August 2022

srilanka crisis

Why Sri Lanka is facing one of its worst economic crises

Bankrupt Sri Lanka urges its citizens from abroad to send some home cash. Fitch places 13 Lankan banks on rating watch negative. Sri Lanka is found to default on 51 billion dollars as external debt. The stable in island paradise. There is no food. 500,000 Sri Lankan’s have fallen into poverty in recent days. There is no fuel, and there are no medicines. Critical surgeries have been cancelled. Doctors say that the economic crisis may kill more Sri Lankan than the covid did. There are daily power blackouts and wide-scale protests on the street. What is happening in Sri Lanka is much more than an economic crisis. It is a humanitarian crisis. And the question is how did it happen? How did columbo lose all its money? People stand in a queue to buy kerosene oil used in cooking stoves in Colombo on August 31, 2021 following Sri Lanka’s declaration of state of emergency over food shortages as private banks ran out of foreign exchange to finance imports. Credit: AFP The Lankan crisis has numerous explanations. This is a problem in the country’s policy. And then there is politics, One fact is beyond Sri Lanka’s control which people call fate. And the other cause is China. It is the root cause of many problems in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. One by one let’s know all the points in detail: – Also read >> WHY INDIA HAS ZERO PROBABLITY OF RECESSION? What is happening now is the result of years of Miss management.  You see there is a fundamental problem with Sri Lanka. It imports more than it exports. It spends more than it earns. There is a trade deficit. There is also a budget deficit. This double debt is a perfect cause for a big disaster. Sri Lanka’s response to these disasters has been disastrous, instead of trying to narrow down the deficit the country expanded its debt. Colombo borrowed heavily from countries and agencies. Today Sri Lanka’s debt to GDP ratio is 111% meaning it owes more than it produces. In 2019 the Asian development flagged this problem, it said, “the country’s National expenditure is more than its national income, as well as its production of tradable products and services is not up to the mark.” 2019 was also the year when Rajapaksa was campaigning for presidential elections. Among his election promises were deep tax cuts, basically, you vote me to power and I’ll ensure you that you pay less tax. Well, how will the country make money then, the voters never asked and go to beyond never bother to warn. On November 19 he was elected to office with more than 52% of the vote and a series of drastic tax cuts followed, rating agencies raised an alarm they realized Sri Lanka state coffers will soon be bleeding and the country may soon run out of money. So, Lanka was downgraded to nearly default levels as a result investors fled the country and it became difficult for Sri Lanka to access international markets. But Gotabaya was not done, he made another blunder in April 2021 he banned all the chemical fertilizers, and why then good for health he said. Critics rolled their eyes and they realized the real problem was not health but a shortage of dollars, Sri Lanka was saving foreign reserves by banning the import of fertilizers. This decision was killing farm output. White rice is a staple in Sri Lanka, its production fell by 50%, around June 2021 Sri Lanka was forced to import rice, something like this had not happened in years. Economic crises in Sri Lanka | AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena In July came the worse news: Sri Lanka banned the import of luxury goods and by now the country was scrambling to save dollars. Headlines of newspapers of Sri Lanka made it clear that Sri Lankans needed to brace for the storm. Well one could also say that Sri Lanka walked into this storm to an extent what’s happening now is Gotabaya and the company’s brand of politics backfiring. This Rajapaksa family’s return to power was only due to the support of Sinhala Buddhists. The Rajapaksa tried extra hard to not lose their support. In the last 3 years, Sinhalese sentiments were kept in mind while making decisions involving national and international affairs. From the Pro market approach, Sri Lanka turned to a welfare-driven mode. It invested in infrastructure because the Monks preferred this approach to development. Sri Lanka also was not interested in forming closer ties with India. The Rajapaksa moved closer to China. They always try to use bilateral debt to fund infrastructure and expand the Lankan military. Colombo bet on China to drive the Sri Lankan economy, China did send some money but it also spread a Wuhan virus. When Sri Lanka was never good with money it was China that insured Colombo goes bankrupt by 2019. Sri Lanka’s tourism sector was already suffering, the eastern bombings had scared Europeans who would holiday in the island nation, then came the Wuhan virus when borders closed, tourists completely stopped arriving in Srilanka and due to low tourism revenue from tourism started decreasing drastically. Sri Lanka depends on tourism for 13% of its GDP, tourists are also a source of foreign currency. In 2020 Sri Lanka managed to welcome just 173000 tourists, in 2018 the number was 2.3 million and by 2021 SriLanka’s tourism revenue was down to 2.8 billion dollars as against 7.5 billion dollars in 2019. The Wuhan virus also hit remittances. Lankans abroad stop sending money so in late 2021 the revenue from tax had fallen. Agriculture production which accounted for 8% of the GDP had also fallen. Tourism revenue had fallen so had remedies and to top it all there was a rising pandemic and foreign agencies were not lending money to Sri Lank what did Colombo do? so it turned to its neighbours. In June 2021 Bangladesh loaned Sri Lanka 200 million dollars, and in February

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happy life, willpower

How to improve and increase willpower?

How to strengthen willpower and self-discipline? What is the benefit of having a strong willpower? People having strong will power are generally more happier, healthier, successful, make more money, lead a longer life and have more satisfying and long‐lasting relationships than those lacking it. In a nutshell, you can say if one want to improve his/her life, will power is a strong place to start. Today we are going to talk about how focusing or not doing something actually makes us do it, how our brain reward system works and how the will power is like a muscle and the more we train it, the stronger it gets. Understand our brain reward system. Why do you feel bad after getting our immediate desires like buying new clothes even if you already have it, wasting a lot of time in front of TV, etc.? Why do you do it again even if you know? It’s because the reward system of our brain is not our friend always, sometimes it leads us in the wrong direction. Let’s understand the phenomena what exactly happens in our brain if we crave something. When you see or smell a food item that you like, our system releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which is responsible for activating the areas of brain responsible for attention, motivation and action. These dopamine can be activated by anything which makes us feel good like tasty food items, an attractive face, sale on shopping, games, gadgets, etc. And when this dopamine is released, that particular thing becomes very desirable even if we are not interested in it in the long term. This is the reason why we engage ourself but later on it leaves us feeling unsatisfied and guilty. So, what is the solution to this problem? You can actually make this weakness your strength by combining the undesirable tasks with the pleasant ones which activates your dopamine. For example‐ you can finish your boring paperwork over your favourite songs and coffee. Also Read > HOW TO DEVELOP AND IMPROVE YOUR SELF CONTROL? Stop always thinking about your desires or overthinking about anything. Here is a challenge for you. Don’t think about your dream world for the next five minutes. Can you do it? I’m sure most of you will fail. Even though we don’t think about it usually. If you actively try not to think about your dream world, it becomes almost impossible to stop. This was shown by the researchers who thought that suppression can help us in stop thinking about the very thing we are not trying to think. This was an interesting fact that researchers came to know. There was a researcher called Roger by Master in Germany, he had set up a willpower test. He had made two groups of students of a class named group A and group B. Group A was locked in a room for 20 minutes and was given cookies and other stuffs and was told not to eat those stuffs. And the students of group B were also given the food stuffs but nothing was said. After 20 minutes, the students of both groups were given some puzzle to solve in order to test their willpower. Can you guess what could had happened? The students of group A solved that puzzle for only 7 minutes whereas that of group B lasted for 12 minutes. So, how can you overcome cravings without stop thinking about it? Instead of deciding that you won’t do that particular thing, devote your energy to your self‐control. For example: When you are on a diet, don’t think that you will not eat fast-food. Instead, devote your energy to the idea that a decline in the unhealthy food will automatically lead you to follow your diet chart. Willpower is like a muscle. The human brain has got a specially developed part known as prefrontal lobe of the neocortex and this enables us to do the most difficult tasks. In other words, it enables us to do all the tasks doesn’t matter whether a particular task is pleasurable or boring for you, yet you will/can do it. So, what is the trick then? How can you do it? You have to utilize the power of your prefrontal cortex in reconfiguring your mind. Now, the question comes how to reconfigure your mind? See, the prefrontal lobe of the neocortex is very much like muscles in our body. Just like your muscles get tired with usage, similar is the case for our willpower. When you wake up early in the morning, your willpower is strong just like your muscle but as the time passes by it gets exhausted. For example:‐ Have you ever lifted heavy furniture for one long day? At the end of the day, you become so tired that you are no longer able to lift anything even if you want to. Same is the case for our willpower, after flexing your willpower muscle too much, you simply become exhausted and is no longer to exercise anymore. And if you work on your willpower, you could improve the strength of your willpower muscle. Then, why does the overuse of will power make you run out? Because every single time, the successful attempt to exert self‐control draws from the same limited sources. This means that resisting a strong desire for something will not only weaken your ability to avoid other temptations, but also it gives rise to procrastination and other will power failures. And this willpower exhaustion happens all the time. This is because many daily tasks you would not think of as the willpower challenges like doing boring assignments, sit through a boring assignments. And just as it is possible to train your arm muscle through weight lifting. It is also possible to train your willpower muscle with challenges of willpower. By performing small but regular willpower challenges, you can gradually improve your self-control. Practicing often with this small temptation will train your willpower muscle in the long run, which

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carbon language

Carbon: Google’s new programming language

The carbon programming language is recently announced by a tech giant google. It is an experimental language that could be a successor of C++. Carbon is in experimental phase. So, somethings might change in the future. This language intends to fix several shortcomings of C++, otherwise it provides similar features as compared to C++. some of the problem occurred during using C++ are:- Accumulated technical debt (eg: Integer promotion rules) across various functionalities. Backward compatibility with C makes it even more hard to fix tech debt and make code changes hard to implement. Evolution process to add new functionalities to C++ is very difficult as it needs to adhere to ISO process overhead, preventing from experimentation etc. As of now most of the programming language that are popular among programmers have disappeared or are disappearing. For example typescript was replaced with Java by Microsoft, Apple replaces objective C with Swift, Google previously itself replaced Java with Kotlin. So ,it may be possible that carbon will become a  successor of C++ Carbon can replace C++ if things become better. If we talk about C++, it is widely used by many production Systems and it also gives high performance ➤ WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT DEGREE OR KNOWLEDGE? Features of Carbon-language:- Performance matching C++ using LLVM (low level virtual machine), with low-level access to bits and address. Interoperate with your existing C++, that means you can call C++ language code from carbon language and Vice-versa. Fast and scalable builds that works with your existing C++ build systems. Built with open- source community with clear goals and priorities with robust governance. Scalable migration, with some level of source-to-source translation for idiomatic C++ code. As Carbon language is in experimental phase, there is no working compiler or toolchain. Modern and evolving Solid language Foundations that are easy to learn, if you have use C++ in past Safer Fundamentals, and an incremental path towards a memory-safe subset What we want from CARBON Language Performance-critical software Software and language evolution Codes which are not difficult in reading, understanding and writing Practical safety and testing mechanisms Fast and scalable development Modern OS platforms, hardware architectures, and environments Interoperability with and migration from existing C++ code When many languages share subsets of all these goals, the combination of carbon programming distinguishes it from other languages. ➤ Learn Google’s Carbon Programming Language Thanks For Reading Abhishek Singh Writer

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degree verses skills

What is more important degree or knowledge?

To be successful in life, a person should have knowledge along with degree. A degree without knowledge is as futile as knowledge without a degree. Everyone having knowledge may not have degree, similarly everyone having degree may not have knowledge. https://foxfoster.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Students-63328-1.mp4 WHAT IS DEGREE? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? A degree is an authenticate certificate by which one can get a job. It gives us confidence by which our personality gets enhanced. A person having a degree gets respect and reputation. Higher the degree, higher is the post and hence higher will be the package and status. Also, a person having a knowledge without a degree, won’t be hired by the anyone. For example‐ A person may be very good electrician but since he hasn’t any qualification, he won’t be called an engineer and won’t be hired by anyone instead of an engineer. We have heard from the very first day of our school that it’s important to score good to be successful in our lives. One common and admanent question asked by our parents to all of us is‐ How much have you scored? /What is your rank? It means, every single time, our degree is being asked by our parents and teachers. But But having a degree really guarantee a job? Is it worth it? There was a time when people were appointed for a job on the basis of their degree. But, nowadays, having a degree is no longer a guarantee to be successful. Let’s say you’re looking for a job, your first step for this would be to submit your resume and on the basis of your resume you’ll be get a call. Then, do they give you the joining letter on the basis of your degree mentioned in the resume? No, they don’t. Inspite of having your resume in hand, you’ll be called for an interview. So, why do they call for the interview round? Isn’t your degree sufficient yourself perfect for the post of that particular job? What do you think, why is it so? Because, knowledge is equally important. WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Knowledge is the information acquired through the theoretical or practical understanding of something such as facts, skills, education or experience. A bit of paper cannot decide one’s knowledge. The limitation of a degree is that it doesn’t prove that you have knowledge. That’s why, job aspirants have to go through the interview round. It is knowledge which lifts up a person in his/her life. Knowledge is what helps you to achieve your target in the long run. One can take a first step without knowledge but in the long run, it’s not going to be fruitful for an individual. Suppose you’re selected for a job on the basis of your degree but you don’t have much knowledge, will you be able to continue to your job? Without knowledge, one can’t succeed in life, even the most successful persons‐ Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos has not any degree or certificates, however they are the successful personalities. CONCLUSION: A degree without a knowledge is nothing but a mere piece of paper. Having knowledge doesn’t imply that you’ll have degree rather you will be a successful personality for sure. Degree has its own importance because today we’re living in a world where we need to prove ourselves. Many times, degree is needed to start the career. So, degree may be the first step for you to start, knowledge takes time but ultimately, it will take you to the final destination. Degree makes us to differentiate between the knowledge and information, on the other side, knowledge gives us wisdom and makes us to differentiate between right or wrong. “The larger the island of Knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.” Thanks For Reading

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music

why is music important in our life?

When you talk about music, what comes to your mind first? Definitely, your favorite song or the instruments which you like the most! It has been present in our lives from the day we are born. Now, Imagine a life without music. Wouldn’t our lives be boring without music? Well, I think that world will be like a stagnant water body. In my opinion, it’s not just a word of five letters, it’s a feeling. It is everywhere‐ in the pitter patter of raindrops, in humming tone of nightingale and cuckoo, in the thunder, in the sound of waterfall, in the whistle of the wind, in the sound of sea‐waves. It is something we need on a daily basis. So, music is an essential part of our lives. What is the Benefit of music? 1. An “Universal Language” There are certain feelings which we fail to express but through music it’s possible to express all types of feelings. It has the power to transform our moods as there are all types of music depending on the mood, we can listen to. There are emotions attached to every kind of music. 2. Power to make people happy Listening to the music on a regular basis can reduce chronic pain. If someone is healing from the injury or was in a surgery, music makes the healing process faster.. 3. Reduces Depression Music therapy is recommended for the people suffering from stress and depression. Research say that while it’s a acute level depression or mild level depression, our mind behaves positively by listening to the music. 4. Helps with Insomnia For the people suffering from Insomnia, music has a direct effect on the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps our body to relax immediately and fall asleep. 5. Improves Memory Music helps in increasing learning and remembering capacity. Music enhances learning and makes it more enjoyable. It is scientifically proven that music enhances brain functioning. Playing music uses many brain function simultaneously; motor control, hearing, sight, memory, imagination, etc. 6. Sparks the imagination Listening to the song you love takes you to the beautiful and peaceful world which shifts your mood and as a result creates images in our mind and also opens new ideas for us. Well, these were the effects that music has on all of us. Music has a very good impact in everyone’s life in different ways. It has the power to make all of us happy and this is the reason why people from all around the world love to play and listen to the music. CONCLUSION Music has the power to bring people together, express our feelings, reduce the pain, bring positivity in our daily life. It can instantly transform our emotions and most importantly‐ It stays with the people till the end of their lives; never leaves them alone whatever the situation may be! Thanks For Reading

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How to manifest something you really want

How to manifest something you really want?

Even without doing any activity you can still manifest what you want. If you organize these four dimensions in one direction and keep it unwavering in that direction for a certain period of time. People usually believe God will do all for him and it will happen. So, is God going to come and do it for you ? No, I want you to understand, God will not do it for you. What has not happened till now on this planet, can happen tomorrow. Human beings are capable of making things happen tomorrow. WHAT YOU REALLY WANT? Whatever we as human beings have created on this planet, would have essentially first created in our minds. All that we see, which is human work on this planet, first found expression (or came) in the mind then it got manifested in the outside world. The wonderful as well as the horrible things that we’ve done on this planet both have come from the human mind. So, if we’re concerned as to what we create in this world, it’s extremely important that first of all we learn to create the right things in our mind, how we keep our minds. THE BASIS OF CREATING THE WORLD THE WAY WE WANT If we don’t have the power to keep our minds the way we want it, what we create in the world is going to be very disorganized and accidental. So, learning to create our minds the way we want is the basis of creating the world the way we want (manifest). A well-established mind, a mind which is in a state of samyukti is reffered to as a Kalpavriksha (meaning a wishing tree). If  you organize your mind to a certain level of organization, it in turn will organize the whole system- your body, your emotions, your energy, everything gets organized in that direction. Once all these four dimensions of you- your physical body, your mind, your emotion and the fundamental life energies are organized in one direction and once you’re like this, anything that you wish happen even without lifting a small finger actually. Right now the problem with your mind is : Every moment it is changing it’s direction. It is like you want to travel somewhere and after every two steps if you keep changing your direction the question of reaching the destination is very uncertain unless it happens by chance. So, if you organize your minds in one direction then in turn your whole system will be organized in one direction and if you do this, you’re a Kalpavriksha yourself. Anything that you manifest will happen. But right now if everything that you wished happens, will you be able to digest it? No, you’ll be finished. Everything and everybody that you’ve desired for, if all of them come today, could you live with that? Once we’re empowered like this, it’s very important to control the four dimensions and should be properly directed. If it is not so, we become self-destructive. Right now, this is our problem. The technology which is supposed to make our life beautiful and easy, has become the source of all the problems, and we’re destroying the very basis of our life, which is the planet. We can say: IN SEARCH OF GOLD, WE ARE LOSING DIAMOND. In the last hundred years or so, it has really became a threat to our life, simply because we’re not conscious of our actions, also we’re in a compulsive state of action. So, organizing our minds fundamentally means moving from a compulsive state of activity to a conscious state of activity. You must have heard of people who ask or manifest their will for something and beyond all expectations it becomes true for them. Generally, this happens to people who are in faith (believers). Now, let’s say you want to start a business. If you start thinking “Oh I want to start a business, to start a business I need fifty lakhs but I’ve only fifty rupees in my pocket”. “Not possible, Not possible, Not possible”. The moment you say, “Not possible” you’re also saying “I don’t want it” indirectly. So, on one side you’re creating a desire that you want something , manifest to achieve something, on other hand you’re saying, “I don’t want it”. So, in this conflict it may not happen. Someone who has some faith in God or whatever, who is simple-minded, faith really works only for those people who are simple-minded. A person who has faith in God, he goes to temple and manifest their will , “God I want to start a business. I don’t know how, it’s all up to you”. Now in his mind there is no negative thoughts. It is completely removed by the simple act of having faith, he believes God will do it for him and it will happen. So, is God going to come and start a business for you? No, I want you to understand God won’t do anything. What you refer to God is the source of creation (creator), and as a creator he has done his job very well. So, if life has to happen the way you think it should happen, first of all, how do you think, with how much focus do you think, how much stability is there in your thought and how much reverberance is there in your thinking process will determine whether your thought will become a reality or it is going to be your thought only. WHY WE DON’T GET WHAT WE WANT? One main reason is- we think ‘Is something possible or not possible’, it’s not your business, it’s nature’s business and this is destroying the humanity. Your business is just to stick for what you want. Also, you generally use the past experiences of our life as a basis for deciding whether something is possible or not. Or in other words, you’ve already decided that what has not happened till now in your life, can’t happen in your life in future. This is a

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