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Meditation and mindfulness have been practiced for centuries as ways to improve mental health and emotional well-being. These practices involve focusing your attention on the present moment and being fully aware of your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations without judgment. Studies have shown that regular meditation and mindfulness practices can have significant benefits for mental health, including reducing stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Here are some of the specific benefits of meditation and mindfulness for mental health: Reducing Stress: One of the most well-known benefits of meditation and mindfulness is their ability to reduce stress levels. A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that participants who practiced mindfulness meditation had lower levels of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress, compared to those who didn’t meditate. Managing Anxiety: Regular meditation and mindfulness practices can help manage anxiety symptoms by increasing feelings of calmness and relaxation. A study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice found that mindfulness-based interventions were effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Improving Depression Symptoms: Meditation and mindfulness practices can also improve depression symptoms by reducing negative thought patterns and increasing feelings of happiness and positivity. A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that mindfulness-based interventions were effective in reducing depression symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder. Boosting Emotional Resilience: Regular meditation and mindfulness practices can help increase emotional resilience, which is the ability to bounce back from stressful situations. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that participants who practiced mindfulness meditation had greater emotional stability and resilience than those who didn’t meditate. Enhancing Self-Awareness: Meditation and mindfulness practices can help enhance self-awareness by increasing your ability to recognize your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. This can help you better understand your own needs and preferences, and make more mindful choices that are aligned with your values. In addition to these mental health benefits, meditation and mindfulness practices have also been shown to improve physical health by reducing blood pressure, improving immune function, and reducing inflammation. To start a regular meditation and mindfulness practice, consider finding a local class or using a guided meditation app or website. Even just a few minutes of daily practice can have significant benefits for mental health and well-being.  

The end of the financial year is fast approaching, and it’s important to take stock of your financial situation before the year ends. Here are some things you should consider doing before the financial year ends to ensure that your finances are in order and to maximize your financial opportunities: Review your investments: Take a close look at your investment portfolio and review the performance of your investments. Consider whether you need to make any changes to your portfolio or rebalance your investments to reduce risk and maximize returns. Contribute to your retirement accounts: If you have a 401(k) or an IRA, consider contributing the maximum amount allowed by law. This will not only help you save for retirement but also reduce your taxable income. Take advantage of tax deductions and credits: Make sure that you take advantage of all the tax deductions and credits available to you. This could include deductions for charitable donations, medical expenses, and education expenses. Review your insurance policies: Review your insurance policies, including your life insurance, health insurance, and homeowner’s insurance. Consider whether you need to make any changes to your coverage to ensure that you are adequately protected. Create a budget: Creating a budget can help you get a better handle on your finances and ensure that you are living within your means. Take some time to review your spending habits and identify areas where you can cut back. Pay down debt: If you have outstanding debt, consider paying it down before the end of the financial year. This will not only reduce your debt burden but also improve your credit score. Plan for the future: Finally, take some time to plan for the future. Consider your long-term financial goals and take steps to achieve them, such as creating a savings plan or investing in a new business venture. In conclusion, the end of the financial year is an important time to review your financial situation and take steps to ensure that your finances are in order. By following these tips, you can maximize your financial opportunities and set yourself up for long-term financial success.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we learn and teach. It is playing a significant role in enhancing the quality of education and making it more accessible to people. The application of AI tools in education is opening up new horizons of learning, personalization, and accessibility. AI-powered tools are revolutionizing education by providing a personalized and accessible learning experience. In the past, education was often a one-size-fits-all approach, with students expected to learn at the same pace and in the same way. However, with the integration of AI, education is becoming more personalized, adapting to individual learning styles and abilities. This has resulted in improved learning outcomes and greater student engagement. AI-powered platforms can analyse a student’s learning style and create a customized learning path accordingly. The system can analyse a student’s performance, their strengths and weaknesses, and provide feedback that helps them improve. This personalized approach can help students learn at their own pace and fill any gaps in their knowledge. In this article, we will discuss how AI tools can help in enhancing education. Personalized Learning: One of the significant benefits of AI in education is that it enables personalized learning. AI-powered platforms can analyse a student’s learning style and create a customized learning path accordingly. The system can analyse student’s performance, their strengths and weaknesses, and provide feedback that helps them improve. This personalized approach can help students learn at their own pace and fill any gaps in their knowledge. Enhanced Learning Experience: AI tools can create an immersive learning experience by providing interactive content, simulations, and virtual reality. These tools can help students visualize complex concepts and engage in active learning. It also enables them to learn from real-world scenarios, which can be more engaging and memorable than traditional teaching methods. Intelligent Tutoring Systems: AI-powered intelligent tutoring systems can provide students with one-on-one guidance and support. These systems can identify areas where a student is struggling and provide targeted feedback and assistance. This approach can help students overcome their learning challenges and stay motivated. Automated Grading: Grading can be time-consuming for teachers, especially for assignments that require subjective judgment. AI-powered grading tools can automate the process and provide fast and accurate grading. It can also analyse patterns in student’s responses and provide feedback that can help students improve. Adaptive Testing: AI-powered adaptive testing can help teachers assess a student’s knowledge and skills more accurately. These tests can adjust to the student’s level of knowledge and provide questions that match their skill level. This approach can help teachers identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses more accurately and provide targeted feedback. Intelligent Content Creation: AI tools can help teachers create high-quality educational content faster and more efficiently. These tools can analyse existing content, identify knowledge gaps, and create content to fill those gaps. It can also help teachers create content that matches a student’s learning style, making it more engaging and effective. Accessibility: AI-powered tools can make education more accessible to people with disabilities. For example, text-to-speech software can help visually impaired students access written content, and voice recognition software can help students with mobility issues interact with digital platforms. Conclusion: AI-powered tools are transforming education by providing personalized learning, enhancing the learning experience, and making it more accessible. These tools can also help teachers provide targeted feedback, automate grading, and create high-quality content. The integration of AI in education is creating new opportunities for students, teachers, and educational institutions. It is time to embrace these tools and unlock the full potential of education. The author, Pratik Ghosh is associated with ArdorComm Media

In order to create uniform guidelines for registration, allocation, and other components of the process, the Union Health Ministry is developing a “One Nation, One Organ Allocation” policy in collaboration with the states, according to official sources. Recently, the Supreme Court directed the Health Ministry to investigate and take appropriate measures over some states’ requirements that patients seeking to register in the cadaver transplant registry for organ transplantation submit copies of their domicile certificates. “A uniform policy will help patients in seeking transplant from deceased donors at any hospital in the country giving them a lot of flexibility,” an official source said. The ministry has already recommended states to remove the domicile criterion for registering people who want organs from deceased donors for transplant procedures as part of its efforts to strengthen the policy. Also, it has removed the 65-year-old age limit for people registering to receive organs from deceased donors. The National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) has made the required adjustments to the regulations, enabling patients 65 years of age and older to register for organ transplants from deceased donors. “For registering patients requiring organs of deceased donors, earlier the upper age limit was 65 years. With this restriction removed, patients of all age groups can register for deceased donor organs. The changed guidelines have been put on the website of the NOTTO,” an official source said. Additionally, noting that some states have been charging fees ranging from Rs 5,000 to 10,000 for registering such patients, the Union Health Ministry has requested that they not do so, stating that doing so is against the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules, 2014’s provisions. This was noted by official sources on Thursday. According to an official, states including Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Kerala have been charging such fees. Organ transplants increased from 4,990 in 2013 to 15,561 in 2022, according to official data. From 2013 to 2022, there has been a total of 9,834 kidney transplants from living donors, up from 3,495 in 2013, and 1,589 transplants from deceased donors which has increased from 542. The total number of liver transplants from living donors has increased from 658 in 2013 to 2,957 in 2022 and from 240 to 761 in 2022 from deceased donor. The total number of heart transplants have increased from 30 in 2013 to 250 in 2022 while lung transplants from 23 to 138. Source: PTI

Eight of the top ten “best jobs” this year were in the technology sector, demonstrating that demand for tech positions has not decreased even as tech companies continue to layoff employees. Full-stack developers are in high demand for IT jobs, according to data from the job site Indeed. They are followed in favour by data engineers, cloud engineers, senior product managers, and back-end developers. According to CNBC, who cited the data, over half of the top 25 positions in the US market—or 44 percent—were in the technology sector. Indeed’s annual list features all positions that “pay annual salaries that are above the national average.” At least 10% of roles that are advertised allow for remote or hybrid employment. Tech-skilled workers are in demand in sectors like retail, finance, professional services, travel, government, aerospace, and healthcare. The report was released when large layoffs were being reported by such companies including Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, IBM, SAP, Salesforce, Spotify, and others. After the renowned US tech giant IBM announced it was eliminating approximately 3,900 jobs, the European software giant SAP joined the parade of tech firms laying off employees on Thursday. In 2023, there will be more substantial layoffs as most business economists anticipate that their organisations would reduce payrolls in the near future. CNN reported that only 12% of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) believe employment would rise at their companies during the next three months, “down from 22% this fall.” For the first time since the early stages of the Covid pandemic, more business executives foresee job losses at their companies. Julia Coronado, president of NABE, said the data show “widespread concern about entering a recession this year.”

The CEO of Google parent Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, informed employees via email on January 20 that the company plans to eliminate 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce, as tech layoffs intensifies across companies. Pichai added that he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here,” adding that the cuts will effect employees globally and across the entire company. Pichai continued, “These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities.” Teams from across the organisation, including recruiting, some corporate functions, some engineering, and product teams, are impacted by the job losses. According to Google, the layoffs are global and immediately affect US employees. With the layoffs, Google joins a plethora of other tech giants that have significantly reduced operations in the face of a failing global economy and surging inflation. Twitter, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Twitter have all reduced workforce. Pichai stated that the tech giant will “support employees as they look for their next opportunity” in the announcement. Pichai said the company will pay workers for the entire notice period in the US (minimum 60 days). Along with accelerating at least 16 weeks of GSU vesting, Google will also provide a severance compensation that starts at 16 weeks of salary plus two extra weeks for each consecutive year of employment. For those impacted, the company will pay incentives for 2022 and any unused vacation time, as well as provide 6 months of healthcare, job placement assistance, and immigration support. Additionally, outside of the US, the search engine giant will support staff in accordance with local practices. As part of the transition to a new performance management system, Google is delaying a chunk of its employees’ year-end incentives, according to a recent Reuters report. According to a corporate spokesperson who talked to Reuters, the company will initially pay eligible employees an advance bonus of 80% and the remaining amount will follow in later months. The move was announced to the personnel last year. The company, however, posted earnings and revenue in October that fell short of analyst expectations. Compared to the prior year, profit dropped by 27% to $13.9 billion. At that time, Pichai said that Google will cut costs, and Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer, predicted that the number of new positions would decrease by more than half from the third quarter to the fourth. Source: Reuters

According to the first official estimate made by the Statistics Ministry on Friday, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will slip to 7% in the current fiscal year ending in March 2023 as a result of weak demand. India’s GDP grew by 8.7% between 2021 and 2022. If the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) prediction comes true, India’s GDP growth will be less than the 7.6% expansion Saudi Arabia is predicted to have. The projections are higher than the Reserve Bank’s 6.8% projection even though they are substantially below than the government’s prior forecast of 8–8.5% growth. The NSO estimated that the manufacturing sector’s output would slow to 1.6% from a 9.9% increase in FY22. Similar estimates place mining industry growth at 2.4% in the current fiscal year against 11.5% in 2021–22. According to the NSO, “Real GDP or GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in the year 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 157.60 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2021-22 of Rs 147.36 lakh crore, released on 31st May, 2022.” According to the report, real GDP growth is expected to slow to 7% in 2022–2023 from 8.7% in 2021–2022 period. Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices is projected to be ₹273.08 lakh crore in 2022–2023 as opposed to the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2021–2022 of ₹236.65 lakh crore, published on May 31, 2022. According to the NSO’s announcement, nominal GDP growth is projected to be 15.4% in 2022–2023 compared to 19.5% in 2021–2022 The RBI had reduced the country’s GDP growth prediction for the current fiscal year from 7% to 6.8% in December due to the persistence of geopolitical concerns and tightening of global financial conditions. The NSO also provided growth predictions for many industries. In comparison to the 3 percent growth seen in the previous fiscal year, the agriculture industry is expected to rise by 3.5% in FY2022-23. According to estimates, the trade, hotel, transportation, communication, and services connected to broadcasting segment will increase by 13.7% from 11.14% in 2021–2022. Though growth in the construction sector is anticipated to slow from 11.5 to 9.1% from a year ago.

At its “Google for India” event on December 19, 2022, the American technology giant Google introduced a number of new features. The company announced a new endeavour to digitise doctor’s prescriptions and expand its search functionality. Additionally, the tech behemoth unveiled its Multi Search feature, which would let users add text, screenshots, and images to their inquiries. Additionally, Google included the “Search in Video feature,” which gives users of smart devices the chance to search inside of videos. The tech giant has additionally stated that its Files by Google app for Android would offer secure access to Digilocker documents. The tech giant unveiled an AI and ML model that can interpret handwritten prescriptions at the Google for India conference. According to a blog post by Google, this technology will let users understand handwritten prescriptions and help pharmacists digitise handwritten medical records. This function is currently being developed, and no choice will be made solely based on the judgement of AI and ML technology. Google also intends to add a Multisearch feature to its search engine. Users will be able to take screenshots or photographs and add text to their search terms for quick results. The feature will be accessible in several Indian languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, and others, according to a Google announcement. During the Google for India event in New Delhi, the company also unveiled a new search feature. It is presently being tested with the beta version, which will allow users to search for specific sections of a YouTube video. A specific location, item, or moment may now be searched for by viewers thanks to the technology company within a YouTube video. The users would benefit from time savings as they can find items they were looking for right away. This feature is still being tested but is shortly to be available to everyone. “We’re piloting the ability to search within videos on your phone’s Search app. Just type in your query using the ‘Search in video’ feature and find exactly what you’re looking for,” the company stated. Speaking of accessing Digilocker documents, Google disclosed that it will assist customers in using Digilocker on Android to securely access genuine digital documents. Starting today, users will have access to their Digilocker digital documents via the Files by Google app for Android. It was created in cooperation with the National eGovernment Division, says the tech giant.

A parliamentary committee expressed concern about the decline in membership at the Delhi Public Library and suggested that the government create a virtual library through large-scale text digitization. According to the 328th report of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture, ‘Action Taken by the Government on the Recommendations/Observations of the Committee contained in its 310th report on the subject Functioning of Central Libraries in the Country,’ the Delhi Public Library has seen a decrease in membership in recent times, with the COVID-19 pandemic being one of the reasons. “It has come down to 1.5 lakh membership from what it was prior to coronavirus period i.e. 1.85 lakh. Being a model library created in 1951 in Asia with UNESCO’s technical, financial assistance, it should lead other libraries in country and extend all possible help in their growth. Delhi Public Library should make all out efforts to increase its membership/viewership in the interest of general public,” according to the report. In their response, the Ministry of Culture acknowledged that there has been a “perceptible decline” in the membership of the Delhi Public Library (DPL) over the last two years.  “This was mainly due to the Covid situation and also absence of reading habit among the society. However, Delhi Public Library has been striving to increase its membership by conducting outreach activities, approaching schools/ colleges/ RWAs, distributing membership forms and waiving of membership fee,” the ministry said. The Committee also proposed that the Indian public library system be changed while keeping current advancements in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in mind, in order to provide minimum network-based services to the urban and rural populations. Libraries should be created as Community Information Centre models, and computerization of libraries should be implemented quickly to improve them, according to the report. In their reply, the culture ministry stated that it has already built the Indian Culture Portal, where knowledge and cultural resources from diverse Ministry of Culture institutions are now available in the public domain on a single platform. “This project is part of the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative to showcase information about India’s rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage both at home and abroad,” according to the ministry. This portal contains documents, photographs, audio-visual files, and other data from archives, museums, academies, and libraries throughout the country. It contains around 2.5 lakh digital artefacts with metadata. It also has around 9 lakh bibliographic entries. The content is divided into 19 categories, including rare books, e-books, archives, paintings, and union catalogues, among others. It also contains nine content categories, including stories, snippets, historical cities, and forts. Currently, the portal is available in English and Hindi. It is accessible via the Indian Culture App, which is available for both Android and iPhone.

The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), an apex-level autonomous institution of the Government of India, has begun capacity building programmes for senior officers in the Jammu and Kashmir administration, according to a Personnel Ministry statement issued on Tuesday. According to the statement, the capacity building initiative is scientifically designed to enable civil servants in Jammu and Kashmir to provide robust and seamless services to the people. The cutting-edge knowledge and new skill set obtained throughout this programme will assist these civil servants in providing efficient public service delivery to better people’s lives, according to the statement. In July 2021, it was decided to train 2,000 senior Jammu and Kashmir government officials, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the J&K Institute of Management, Public Administration, and Rural Development (J&KIMPARD) and the NCGG to promote excellence in capacity building and reorient officers of the Jammu and Kashmir government. In order to put this MoU into action, the NCGG has already held three such capacity-building programmes for Jammu and Kashmir officials. In his inaugural address, NCGG Director General Bharat Lal emphasised the importance of translating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of good governance into concrete action. He emphasised the importance of changing the strategy and acting as facilitators to attract investment, encourage entrepreneurship, and increase job creation by assuring public service delivery. According to Lal, “we are living in a highly competitive and globalised world” and as a result, businesses need to be supported in order to attract investment. He asserted that everyone’s time is valuable and that rapid service delivery and time value must go hand in hand. Lal emphasised the obstacles and stated that the reorientation programme will enable officers to give technology-enabled solutions to people’s problems. “The aim is to reorient the officers to enable them to work with single-mindedness to improve the quality of life and create opportunities for the people of Jammu & Kashmir. The officers are given exposure to the best practices in governance from across the country to emulate these practices of good governance, transparency and efficient service delivery in Jammu & Kashmir,” the statement said. The fourth capacity-building programme is set at the NCGG campus in Mussoorie from November 28 to December 9. The training modules are produced by practitioners, experts, and academicians in the fields of public administration and good governance, including e-government. The NCGG, established by the Centre in 2014, is tasked with training civil servants from India and other nations. The Centre has also trained a substantial number of officers from Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia, Gambia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Laos, Vietnam, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Cambodia in recent years.