A survey has shown that adolescent girls continue to have limited choice in who and when they marry and that sex education in schools is failing young people. Although girls who marry in early adolescence are particularly vulnerable, marrying over the age of 18 does not guarantee improved freedoms and choices in marital and fertility decision-making.

While adolescent girls and their spouses enter marital life with limited knowledge about modern contraceptive choices, contraceptive options are not reaching the young married couples who want or need them, according to the latest data released under Young Lives India survey. 

Contraceptive use is very low among young married couples and sterilisation of women in their early twenties is common after they have had children, the survey added. Boys and young men are marginalised from sexual and reproductive health services.

Dr. Renu Singh, Country Director, Young Lives India said: “This report highlights the mutually reinforcing influences of families, service providers, economic circumstances, and gendered cultural and social expectations that shaped and constrained the agency and choices of girls and young women as they moved from being ‘daughters’ to ‘daughters-in-law’, ‘wives’ and first-time ‘mothers’. 

“It is critical for society to not look at talking about sexual reproductive health as taboo and we need to create safe spaces where young adolescent girls and boys are able to access both information and services in the community. Making secondary education a fundamental right is critical to prevent child marriage as well as building skills amongst young adolescents that is needed for carving a better future,” she added. 

Young Lives India is a collaboration between CESS (Hyderabad), SPMVV (Tirupati), Save the Children, and University of Oxford (UK). Young Lives is funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development (DFID). 

Young Lives is an international study of childhood poverty, following the lives of 12,000 children in four countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) over fifteen years. Young Lives conducts research in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which collectively have almost 85 million inhabitants which is 7% of the Indian population.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are among the top States reporting high adolescent fertility: 12 and 11 per cent of young women in the age group of 15-19 years in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, respectively, were already mothers or pregnant when a survey was carried out in 2015/16

The objectives of the study were to deepen the understanding of the influencers of fertility decisions among young married couples, ascertain the services and support available to married young women and couples and produce research findings for use by policy makers.

The research was carried out as part of Young Lives, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty that, in India, traced the life trajectories of 3,000 children (in two age groups) and their households located in the two states, over a 15-year period. By age 18, around 28 per cent of girls in the Young Lives study had married, and 23 per cent of these married girls had also become mothers.

Think twice before handing over a smartphone to your teenager as new research warns that adolescents who frequently use digital devices are more likely to develop symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Teenagers who are heavy users of digital devices are twice as likely as infrequent users to show symptoms of ADHD, showed the findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

ADHD is a brain disorder with symptoms that include a pattern of inattention, hyperactive behavior and impulsiveness that interferes with functioning or development.

“New, mobile technologies can provide fast, high-intensity stimulation accessible all day, which has increased digital media exposure far beyond what’s been studied before,” said Adam Leventhal, Professor at University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in the US. 

“We can say with confidence that teens who were exposed to higher levels of digital media were significantly more likely to develop ADHD symptoms in the future,” Leventhal added.

The study focused on the impact of digital diversions, including social media, streaming video, text messaging, music downloads and online chatrooms, among others, on the mental health of the adolescents.

The team analysed data from 2,587 teenagers for two years who were asked to report how frequently did they use, 14 popular digital media platforms, included for the study.

The investigators sorted media use frequency into three categories — no use, medium use and high use.

Then, they monitored the students every six months during the study period. They sought to determine if digital media use in grade 10 was associated with ADHD symptoms tracked through grade 12.

The results showed that, nine and a half per cent of the 114 children who used at least half of the media platforms frequently and 10.5 per cent of the 51 kids who used all 14 platforms frequently showed new ADHD symptoms.

Contrastingly, 4.6 per cent of the 495 students who were not frequent users of any digital platforms, showed ADHD symptoms, approximate to background rates of the disorder in the general population.

An innovative approach is underway in this Bihar district to make contaminated water potable — with the active participation of private players in coordination with state agencies.

Facing a water crisis which becomes acute during summer, the district is also affected by arsenic contamination in the falling ground water table.

Branded “Sulabh Jal”, the ambitious project began on Saturday from a small pond here with the use of French technology aiming at purification of contaminated water and making it safe drinking water at only 50 paisa per litre.

“This is the first time in the world that we have succeeded in producing pure drinking water at a very nominal cost by this new technology and villagers may get direct benefits,” Sulabh International founder Bindeshwari Pathak said while laying the foundation of the project at Haribol Pond in the presence of Darbhanga MLA Sanjay Saraogi and District Magistrate Chandrasekhar Prasad Singh.

The pilot project, to be implemented in coordination with civic authorities, will later be replicated in other parts of the state.

The project aims to provide the cheapest drinking water using the innovative model of purification at various stages from any water bodies like rivers or ponds, Pathak said.

The experiment was started earlier by Sulabh, which had introduced “Sulabh Jal” in arsenic prone villages of the three districts of North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad and Nadia in West Bengal. It had been jointly established three years ago by Sulabh along with the French organisation and and trial run proved successful.

The new water purification process can produce 8,000 litres of potable water per day at nominal cost.

“It will be made available at 50 paise on charity basis. Sulabh will install plants on the banks of Haribol tank here which would be operated on a no-profit basis. It would be managed by the self-help group (SHG) of the Darbhanga Nagar Nigam,” Pathak added.

The installation cost of the machine comes to Rs 20 lakh, which was shared between the French organisation, Sulabh and the villagers.

The local people and NGOs will maintain the facility.

It is a self-sustainable cost-efective project with active participation from the community and will generate employment, Pathak said.

The ground water in many districts of northern Bihar boarding Nepal is estimated to have been severely affected by arsenic and other chemical contamination.

According to WHO, drinking arsenic-rich water over a long period results in various health hazards, including skin problems, skin cancer, cancer of the bladder, kidney and lungs, besides other diseases.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, on his “Zero” co-star Katrina Kaif’s birthday on Monday, treated her fans to her first look from the upcoming film — and pointed out how she has been brave enough to flaunt a different avatar.

“It’s Katrina Kaif’s birthday and we all at ‘Zero’ miss her!!! Maybe I should put a picture of her from the film and send out a loud Happy Birthday wherever she is,” Shah Rukh tweeted.

While Katrina is in London to celebrated her 35th birthday with her family members, SRK ensured he wrote a little note to introduce her new avatar. The actress sports kohl smudged eyes and an intense look as she is seen surrounded by people.

“There are so many lovely pictures of her, but this one speaks to me beyond my friend’s beauty….hope you all also give it love,” SRK added.

Apart from the photograph, Shah Rukh put out another note: “We know she is beautiful. We know she has set our hearts fluttering. She has never been hurt. She dances like nobody’s watching here. She has lived like it’s heaven on earth.

“But us actors wait for the moment when we can sink our teeth into a character deeper than beauty and its trappings.Here’s my friend on her birthday braving to enthrall us in a new avatar.A You may ask ‘why so serious….?’ Hmmm….

“‘Aapka pata nahi, mujhe toh gusse mein yeh aur bhi haseen lagti hai (I don’t know about you, but I find her beautiful even when she is angry).”

He wished the “brave and beautiful” Katrina the very best.

“Zero” is directed by Aanand L. Rai, and features Shah Rukh as a vertically challenged man. The film, releasing on December 21, also stars Anushka Sharma.

Shock discovery of Pakistani intruders occupying the strategic heights of Kargil and its aftermath was as forceful a reminder as any of the necessity of keeping a constant vigil on the country’s borders. It was also clear that the then available means of surveillance (mainly army patrols and occasional aerial reconnaissance) were grossly inadequate for the onerous task. Consequently ideas of employing unmanned platforms to keep an eye on the long land borders and shores which had been brewing for sometime took on fresh urgency.

Even while guns were still blazing in Kargil, plans began to be laid to integrate UAVs in border surveillance plans. In the two decades that have followed, Indian armed forces have acquired more than 200 UAVs mostly of Israeli origin. DRDO which had been dabbling with UAV design for some time also got in the act and working in collaboration with Indian industry has made some progress in creating indigenous capacity. Perceived necessity of close surveillance was the original purpose of UAVs. However, sensing enhanced possibilities with maturing of relevant technologies at home, Indian armed forces have widened their horizons to include them for kinetic action against suitable targets. Therefore, it is quite possible that a future surgical strike across the LOC may well be a precision missile attack executed by employing UAVs.

Current Status

Besides a small number of IAF’s HAROP Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) designed to neutralise radiating targets, currently Indian armed forces have some 200+ Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Searcher and Heron UAVs of Israeli origin. Searcher, the smaller of the two is limited both in pay load capacity (150 lbs) as well as operational ceiling of (20,000ft.). However, with its abilities to stay aloft for up to 18 hours and carry a variety of sensors, it has rendered yeoman’s service along the Western borders and Indian shores. Heron, the larger of the two MALE UAVs is more versatile. With a take- off weight of 1,150 Kg, it can carry a 250 Kg. payload of sensors, stay aloft up to 52 hours (depending on the chosen flight profile) and with operating ceiling of 32,000 ft, it has proven to be an extremely useful surveillance tool along the mountainous Northern borders.

On the acquisition horizon there are a number of other systems which when inducted would give a quantum leap in capability. From Israel, India’s dependable supplier of choice there is Heron TP, an upgraded version of Heron. Israel was inhibited in sale of this system because of its voluntary moratorium on selling dual use strategic assets to parties not signatory to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Following India’s entry into MTCR in 2016, agreement has been reached for purchase of 10 Heron TPs.

India has also been keen to acquire both armed as well as unarmed Predators from the United States. Indian Navy’s request for 22 Guardian UAVs (maritime variant of Predator MQ-9) has already been approved by the US Govt. IAF’s request for 100 Predator C Avenger drones appears to be in the process. Sale of armed UAVs has been a matter of discussion between the US and India. It is believed that it would have been one of the deliverables from the recently postponed July two + two dialogue.

Indigenous Effort

While Indian security needs have necessitated import of a large number of UAVs, DRDO has also been gearing up to meet the huge future demand. It was an early entrant in the field of design and development of unmanned systems and off and on there were glimpses of promise too. However the record thus far has been patchy. It designed ‘Nishant’ – a 340 Kg catapult launched, compact mobile system for day and night battlefield surveillance, reconnaissance, target designation, artillery fire direction and damage assessment. After decades of development and trials, It was delivered to the Indian Army in 2013. By 2015 all four Nishants thus far supplied had crashed and reports suggest that no fresh inductions are planned. Notwithstanding the setbacks, DRDO in collaboration with Indian industry now appears to be coming of age in this highly sophisticated and competitive field. Poster child of its labours is the ongoing design and development of Rustom series of UAVs which merit more than just passing mention and also some praise.Rustom 1, Rustom H and Rustom 2 comprise the Rustom family. They are MALE UAVs which would complement the Heron inventory of the Indian armed forces. Rustom 1 resembles Burt Rutan light aircraft design. It features a rear mounted main wing appendages and a canard wing assembly at front. The power plant (Lycoming o-320) developing 150 hp is contained in the aft section of the fuselage and drives a two bladed propeller. Empty frame weighs 1,560 lbs and it can carry a payload up to 165 lbs. With a ceiling of 26,000ft, it could stay aloft for up to 12 hoursRustom H – the High altitude version. Although said to be belonging to the Rustom family, it bears little resemblance with Rustom 1. It is much larger at 4,000 lbs empty weight and its pay load capacity at 770 lbs is also much greater. In appearance it has mid-set straight wings, a bulbous nose section and a retractable undercarriage. The tail unit is T shaped with a high mounted horizontal tail plane. Two NPO Saturn 36 MT turboprops developing 100 hp each drive 3 bladed propellers. Its range is estimated to be 625 miles and operating altitude 35,000 ft. Endurance could be of the order of 24 hours.

Rustom 2 (Redesignated Tapas 201). Similar in appearance to Rustom H this fully featured combat capable UAV often draws comparison with American Predator. Its payloads include state of the art ELINT and COMINT suites, Synthetic Aperture Radar and other medium and long range electro optical sensors to capture imagery. It underwent successful testing in user configuration on February 25, 2018. DRDO plans to produce 10 TAPAS 201 prototypes in order to fast track development work on all variants as requested by the three services.

Vulnerabilities

In December 2011 Iranian military way laid an American RQ – 170 Sentinel drone and made it to land near the city of Kashmar in Northeastern Iran. Earlier in 2008 militants in Iraq using cheap off the shelf software had succeeded in tapping into the feed of American UAVs transmitting sensitive data to control centers. By the very nature of their functioning UAVs constantly receive and stream large amounts of data. These windows of information exchange create opportunities for interference. Although robust system design takes into account steps to insulate operating integrity of the vehicle and its systems from external threats, risk assessment and countermeasures must remain an ongoing process if loss or compromise of sensitive information is to be forestalled.

Future

Indian army plans to induct 5,000 UAVs over the next 10 years. Even if the stated numbers appear somewhat optimistic yet they suggest the depth to which Indian armed forces are planning to integrate UAVs in every aspect of their operational philosophy. UAVs’ roles have thus far been limited to C4ISTAR functions. Future inductions would undoubtedly enable plugging of the remaining loopholes and bolster these capabilities even further. In addition, armed UAVs would also almost certainly become a significant component of Indian military’s offensive capabilities. Work is already underway to integrate HELINA anti-tank missile with Rustom H. Once operational it could also be used for strikes of the scope and genre as Indian army’s surgical strike across the LOC in September 2016. Essential elements to enable kinetic UAV strikes at longer ranges are also being steadily put in place.

GAGAN Indian satellite based augmentation system (SBAS) necessary for enhancement of SATNAV signals for accurate navigation is already operational. Additional satellites exclusively for military communication would furnish the additional bandwidth required for operation at extended ranges. Rustom 2 with its heavier frame, greater payload capacity and endurance of up to 30 hours is likely to be the indigenous platform of choice for an Indian armed UAV fleet. In the more distant future AURA, a stealthy UCAV being developed by DRDO would add another club in the bag. Not quite visible yet but UAVs are clearly set to become a major component in the combat capability of the Indian armed forces.

Courtesy – www.indiastrategic.in

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday patted his government in the back for raising the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) of crops, while lambasting West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee regime for “forming a nexus with syndicates” and murdering Dalit political activists, even as 90 people sustained injuries following a canopy collapse at a BJP rally here.

Indicating that the government’s recent measures to woo the farmers would be a major campaign issue in coming state assembly and Lok Sabha polls, he blamed previous governments for failing to hike the MSP of crops despite farmers’ demands and expert panels’ recommendations.

“The demand for raising the MSP was placed before every government. Many commissions and committees were formed. But every time it was stalled. Files kept on piling,” the Prime Minister told a farmers’ rally in Midnapore town.

“The farmers went on demanding and agitating… but neither the state governments nor those in power in Delhi heard them..”.

The centre recently approved an MSP, providing farmers a profit of 50 per cent or more over “cost of production” for Kharif crops for 2018-19.

Reiterating his commitment to farmers, Modi said the government was working to double farmers’ income by 2022, and highlighted the decision to consider bamboo as a grass that paved the way for peasants to produce, cut and sell bamboo.

Listing his government’s policy initiatives for farmers, he said: “”My government is your government and it is a pro-farmer government.”

While Modi utilised the first part of his speech to endear himself to the agrarian constituency, which so long seemed upset with his government, the latter half of his address contained an all out attack on Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress dispensation, accusing it of having no faith in democracy, the Indian constitution or the electoral process.

“Those who don’t believe in democracy or the process of election, or the Constitution and the government that has to be reprimanded by High Court and Supreme Court, should be careful. This is Bengal, none of them will be spared,” warned the Prime Minister, who started his speech in Bengali amid tumultuous applause and high-decibel chants of “Modi, Modi”.

Asking didi (elder sister, as Banerjee is called) to take note of “the strength and discipline” of the people at the rally, Modi urged the people and the workers of BJP to “think together and bravely” to shake the “foundation of the syndicate” as was done in Tripura – where the BJP won the assembly polls earlier this year by ending 25 years of Left Front rule.

Refering to the 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal that ended in 2011 when the Trinamool was came to power, he said while it took time to vote out the communists, it won’t take long this time around.

“Now Bengal will once again free itself of the wrongdoings and crimes within months. Bengal is waiting for its chance. People of Bengal are waiting for their opportunity.”

Taking a swipe at the state administration, the Prime Minister claimed that the syndicates are controlling everything in Bengal starting from construction to education.

“These are the syndicate for snatching away the profit of the farmers, for conspiring to murder the political opposition, for torturing the poor and for maintaining their own vote banks to cling to power,” he said.

Turning to the killings centring the recent state rural body elections, Modi congratulated the BJP activists for “standing firm” against the ruling party’s attack in spite of several of them being killed and said the victory of the saffron outfit in a number of seats was an indication of Bengal’s “bright future”.

However, in a tragic incident, 90 people – 24 of them women – had to be taken to hospital after a canopy caved in soon after Modi started his speech.

Modi stopped for a few minutes when the structure collapsed to urge the audience to be careful, get off the stage and move to a safer area and also instructed officials to make arrangements for treatment of the victims.

After the rally, Modi visited the injured in the hospital and talked to the attending doctors.

The rally was organised by the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh later said: “if it is found that the mishap happened due to any intentional mistake on anybody’s part, then proper action will be taken”.

New Delhi : The ‘BIMARU’ Indian states – Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – have the highest numbers of partially immunized and non-immunized children, according to UN bodies WHO and Unicef.

According to data shared by the UN bodies on Monday, the national average for full immunization is 62 per cent, for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) coverage is 78.4 per cent and for measles first dose 81.1 per cent.

According to them, a record 123 million children were immunized globally in 2017.

“(As many as) 9 out of every 10 children received at least one dose of DTP vaccine in 2017, gaining protection against these deadly diseases. An additional 4.6 million infants were vaccinated globally in 2017 compared to 2010, due to global population growth,” it said.

However, the report also suggested that almost 20 million children did not receive the benefits of full immunization in 2017. Of these, almost 8 million (40 per cent) live in fragile or humanitarian settings, including countries affected by conflict. 

“(A total of) 167 countries included a second dose of measles vaccine as part of their routine vaccination schedule and 162 countries now use rubella vaccines. As a result, global coverage against measles and rubella increased from 35 per cent in 2010 to 52 per cent,” it said.

In addition, the report said that a growing share are from middle-income countries, where inequity and marginalization, particularly among the urban poor, prevent many from getting immunized.

“To reach all children with much-needed vaccines, the world will need to vaccinate an estimated 20 million additional children every year with three doses of the DTP3; 45 million with a second dose of measles vaccine; and 76 million children with 3 doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine,” it said.

Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved an increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Kharif crops for the 2018-19 marketing season.  Subsequently, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) released its price policy report for Kharif crops for the marketing season 2018-19.

The central government notifies MSPs based on the recommendations of the CACP.  These recommendations are made separately for the Kharif marketing season (KMS) and the Rabi marketing season (RMS).  Post harvesting, the government procures crops from farmers at the MSP notified for that season, in order to ensure remunerative prices to farmers for their produce.

In this blog post, we look at how MSPs are determined, changes brought in them over time, and their effectiveness for farmers across different states.

How are Minimum Support Prices determined?

The CACP considers various factors such as the cost of cultivation and production, productivity of crops, and market prices for the determination of MSPs.  The National Commission on Farmers(Chair: Prof. M. S. Swaminathan) in 2006 had recommended that MSPs must be at least 50% more than the cost of production.  In this year’s budget speech, the Finance Minister said that MSPs would be fixed at least at 50% more than the cost of production.

The CACP calculates cost of production at three levels: (i) A2, which includes cost of inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, labour; (ii) A2+FL, which includes the implied cost of family labour (FL); and (iii) C2, which includes the implied rent on land and interest on capital assets over and above A2+FL.

The cost of production as calculated by the CACP and the approved MSPs for KMS 2018-19.  For paddy (common), the MSP was increased from Rs 1,550/quintal in 2017-18 to Rs 1,750/quintal in 2018-19.  This price would give a farmer a profit of 50.1% on the cost of production A2+FL.  However, the profit calculated on the cost of production C2 would be 12.2%.  It has been argued that the cost of production should be taken as C2 for calculating MSPs.  In such a scenario, this would have increased the MSP to Rs 2,340/quintal, much above the current MSP of Rs 1,750/quintal.

Which are the major crops that are procured at MSPs?

Every year, MSPs are announced for 23 crops.  However, public procurement is limited to a few crops such as paddy, wheat and, to a limited extent.

The procurement is also limited to a few states.  Three states which produce 49% of the national wheat output account for 93% of procurement.  For paddy, six states with 40% production share have 77% share of the procurement.  As a result, in these states, farmers focus on cultivating these crops over other crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and coarse grains.

Due to limitations on the procurement side (both crop-wise and state-wise), all farmers do not receive benefits of increase in MSPs.  The CACP has noted in its 2018-19 price policy report that the inability of farmers to sell at MSPs is one of the key areas of concern.  Farmers who are unable to sell their produce at MSPs have to sell it at market prices, which may be much lower than the MSPs.

How have MSPs for major crops changed over time?

Higher procurement of paddy and wheat, as compared to other crops at MSPs tilts the production cycle towards these crops.  In order to balance this and encourage the production of pulses, there is a larger proportional increase in the MSPs of pulses over the years .  In addition to this, it is also used as a measure to encourage farmers to shift from water-intensive crops such as paddy and wheat to pulses, which relatively require less water for irrigation.

What is the effectiveness of MSPs across states?

The MSP fixed for each crop is uniform for the entire country.  However, the production cost of crops vary across states. The MSP of paddy and the variation in its cost of production across states in 2018-19.

For example, production cost for paddy at the A2+FL level is Rs 702/quintal in Punjab and Rs 2,102/quintal in Maharashtra.  Due to this differentiation, while the MSP of Rs 1,750/quintal of paddy will result in a profit of 149% to a farmer in Punjab, it will result in a loss of 17% to a farmer in Maharashtra.  Similarly, at the C2 level, the production cost for paddy is Rs 1,174/quintal in Punjab and Rs 2,481/quintal in Maharashtra.  In this scenario, a farmer in Punjab may get 49% return, while his counterpart in Maharashtra may make a loss of 29%.

Figure 4 highlights the MSP of wheat and the variation in its cost of production across states in 2017-18. In the case of wheat, the cost of production in Maharashtra and West Bengal is much more than the cost in rest of the states.  At the A2+FL level, the cost of production in West Bengal is Rs 1,777/quintal.  This is significantly higher than in states like Haryana and Punjab, where the cost is Rs 736/quintal and Rs 642/quintal, respectively.  In this case, while a wheat growing farmer suffers a loss of 2% in West Bengal, a farmer in Haryana makes a profit of 136%.  The return in Punjab is even higher at 1.5 times or more the cost of production.

Source – PRS Blog

What a week it has been for sport! Assams Hima Das created history becoming the first Indian to win a track gold at a world meet and shared headline space with tiny Croatia entering the World Cup final, Roger Federer getting knocked out of Wimbledon and the Indian cricket team starting their tour of Ireland-England on a high note.

It was not an unexpected gold for Hima, the first by Indian woman athlete at the World Under-20 Track and Field Championships, though Delhi discus thrower Neeraj Chopra is the first athlete to win gold at the championships in 2016, but in a field event at Bydgoszcz in Poland. 

She went to Tampere, Finland, as a favourite, having clocked her best 51.13 seconds at the Inter-State Championships, her timing being better than that of her nearest competitor, Symone Mason of the US, whose personal best was 51.53 seconds.

The other two Indians to win medals at the World Juniors were women athletes, both discus throwers and bronze medallists — Seema Punia at the Kingston World Junior Chamionships in 2002 and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, US, in 2014.

Hima, the last of five children of a rice-growing farmer in Kandhulimari village, about five kilometers from Dhing town of Nowgaon district in central Assam, has a story to narrate like all poor children coming from rural India. What’s more important about her is that she took to serious running two years ago when she also had the feel of running spikes.

She spent her childhood playing football and cricket with boys in the neighbourhood. Seeing her running on the paddy and dusty football fields, two years ago, she saw the athlete’s spikes when she came under the wings of Nipon Das, the athletics coach with the Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare. In the last year or so she has had a roller-coaster ride, but she has been on the move, each race taking her to newer heights. 

Once she got serious about track running, she journeyed by a passenger train daily from her native village to Guwahati to train using the facilities in the state capital. Nipon prevailed upon her to shift to the state capital and once she made the move, was no looking back. 

Come to think of it, she started with 100 and 200 metres and has taken to running 400 metres less than a year ago. It’s remarkable of her to have gone on to win a world gold. 

She need not worry about her future as an athlete as the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is a former Union Sports Minister. 

Hima is sure to go places if she takes the advice of that great quarter-miler Milkha Singh, who wants someone to push her hard. P.T. Usha is another who can do her bit in seeing Hima on the right track.

India’s cricket captain Virat Kohli is one of the many to hail Hima’s gold-winning run. His own team is on a song on its tour of Ireland-England.

After their 2-0 Twenty20 triumph in Ireland, India wrapped the three-match series 2-1 in England and literally hammered them by eight wickets in the first of the three-match One-Day series, prompting former England captain Michael Vaughan to quip: “Can we have Australia back, please?”

Vaughan was recalling how England, who toyed with Australia, posting the highest ODI toal 481 for three at Trent Bridge last month, seeing the same team struggle against the Indian spinners.

The England batsmen just can’t read Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. Their top-order batsmen tried everything but still had no clue. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, their best batsmen along with Jos Buttler, who are better players of spin, fell not one but twice to Kuldeep, who had a five-for in the first T20 and a six-for in the first ODI.

In the T20s, they tried to negotiate Yadav’s spin playing forward and were stumped and in the ODI the played back and were leg before at their favourite Trent Bridge, Nottingham, pitch. Kuldeep picked all the top-order batsmen, Jason Roy, Bairstow, Root, Ben Stokes and Buttler, as also Moeen Ali, who has five hundreds in Tests and three in ODIs.

Rohit Sharma is the batsman who continues his liking for the shorter formats. He has hit his third hundred in T20s and the 18th in the ODIs to fight for his Test place in the process.

Coming to the biggest global sport football, most Indians might have thought or fervently hoped that Argentina and Brazil would be in the final, failing which one of them playing Germany or France to see different styles of play. Only France survived and few would have expected them to be taking on Croatia, one of the youngest footballing nations.

Unlike other top teams, which solely depended on their super stars, Croatia did not tax their stars Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic too much as everyone contributed their mite, running hard. They gave a lesson not only to England in the semi-finals but also to their media who condescendingly wrote the Croats off.

In the final, Croatia will have to deal with France, who have a big star in Kylian Mbappé. At 19, he is so exciting with his speed running, controlling the ball. 

Now everyone sees Croatia as underdogs and want them to win the final. The Croats can do it, too.

Finally, Roger Federer has lost not for the first time at a Grand Slam a match he had won when he had a match point in the third set against South African Kevin Anderson.

Anderson fought back to take it in five sets, the decider at 13-11. He was back for another marathon match, this time the big-serving American John Isner, who like him was a US collegiate champion, winning it after battling it out for six hours 35 minutes, the second longest match at Wimbledon. The scores say it all — 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 26-24, the final set alone lasting two hours and 50 minutes.

Some tennis and some physical fitness!

(IANS)

New Delhi : As as been rightly said, “Nothing lasts forever”, especially at the workplace. To stay relevant in the industry and at the workplace, upgrade to skills which are newer and designed for modern business.

Employers look for people who are ready to adapt to new technology and can do the work with an eye for what they might do in the near future. Some of the skills have always been in demand, you just need to up-skill in that.

Here’s how to go about it:

* Communication skills: In most discussions of HR managers, recruiters and CEOs, communication tops the list. If you are a good communicator you can make a clear point while you’re talking in a meeting, giving a presentation or simply having a discussion at the office party — so communicating better at work is one of the basic skills to add on. Spoken English skills for developing relations and representing the company is a must.

* Social media literacy: In today’s world, social media is the king. Between Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and the like, social media is changing the way companies do business, which is why it’s important to understand how these tools work and also be able to use them effectively for business purposes. This is one of the top skills employers are seeking in new hires. Job seekers who have developed robust online personal brands using social media and content marketing have a clear advantage over candidates that have limited experience with social marketing.

* Learning specialist skills: Become a specialist in one thing and hone your skill every day. New businesses often hire generalists because they can perform in so many different roles. As organisations grow, however, specialists are often hired to focus on key areas. Think strategically about what type of skills your organisation needs. Work on building these skills to become a specialist. The more knowledgeable and skillfull you become in a particular area, the more likely you are to be noticed for your work.

* Talent to organise and prioritise: A lot of people confuse cleanliness with keeping things organised. Being organised is different from being neat. To organise and prioritise means to classify assortments of things, ideas and clear your thoughts that which one is more important and urgent to be addressed, select the order the elements of a group according to its importance, you cannot do everything in a day. It is another important skill which will make you stand out among your peers.

* Be ambivert and network: Balance is the key, neither be too reserved nor be too extroverted. Being ambivert is an added skill. If you take out time to build and nurture relationships with the people around you, you’ll build a network that can help you get assigned to interesting, significant, or eye-catching projects. It can open up opportunities that might not have been available to you if you were among who don’t like much interaction.

(Inputs from Agency)