator sharksare 'functionally extinct' on nearly one in five of

the reefs surveyed. The research team, who surveyed371 reefs in 58 countries, found that the sharks wererarely seen on close to 20 per cent of those reefs."Thisdoesn't mean that there are no sharks on these reefs,but what it does mean is that they are 'functional-ly extinct' — they are not playing their normalrole in the ecosystem," said the researchers.

The findings showed that almost no sharks were detect-ed on any of the 69 reefs of six nations: the DominicanRepublic, the French West Indies, Kenya, Vietnam, theWindward Dutch Antilles and Qatar. According to theresearch team, it's clear that the primary problem is theintersection between high human population densities,

destructive fishing practices andpoor governance

➤ The new book titled, 'ShePersisted in Sports: AmericanOlympians Who Changed the Game,will include sections about someprominent women in sports, includ-ing Venus and Serena Williams,Wilma Rudolph, among others. The32-pages book is illustrated byAlexandra Boiger➤ The book is expected to bereleased in September 2020

BOOKS

ALERT

ENTERTAINMENT

MUSIC

Dessner co-wrote / produced 11 of the songson 'Folklore', Swift said.The megastar's lastalbum, 'Lover', wasreleased in August 2019

WHAT: Delhi, along with several other states, have started sero

surveillance mapping to flatten the Covid-19curve. Sero surveillance is a globally-usedand trusted standard that measures the lev-els of antibodies against a certain infection,and decodes the percentage of the population,which has been previously exposed to thevirus. The tool is also used as a measure forthe officials to check on mass inoculation andsee the level of immunity people have.

WHY:While a vaccine or a definitetreatment plan is not available to

us, experts believe that the only way to pre-vent further spikes in the infections or findout the actual data about our exposure lev-els is to test the presence of antibodies amongthe people.

HOW IS IT DONE: Sero surveys derivethe results from the presence of

antibodies and proteins meant to fight off theinfections, which are part of the body's im-munology make-up. For a sero survey, sampleblood tests are done, and if the antibody lev-els in the blood are detected, it can mean thata person has considerable immunity againstthe said infection. Sero surveys done routine-ly could also show how long do the antibodieslast in the body and provide immunity againstthe disease, which is a pressing concern.

WHEN HAS IT BEEN USEDBEFORE? In the past,sero surveillance has

been used to map the spread of diseases andinfections, like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, diph-theria, tetanus, polio and mumps.

SEROSURVEY

X-PLAINED

Sero surveillance will help in observ-ing if a vaccine can actually provide

immunity. Given that we have a vaccineready for the masses by the end of 2020or early 2021, a sero survey could showif the Covid-19 vaccine being deployed tothe masses is actually working. Sero sur-veys could also identify any infectioncases (asymptomatic, mild ones, or oneswhich may have gone away on its own),that may have been missed

Earth's atmospheremore sensitive toCO2 emissions thanthought: Study

The hope that the rise in average global tempera-tures by 2100 might be capped below 2.5°C will re-main a distant dream, if the greenhouse gas emis-sions continue at the current rate, a new research

reassessing the atmosphere's sensitivity to CO2 suggests.

➥ The study, under the Geneva-based World ClimateResearch Programme, offers the first clear progressin decades, towards narrowing the range of tempera-ture rise caused by doubling of carbon dioxide levels,since the pre-industrial times

➥ Its findings show that doubling would trigger 2.6 to4.1°C in average warming above pre-industrial levels,putting the lowest rise more than one degree abovethe scientists' previous estimated range of 1.5-4.5°C

➥ Known as the climate sensitivity parameter, a doubling of CO2 concentrations has been a main-stay of models for the future global temperature,since the late 1970s

ENVIRONMENT

F ormer US president Bill Clintonand former secretary of state,Hillary Rodham Clinton's daugh-

ter, Chelsea Clinton's new children's book,which is a part of the ‘She Persisted’ se-ries, will be released later this year.Chelsea wrote the first book, 'She Per-sisted', way back in 2017. It featured thestories of inspiring girls and women whomade a name for themselves with theirgrit and determination.

It seems chocolate is goodfor the heart, as re-searchers have said thatconsuming chocolate at

least once a week is linked witha reduced risk of heart disease.The study suggests that choco-late helps in keeping the heart'sblood vessels healthy. In thepast, studies have shown thatchocolate is beneficial forboth— blood pressure and thelining of blood vessels. For thelatest study, the analysis in-cluded six studies with a totalof 336,289 participants, who re-ported their chocolate con-sumption. During a follow-up,14,043 participants developedcoronary artery disease. Com-

EAT CHOCOLATE ONCE A WEEK TOKEEP YOUR HEART HEALTHY

pared with consuming chocolate less than once aweek, the findings showed that eating chocolatemore than once a week was associated with an8% decreased risk of coronary artery disease.

➤Chocolate contains heart-healthy nutrients, such as flavonoids, methylxan-thines, polyphenols and stearic acid, which may reduce inflammation andincrease good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol)

➤Chocolate appears promising for the prevention of coro-nary artery disease, but more research is needed to pin-point how much, and what kind of chocolate could berecommended, the study authors wrote

➤Moderate amounts of chocolate mayprotect the coronary arteries, but it's likely thatlarge quantities do not, they said

What it costs to guardour LACWhile the GalwanValley clash is firmlyin India’s rear viewmirror, there’s noreason to drop ourguard. Therefore, theIndian Army hasdecided to deployadditional troops atthe Line of ActualControl (LAC). Here’swhat it entails for anaverage soldier...

1 Apart from the high probability of conflict,soldiers will also have to brave the extreme

cold weather, as temperatures drop to minus 20degrees. Ladakh, being a high altitude region,breathing also becomes harder.

2To station soldiers in such a clime duringthe winter requires resources — from match-

boxes and fuel, to flasks and food — amountingto ̀ 10 lakh per soldier; just to keep them there,other costs notwithstanding.

3All these supplies and the soldiers have tobe transported to the location, an easy task

in the summer, when roads are operable, butonce the snow falls, supplies will have to beflown in to the Army’s bases. An hour-long flightto the LAC costs the Army at least ` 24 lakh.

4To avoid any unnecessary expenditure, theArmy stocks up supplies during the summer

using trucks, which costs ̀ one lakh for a Srina-gar-Leh trip. Helicopters are used sparingly.

The long wait is finally over. The glass ceilinghas been shattered. Every modern and pro-gressive nation-state takes pride in providingequal opportunities to women in all the fields.In the army, this is a significant step in theattainment of that goal

The country observed the21st anniversary of the vic-tory in the Kargil War onSunday.The Indian Armed Forces haddefeated Pakistan on July26, 1999, by recapturing themountain heights that wereoccupied by the Pak Army.

It’s not just a place where you get to learn Einstein’s Theory of

Relativity. It’s also a place where you can think beyond the class-

room. Hence we say, SCHOOL IS COOL!02

AMOL GUJAR, TEACHER, RAMRATNA VIDYA MANDIR, MUMBAI

As soon as lockdown wasannounced to fromMarch 25, a lot of fieldsof work shifted to online.

Education sector also began itsclasses online. It was indeed aconfusing and baffling experience andoffered a lot of new learning opportuni-ties for educators.

As a teacher I know that online edu-cation is not difficult, but only somethoughtful consideration is required be-fore approaching this new system. Onthe very first dayand first lecture Ihad faced a lot ofdifficulties. But Ihave realized that Ineed to login inwith two devices.So, it was helped meadmit studentsfaster in the GoogleMeet.

I planned for myonline lectures frombefore hand, know-ing that it would re-quire a wholeskillset to conductthese classes. I pre-pared many Power-Point presentations for each class. As Iknew that the work load will be vast. Iused up all holidays I got during May,planning for thee online classes. I knewthat students may not have any coursecontent with them. So, I needed to pres-ent all the content on screen which willhelp them to understand various con-cepts easily.

Meanwhile, I felt that l am missingthe student's involvement my lecture.But it was only in June, I got that op-portunity to communicate with students,virtually.

I prepared for each lecture extensivelyand in detail. First step was to search forproper content on the internet and use

CBSE text books. So, it helped stu-dents to get extra knowledge aboutthe topic. For all the classes I de-signed Power Point presentationsand had planned each lecture. Sowhen the lectures began in JuneI was confident and could keepstudents happy as well.

Now, I can proudly say that Ican handle technology much better foronline teaching. I must say that Covid 19had given me an opportunity that I canuse technology better for teaching. Useof technology for teaching students ismust but this is an entirely different ex-perience.

Some lessons worth sharing:* Once the screen is shared it takes 30secs to 1 min for every student to see thescreen* I can communicate both orally and inwriting with the students.* I can record the lecture also* One learns something new each day

Finally, I can say that every crisisbrings a new opportunity and it is up toan individual as to how he/she takes upthose opportunities.

I express my sincere gratitude to myschool management, principal, sectioncoordinators, parents and students topresent such a wonderful opportunity.

Indo Scots GlobalSchool celebratedNational Doctors'Day on 1st July

2020 to recognise andhonor the immensecontribution extend-ed by the medical fra-ternity towards ourhealth and well being,especially in this har-rowing time when theCovid-19 pandemichas wreaked havoc onthe health and mortality of people all overthe world.

These warriors are constantly puttingtheir safety and comfort at risk to servemankind and offer medical care wheneverneeded.

To express their gratitude, learners of

ISGS made Thank youcards for the Covid 19warriorsof FortisHealthcare with greatzeal and eagerness.Each card was a tributeto these heroes who arefighting this medicalwar for the world andtrying their level best tosave lives.

The doctors in turnthanked students forthis beautiful gesture

and also communicated with them virtual-ly to explain about the importance of hy-giene for good health and how and why theyshould maintain it in all their activities.Gaining knowledge about right hand wash-ing technique was the added bonus in thisvirtual meet.

Our heroes on the frontline

POEM

HUMANS LOCKDOWNENVIRONMENT FINDS THE KEY

A virus was roaming the streets in WuhanTaking its toll, but the world went on.The temperature of the earth was rising onBut pollution activities carried on.The air in Delhi was cause for alarmBut as long as it did not affect us, we werecalm.And then almost overnight the scenechangedLike a sci-fi movie, a silent war waged.Everyone sat up and had to take noticeThe threat was real, WE became the endan-gered species.Factories, and traffic all came to a standstillWe were locked in and the earth began toheal!The air cleared, the birds came backThe ozone layer too, tried a life-hack!Dolphins and penguins reclaimed theirspacesWhile we all watched, with masks on ourfaces.Striking a balance with nature is a necessityWe humans were made aware of this reality.But all's not lost in this supposed calamityMother nature continues giving - to boostour immunity.All it takes from us 'the superior' humanraceIs acceptance that no one ever wins the 'ratrace'.We must respect the environment and showresponsibilityAs caretakers and not owners of the earth, it

is our duty.We certainly can never go back to the waywe wereWe have to get back our roots, our earth,without abusing her.The gardens we've begun to nurture duringthis timeAre quite capable to nurture us - that'snature sublime!Eventually the lockdown will end and we allwill be freeWe'll share our resources with the flora andfauna of land and sea.Taking care of the environment will comenaturallyHence, 'Save the Environment' is a slogan Inever want to hear or see!

Joyce D'mello Fernandes,Teacher, Don Bosco Senior

Secondary School,Seawoods

Board Year Student: Theirfears amidst uncertainty

NIHARIKA CHATURVEDI,TEACHER, KGES, MUMBAI

The whole world is fight-ing against the outbreakof novel corona virus.This is probably first

time in history thatschools and collegesacross the nation areclosed. Students whowere earlier travellingto school by variousmeans and meetingtheir friends &

teachers on dailybasis are confinedto their homes nowspend their dayssocial distancing athome. Today's stu-dents find their ed-ucation disrupted,loved ones at riskof illness and, inmany cases, finan-cial hardship. Theymust live in isola-tion, cut off fromfriends and class-mates. Schoolsacross the countryinitially struggledto provide onlineclasses to their stu-dents. These werea cause of awe andfun to students and a learningcurve for teachers on how touse the apps. Students, parentsand teachers all were skepticalon the effectiveness of this

Medium but pretty soon itwas obvious to everybody thatthis is the new normal.

This has posed many ques-tions to the student communi-

ty who will be appearing fortheir boards and graduating tohigher standards. Some ofthese questions are based outof fear and some due to anxi-ety. Anxiety of how tough orsimple the paper will be, paper

pattern, modality ofthe exam, how willthey reach their cen-ters etc.

Fear that this newnormal may changethe structure and thetexture of careers for-

ever. But my dear students, re-member your past generationshave confronted their owncrises with grit, resilience anda commitment.

All this will pass, so intimes like these we must re-member to stay motivated, re-main focused and continue tokeep positive!

NO LOCKDOWN, CAN LOCK OURENTHUSIASM AND DETERMINATION

Shree N D Bhuta High School honouredSarita Shukla from Primary Sectionwith Virtual retirement party on 30thJune 2020 on Zoom.

The event began with prayer song,videos about Sarita Shukla's school journey,speeches and dances presented by all theStaff.

Greta Sequiera, principal of the schooladdressed Sarita for her outstanding con-tribution to the School. Rimple Shah, HMof pre- primary and her staff also con-tributed by biding her colorful and vibrantfarewell by showcasing Garba Challenge.

All her colleagues paid heartfelt hom-age to her. They considered her departure

as an irreparable loss to the school.The icing on the cake was a surprise en-

try by her angels, one of them is settledabroad, was happy to be a part of her re-tirement meet. They both not only attend-ed the meet, but also performed for her.

Too overpowered with mixed emotionsto say anything coherently, Sarita Shuklawas amazed and overwhelmed to see the ges-ture of her co-workers and their unbound-ed love for her.

Rakhee Pandya, headmistress of pri-mary section thanked everyone for their out-standing participation and remarkable co-operation for making the digital farewellparty a successful one.

T E A C H E R ’ S P E N

Self love is defined as'love of self' or 'regardfor one's own hap-piness and advan-

tages'. We all love manypeople in our life, our par-ents, grandparents, sib-lings, friends, relatives, etc.We care for them. Our loveand bond makes our rela-tionship with themstronger and better. Theybecome our strength andsupport. And guide usthrough all the challengesand difficulties of life. But

if we keeping loving and re-specting people around us?When will we love and re-spect ourself ?

Our life has many im-portant things that becomepriority, but nothing is moreimportant that a healthysense of self - esteem and self

love. Self love makes our lifebecome more simpler andeasier as we stop over think-ing. And don't make a moun-tain out of a mole. The morewe love and respect ourself,the lesser we worry aboutpeople's opinion about us andthe more confident we be-

come. We get motivated towork towards our goals as

our concentration is to-wards accomplishmentof our goals and NOT to-wards people's opinionabout us. Self love alsohelps us become morehappy and it reminds usto take care of ourselvesand so I start to pursuemy hobbies and that re-sults in making the bestuse of time and finally,leads to let us stop overthinking.

And so if we don't loveand respect ourselves, peo-ple will not respect us, we willfeel more demotivated andwill get redirected from ourlife goals.

Nupur Saral, Teacher, Infant

Jesus School

Love is the great miraclecure. Loving ourselves worksmiracles in our lives.

- Louise Hay

You yourself, as much as any-body in the entire universe,deserve your love and affection.

- Buddha

Until you value yourself, you won'tvalue your time. Until you value yourtime, you will not do anything with it.

- M. Scott Pec

SELF LOVE

Grade 2 students of N L Dalmia High Schoolcelebrated THE WORLD MUSIC DAY on 22ndJune 2020 with great enthusiasm and en-thralled the audience by render-

ing melodious instrumental perform-ances, thuswitnessing a special onlineconcert by the little musicians and teach-ers from the music mentors of the Per-forming Arts Department of the school.

The power-packed confluence of 8 fi-nalist entertained the music lovers withtheir mesmerising performances

Young musicians of N L Dalmia HighSchool played their heart out on their mu-sical instruments and developed a fargreater passion towards music. The vo-cals with the foot tapping beats given bythe music teachers filled the event withan ecstatic musical ambience.

All in all, the merriment of the WorldMusic Day celebration lifted the students'spirits with immense joy and their ex-hilaration was commendable.

Through this event, the school hascreated awareness among the children,about the importance of music in our life.Moreover, such activities improve mem-ory skills and increase the student's lis-

tening skills in a fun, and in a relaxed manner.The celebration ended with the thanksgiving

speech by the principal Seema Saini.

Celebrating World Music Day 'God Has No Religion'PIA JOYDEV OZA, CLASS IX, SSPM'S SRI SRI

RAVISHANKAR VIDYA MANDIR,BORIVALI

In the world today, people from vastly dif-fering religious backgrounds live together.However, there are countless clashes dis-turbing our peace, a lot of them depending,

in fact, on the diversity of religion. Why is thisso?

The roots of every religion trace back to theextremely pure ideals of brotherhood, love, andhumanity. Every religion commands people toremain faithful to God and to love each other

unconditionally. No religion ever demands waror conflict. It is people who have twisted theideals of religions and hoodwinked us to be-lieve that some religions state certain thingswhich are quite contradictory to their trueideals.

It is crucial to understand the dire need torespect different religious backgrounds and tocease meaningless wars to prove the dominanceof one's own religion.

As stated by Mahatma Gandhi, "God has noreligion".

S T U D E N T ’ S P E N

Pragnya Bodhini HighSchool under the moti-vation of SeemaSheikh and NGO

Srushtidyan celebrated WorldMicrobiome day digitally.

The students completedvarious tasks like poster mak-ing, slogan writing, recitingpoems, presenting researchpaper and power point pres-entation with respect to mi-crobiomes.

The highlight of the stu-dents presentation was that ir-respective of locational reser-vations they coordinated, usedonline platforms and present-ed their work.

Prashant Shinde andproject incharge Iskra Shindedelivered a talk on CORONApandemic and how these chil-dren be warriors from home,help save environment andsave people.

Save environment,save people

‘Plant trees, save Nature’RITU GANDHI, TEACHER

Covid 19 pandemic has demon-strated an interconnected na-ture of this world and that noone is safe until everyone is safe.

Amongst this the caregivers and edu-cators have responded in stride and havebeen instrumental in finding ways tokeep children learning.

"Let's Nurture the nature, so thatwe can have a better future"

The Harmony family celebratedthe World Environment Day on 7th July,using online platform for the positive

environmental ac-tion with full vig-or and enthusi-asm.

To mark theday, the celebration started with amonologue on Mother Earth and to addmore colour and to protect the roots ofour existence, a skit on saving trees wasconducted by Grade 5 students followedby a beautiful and dazzling poem onMother Nature which painted apicture with words.

Beautiful posters and slo-gans were shown by the tinny tots.

Online classes,the way forward