When you look at Hariprasad Sukumaran’s paintings, you’ll be amazed. He is a talented artist who paints life-like pictures that immediately draw people in. His paintings will deceive your eyes and if you aren’t careful enough, you might end up believing that they are actual photographs.

His paintings have been part of national and international exhibitions and one of his paintings
“Nostalgia” was auctioned by Poland Art Exhibition organization (student art works foundation, Poland) and he was awarded silver medal at national level Spot Painting Competition during his college days. Amazedenough? Let us know more about his journey.

Hailing from the great state of Kerala, he has been painting since he was five years old. When it comes to hyper-realistic paintings, he is one of the best painters in India. The most significant thing about Hariprasad’s works is his details in picturing the eyes of his subjects. He has an absolute mastery over it and this is what he considers as his forte. He is a personification of creativity and persistence and has been teaching the same to his students as well.
Hariprasad told us that he tries to maintain a perfect balance of light and shadow which is why his paintings successfully give an illusion of real objects to those who view them. His paintings and his craft have given him many followers and fanbases on the Internet. He has 10K followers following him including Facebook and Instagram which is enough to validate his talent and the hard work that he puts behind it.

The Hyper-realistic paintings as its name suggests are realistic-looking paintings that range from landscapes to portraits. A hyper-realistic painting can successfully fool our eyes into believing that they are actual photographs. This is really amazing but Hariprasad told us that because of the nature of his paintings, many people refuse to believe that they are paintings and some of his paintings like“Blacky” which is a painting of a black dog and “Beauty” depicting the beauty of a girl were refused to be featured on online forums just because they looked too realistic to be a painting. Hariprasadtook this incident as a compliment and in fact, it proved to be a big milestone for him.
He has been painting for 25 years now and he loves to paint portraits. Other than these breath-taking paintings that he makes, he is also an assistant professor in a college in Tamil Nadu and has two amazing short films to his name out of which he has directed one and produced the other and looking forward to an adventurous journey that life has to offer to him.

As of now, he has been running his online art academy “Hariarts Academy” where he teaches how to paint hyper-realistic paintings to people from almost all age groups. He has more than 300 students. When it comes to art, he believes that learning has no age. Hariarts Academy has students from all walks of life from various age groups and he considers it as his victory. Some of his students have already begun their journey in hyper-realistic paintings and they are already painting life-like realistic paintings. We definitely need more teachers like him in our country who can make people believe in themselves and above all, in art because that is where the beauty lies.
You can follow him and become part of his incredible artistic journey on Instagram www.instagram.com/_hariarts_

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the past year has witnessed the importance of e-learning as a substitute for the traditional way of teaching. COVID-19 induced school closures have impacted 247 million Indian children by far. This circumstance challenged the whole education system worldwide and compelled educators to change to an online mode immediately which was deep waters for everyone despite being the need of the hour.

With his insightful mind, entrepreneurial spirit and diligent nature, Mr Manoj Mittal has come out as a savior for the new age parents by introducing his dream project of School@home which has perfectly inferred the psychology of a child sitting at home with zero activities and has given them a much-needed start for filling their empty minds with education and traditional Indian values.

 A complete school in itself with the perfect assembly of curriculum, pedagogy and technology aiming to revolutionize a child’s learning experience. It is an integrated online curriculum for Nursery to UKG that combines learning with interactive fun which is empowering and inspiring young minds to excel as lifelong learners. They educate the way a child loves, enhancing learning capabilities & talent recognition hence building cultural values for a better society through scientifically formulated curriculum-based books and interactive learning digital & animated content. Their unique feature set includes mobile & web-based applications for accessing value-added services and benefits focusing on overall growth & ecosystem development.

Their list of distinguishing features include print copies of engrossing textbooks, worksheets, stationery and art & craft kits, expert digital educators, engaging activity lessons, extracurricular videos, bilingual content, structured curriculum, day to day planner and many more.

Cherry on the cake is their approved certification provided after completion of the academic curriculum of a particular class.

Once associated, there is nothing more a parent can look for outside.

Mittsure School@Home is the future of education, causing its transformation in bigger and better ways.

Continue Reading on The India Saga

Mohali, Chandigarh, July8, 2021­ -Ananya Kamboj, a 12^th grader studying at Vivek High School has several accomplishments to her name at a young age. For the last five years, she has been selected to represent India as a Young Journalist at Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship (F4F).

Football for Friendship has received three GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ titles for the most nationalities in a football training session in history (2019), the most users in a football video hangout (2020),and the most visitors at a virtual stadium (2021).

“Being part of three Guinness World Record events, I feel proud, honoured, and happy to have achieved something that on the one hand is rather rare, but on the other is simply the result of my passion for football as something that makes me wholesome,” said Ananya. “I am thankful to Gazprom International Children’s Social programme Football for Friendship team for their support and encouragement.It is a wonderful platform to celebrate friendship through the unifying power of football.”

In 2018, Ananya was invited to Moscow as a special guest at the world premiere of her book “My Journey from Mohali to St. Petersburg” – an anthology of 21 stories that are based on the fundamental human values that she learned during the program. The book was officially released by Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors as part of the 6th season of the F4Forganized by Gazprom, an official partner of FIFA and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.Ananya was awarded the best young journalist award for her effort in spreading the values of the program through this book.

The book presents a holistic picture of the good life, which transcends the prevalent narrow understanding of what constitutes success, fulfilment, and happiness in life. It offers a fresh interpretation of sports through human values which collectively enrich the different dimensions of life. A harmonious realization of all these values helps people grow as truly and fully human. The book should appeal to all those who are concerned about questions like how to be a good person, how to live a good life, and how to create a good society.

“When most people talk about a school curriculum, they think about math, science, social studies, and language courses. Seldom do I hear or read about sports as being part of the curriculum. The problem is that the neglect of teaching sports in schools is hurting our youth and causing problems in society. If a person has never learned any sport, how are they able to discern the difference between victory and defeat? That isthe essence of sports education,” said Ananya.

In 2019, Ananya was invited by the International Children’s Games (ICG), an International Olympic Committee-sanctioned event to speak on peace, friendship, and youth empowerment during the opening ceremony in Ufa, Russia. She has also been a regular participantin the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum for the last four years as well as various other United Nations initiatives.

“I believe that education, sports, and childhood character development do go hand in hand. The balance between sports, extracurricular and academic achievements is critical for the overall development of the child,” said Ananya.

About Ananya Kamboj

Ananya Kamboj, a 16-year-old girl from a humble background with myriad dreams twinkling in her eyes is a Global Citizen from India. An ambassador of football, peace, SDGs, and youth empowerment, she wishes to take the spirit of hope, togetherness, and inspiration to millions of children across India and South Asia and make this world a better place to live in.

About Football for Friendship (F4F)

F4F has existed since 2013. It is organised by Gazprom and supported by FIFA, UEFA and the United Nations. Over the previous eight seasons, more than 15,000 children and young people from 211 countries and regions have taken part in the programme. In 2020, Football for Friendship took place for the first time in an online format on a specially developed digital platform.

Writer and scriptwriter AartiSiddhapura has been awarded Best Poetess by Litvoice Magazine for her collection of poems ‘Yaadon Ka Dakghar’.

Originally from Amreli, Aarti started writing in Gujarati. Her first book was a collection of short stories called Samipya. The book contains short stories in the Gujarati language in the vicinity that readers are still liking. she wrote that book with writer PradipPrajapati. After that, a collection of poems ‘Yaadon Ka Dakghar’ has been published in Hindi. This book can be called the first Solo book of Aarti. The book contains a collection of various poems and quotes. The book is published by a publisher named Writersgram Publication.

Aarti hails from a small town in Gujarat’s Amreli district and has lived in Ahmedabad for the past two years. Coming from a small and remote area, Aarti’s dreams were very high and this is why she joined IT. Remained active in engineering as well as writing. Aarti says that I already loved reading in Hindi-Urdu along with Gujarati and since childhood, I have been immersed in folklore and thus I started my writing in my mother tongue Gujarati. My teacher at school was a poet so my interest in folklore and cultural activities grew. Then I met a Gujarati writer named Pradip Prajapati and he supported me a lot and so I started writing and today my writing has been published in book form. Aarti Siddhapura is an IT engineer herself and also writes screenplays and columns. Aarti also writes columns in New Zealand’s Gujarati newspaper ‘Namaste Gujarat’ and has also worked in a Gujarati web series called ‘Premni Puranpuri’. She has a lot of followers on social media and Aarti stays connected with them regularly and they also like Aarti’s writing very much. Aarti’s journey, which started in a small town, is going very well today. Now, Aarti Siddhapura is all set to serve people with a new book in the near future.

COVID Live Updates: According to the Union ministry of health and family welfare’s bulletin at 8 a.m., India’s daily coronavirus disease (Covid-19) caseload dropped yet again on Monday, with 37,154 new cases bringing the total to 3,08,74,376. The news revealed that 724 people died in the last 24 hours, despite the fact that 39,649 people recovered from the infection. The death toll and total recoveries in India as a result of Covid-19 currently stand at 408,764 and 30,014,713, respectively, according to Monday’s figures. The number of active cases has also decreased to 450,899, accounting for 1.47 percent of the total caseload.

The number of Covid-19 instances recorded on Monday was down from Sunday’s total of 41,506 cases. The daily death toll has also decreased, with 895 individuals dying from the infection yesterday. However, the total number of people who have been rescued in the last 24 hours has decreased slightly, with 41,526 persons rescued on Sunday.

Travelers have been seen thronging the renowned hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in recent days, with the majority of them disobeying Covid-19 rules like wearing masks and maintaining social distance. This comes at a time when the threat of a third Covid-19 wave looms large. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the health ministry have already warned tourists against revenge tourism, with ICMR director-general Dr Balram Bhargava describing the tourists’ stampede as “frightening.”

Ajay Bhalla, the Union home secretary, also presided over a meeting on Saturday that included VK Paul, a member of the Niti Aayog, as well as police chiefs, chief secretaries, and principal secretaries from eight states. While the decline of the Covid-19 second wave is at “variable stages” in different states and union territories (UTs), the case positivity rate in certain districts of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand is “over 10%, which is a cause for concern,” according to a statement released after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur recently urged visitors to respect the Covid-19 rules when visiting the state. After images of holidaymakers strolling around Manali sans masks and maintaining social distance surfaced on social media, he made his statements.

Continue Reading on The India Saga

Year after year, we notice the rise of certain industries and fields. These constant developments are not just the result of the many technological advances but also the relentless drive and passion of young professionals and entrepreneurs. These individuals exude a different level of brilliance when it comes to their respective sectors and display some of the greatest virtues, skills and talents, inspiring many others who wish to become a part of their industries. The music space is a world of its own, which so far has given birth to innumerable talented beings. Rising high in the same, through his strong self-belief, passion, and determination, is Malkeet Zaffarwal, a young Indian talent who entered the music industry and now is taking over the same as a promising music producer with his firm named ‘Ashke Music Production’.

Ask him what drove him towards the music industry, and the young entrepreneur says, “To support new talent, to give them a platform, which they have been seeking and also become winds beneath their wings to help them fly high in the skies with their unique musical talents.”

Malkeet reveals that music has given a new meaning to his life as he believes that through his production company, he has been able to fulfil the dreams of many high-performing music artists and singers who desired to be a part of the industry but lacked the right opportunities. Providing the best opportunities and producing promising music has become a way of life for Malkeet, who has taken Ashke Music Production to greater success levels in a very short span of time.

Ashke Music Production is growing as a newly established platform each day, bringing outstanding talent and the world together through the power of music. They have opened doors for all those people who love music and are searching for an outlet to express themselves through their musical talents.

Malkeet Zaffarwal as a young producer and entrepreneur, has truly become an inspiration to the many youngsters across the country for the kind of success he has achieved with his company and the level of success and momentum he has helped achieved artists under his production. To know more, follow him on Instagram @malkeetzaffarwal.

Raj Dhadrianala whose real name is Rajinder Singh is a rising star of the Punjabi music industry. Raj was born in the Dhadrian village of the Sangrur district. Being from Punjab, Raj was naturally leaned towards the music because there is music in Punjab’s air, every person has a different taste for the music, and this atmosphere positively affected Raj’s psyche. From a very young age, he started learning the nuances of music and made his mind associated with music-related activities.

During his school and college days, Raj was one of the very few people who were always ready to perform at any stage and show their talent to the world. Due to many awards and appreciations Raj’s morale boost to become a full-time musician. Raj used to write his songs lyrics and compose the music as well. After completing the whole process to create a song, when he used to perform his pieces in front of the public, the stage was usually on fire and people used to love his way of presentation and attitude and these things come through a lot of hard work and practice.

Raj Dahdrianala is a well-educated musician, he completed his Master’s in Arts, cleared UGC NET, and done PGDCA also. He is completed his Ph.D. in linguistics (course work) from Punjabi University, Patiala. Raj is an avid reader and for him reading matters a lot because this opens one’s mind to new ideas and helps to maintain the creativity flow. To write the lyrics of songs there is always a need for new words that helps to improve feelings and thoughts’ way of expression which is the soul of any song.

Raj has worked with so many eminent personalities of the Punjabi music industry on many different levels. He is mainly approached for his natural ability to write the lyrics and compose the music which has become his forte, however, Raj always wanted to give his voice to the songs which he has developed from scratch, and the year 2020 proved to the life-changing time for Raj as he gave his voice to two songs which were released digitally on YouTube by T-Series Apna Punjab music channel.

The songs named “Pinda Aale” and “Azadi Baaki hai” belong to totally different genres of music which shows Raj’s versatility and range. Both songs were well received by the audience and critics. He was especially praised for the tempo and texture of music and lyrics. Raj has also been associated with many established Punjabi singers and artists, e.g., Kulwinder Billa, Joban Sandhu, Kanwar Grewal to name a few.

Raj Dhadrianala is in the middle of the discussion with many big music and film production houses for some big projects. Raj has been always a never say die attitude person, who never get back from any kind of situation, and history is witness that such people get ultimate heights in their line of career and we are sure Raj Dhadrianala is no different. He will surely be a big name in the coming days.

The proud residents of INDOSAM 75 took the initiative to host a COVID 19 vaccination camp in their premises in collaboration of efficient management of INDOSAM 75, NOFAA (Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Associations) President – Rajiva Singh and Apollo Hospitals. A campaign was organized, and the residents were motivated to participate via social, NOFAA and one-to-one interaction. The Camp extended both the vaccines: Covaxin and Covishield to the citizens of Noida from 18+ age group hailing all the cadres of the society. The facility was utilized by the approximate number of 140 with a mix of Indosamresidents, neighbouring societies and special emphasis was laid on vaccinating the domestic and other helps. Vaccination drive was carried out by Apollo Hospitals in alliance with NOFAAwho administered Covaxin and Covishield.

Thanks to Indosam camp coordinating committee.

The open-ended equity fund is aimed at long-term capital growth via investing in equity securities of companies located in emerging markets

PGIM India MF, one of the top 10 largest investment managers in the world, has recently announced its new offering, the PGIM India Flexi Cap Fund. The fund is an open-ended one benchmarked with MSCI Emerging Markets Index, and will be managed in India by A Anandha and Aniruddha Naha. While A Anandha is the AVP-Equities with PGIM India, he brings with him 12 years of experience in financial services. Of these, he spent 8 years in the capital markets. Meanwhile, Aniruddha Naha is Director and Senior Fund Manager at PGIM India, and he brings to the fund his considerable experience in Equities and Asset Management.

What is the PGIM India Flexi Cap Fund?

Broadly, it is an open-ended dynamic equity scheme (including derivatives) that will invest across a range of large-, mid- and small-cap stocks in new and emerging markets.

Earlier known as the PGIM India Diversified Equity Fund, it was devised as an option to generate long-term capital growth from investing in companies from emerging markets via the PGIM Jennison Emerging Markets Equity Fund. The scheme has a range of key features that suit high risk investors looking to accelerate their investments in new markets. The fund’s involvement with new and emerging markets taps into their higher propensity for consumption, greater resilience to shifting trends and a higher appetite for technological intervention and innovation to drive growth.

The fund drives a disciplined approach to investment management, with a strong focus on RoCE and RoE, favouring industries about to consolidate, while underlining solid financials and sector dominance. It makes investment possible in themes not currently available through large caps (real estate, software, chemicals, discretionary retail, etc.)

The key features of the PGIM India Flexi Cap Fund are:

• A Nifty 500 TR Index
• A concentrated portfolio of 35-45 stocks
• Minimum application amount of Rs 5,000, an additional purchase of Rs 1,000 thereafter
• 10% of the allotted units may be switched to debt schemes or PGIM India Arbitrage Fund or redeemed without an exit load within 90 days of allotment. Redemptions and switch-outs over 10% of allotted units would be charged 0.5% exit load, and 0% on redemptions or switch-outs over 90 days, and between open-ended equity schemes and hybrid schemes.
• The fund focusses on companies working with existing products in new markets
• Constant monitoring with stock level risk evaluation to minimise or eliminate the high correlation between stocks in the same sector
• The scheme is best for investors looking to invest in overseas MFs of equity securities of companies in emerging markets, with the companies in the early stages of growth

The fund is expected to tap into the higher recorded middle-class spending in emerging markets, whose regions and sectors have the potential to grow exponentially at a rapid pace, thus ensuring long-term capital growth for investors. It has already performed well with both its options – Regular and Direct – since its inception in September 2007. Investors must note that from October 24, 2020, the benchmark of the Scheme is MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

About PGIM India

PGIM India is the global investment management business of Prudential Financial Inc. (PFI) USA. It currently has over $1.5 trillion of assets under its management and offers a broad range of investment options through a successful multi-manager model backed by experienced investment teams. PGIM offers the latest market insights, deep expertise and stability backed by a legacy of 140 years of managing money with a long-term perspective and by weathering market cycles and unexpected disruptions.

A life dedicated to the service to humanity is the most sublime way of making life worth living. A G Anil Kumar, a 49-year-old philanthropist from Ananthapuram has adopted this belief as his motto of life and stood strong among the crowd to help the frontline workers and everyone in need to rise above the challenges that the pandemic has brought forth.

The man of profound honor, A G Anil Kumar launched a lot of initiatives to make a difference in which the district was battling the virus. One of his most eminent campaigns is ‘Heal Ananthapuram’ under which he distributed over 90,000 N-95 masks, 1.5 lakh surgical masks, 75,000 surgical gloves, 3 lakh surgical caps, and 60,000 sanitizers procured from Malaysia and Korea to all the frontline and essential workers in town. With his venture of ‘Discover Ananthapuram,’ he fortified people during these tough times to not lose hope and stand aware of the situation completely.

Getting in touch with A G Anil Kumar, he shared a few insights of his life that led him to lend a hand to the ailing humanity.

1) Did it never scare you to step into such high-risk zones considering the havoc the virus created worldwide?

It would be a lie if I say that the idea was not unnerving initially but I never second-guessed my decision. Seeing how the world was struggling during the first wave petrified me. The unavailability of vaccinations and lack of proper knowledge didn’t let me be of use to serve mankind. Even then though, I took on my camera and went on to document the lives of our COVID warriors, patients, doctors and nurses included at hospital ICUs. Fortunately, before the second wave had hit us I got vaccinated and took a hold of all the safety measures that were required to enter the warzone. The feeling that I could help in saving lives did not leave much to my thinking. Protecting the protectors was the topmost priority for me then.

2) What was your moment of epiphany which made you realize that it’s time you do something for the struggling mankind?

Ever since the pandemic had hit us, it made me think and brainstorm on ways on how I could make use of my resources to help the people in need directly. During the first wave, I saw my 78-years-old mother serving the poor on the streets without a hint of fear in her eyes. It was all the motivation I needed and hence triggered me to take the plunge to stand with our frontline workers during the second wave. 

Fueling my passion for photography, I initially started with documenting and restoring the heritage sites of Ananthapuram. It gave me immense pleasure to do something for my district. Later on, expanding my boundaries, I started on the endeavor to do something for my community as a method to give back to society, everything it has done for me.

3) Welcoming and caring for a stranger into your abode, was it easy, and did your family support you?

Helping this lady in such a difficult situation was a decision that I did not take any time to make. Having spent thirty-six days in a COVID ICU, the doctors had almost given up on this old daily wage laborer. I witnessed his teenage son, trying relentlessly to somehow bring her mother the comfort she needed. Without any second thought, I took them both home and decided to nurture the lady back to health.

I could not let the hope I saw in the son’s eyes seeing that her mother could live to fizzle out. My family too was very supportive of the decision. They had their concerns regarding our safety, but never even once they put up a question regarding the lady staying under our care. We provided them all the support they needed and within a few days, she was up and about taking a walk at least thrice a day in our garden.

4) How do you plan on continuing these philanthropic activities once the virus completely dies out?

It is not just because of the virus taking over the world that made me work as a humanitarian. It did indeed provoke me to start now but my activities will continue long after the virus is over too. This is the path I have chosen to tread on now for serving the poor and needy. All my endeavors, let that be, working on the heritage sites, bringing them back to life or standing amidst the COVID war zones and procuring our protectors all the medical gear they require or distributing free cooked meals thrice a day, will in a way or other be continued as I have realized this is how true happiness and satisfaction can be attained.

5) Do you plan on joining more people in your endeavors or you believe in the concept of ‘One-Man Army?

I do not believe in the concept of a one-man army. It is always ‘the more the better’. I want that through my thoughtful approach, I can inspire the society around me to come up and play their parts alongside becoming a citizen of the social responsibility movement. I am delighted to know that eight other individuals are doing what I have been doing recently. Yes, I know it will take time and it is a gradual process but I would like to travel that journey as that’s the only way we can bring in change and be the change together.

Believing in the fact that one should stop being confined to their problems and look beyond that at issues of larger interest, A G Anil Kumar has established that helping the world and being kind to others does not ask for much. On the other hand, it is a feeling that empowers and could be cherished for a lifetime.

Continue Reading on The India Saga