Seasonal Magazine - JSS AHER - Cover Story by John Antony

Bahrain BD 1.50 Kuwait KD 1.50 Oman OR 1.50, Saudi Arabia SR 12.00 UAE DH 10.00 UK £ 3.00, US $ 3.00

VOLUME 19 ISSUE 6 JUNE-JULY 2022

YEARS

Rs. 50

MAGAZINE

Seasonal www.seasonalmagazine.com

Managing Editor Jason D Pavorattikaran Editor John Antony Director (Finance) Ceena Associate Editor Carl Jaison Senior Editorial Coordinator Jacob Deva Senior Correspondent Bina Menon Creative Visualizer Bijohns Varghese Photographer Anish Aloysious Office Assistant Alby CG Correspondents Bombay: Rashmi Prakash Delhi: Anurag Dixit Director (Technical) John Antony Publisher Jason D Pavorattikaran

EDITORIAL

WORLD IS PAYING THE PRICE FOR DOING BUSINESS WITH A DICTATOR

Editorial & Business Office Cochin: 36/1924 E, Kaloor-Kadavanthra Road, Near IGNOU, Kaloor, Cochin-17. Ph:0484- 2345876, 2534377, 2340080 Mob. 09947141362 Delhi: H.No: P-108, Uppal Southend, Sector 48, Sohna Road, Gurgaon, Haryana – 122018 Ph: 9891771857|099471 41362 Mumbai: 202, Woodland Heights Building, St. Martins Road, Bandra West, Mumbai 400 050 Mob: 919947141362 Bangalore: House No: 493, Block 3 3rd Main, HBR Layout, Bangalore-4209731984836, Email:skmagazine@gmail.com www.seasonalmagazine.com

Reg No: KERENG/2002/6803 Printed & Published by Jaison D on behalf of PeteCarlson Solutions Pvt. Ltd. at Cochin. Printed at Rathna Offset Printers, Chennai-14. All Rights Reserved by PeteCarlson Solutions Pvt. Ltd. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means, including electronic, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

MEMBER

Subscriptions Available on iPhone/iPad & Android SEASONAL MAGAZINE

A battered world was literally crawling out of the two-year old pandemic, after overcoming three waves, and this guy deemed it perfectly fit to start a war, by invading his neighbour which is not even 35% of Russia’s area, not even 30% of Russia’s population, and not even 11% of Russia’s GDP. This he did, knowing very well that there would be repercussions. Because, this was not an abrupt war, but a hostile situation at the borders for over a year. So it was very very clear to Putin that his action would attract unprecedented sanctions from Western powers. Still he did what he did. Why?

UK Office: “CRONAN”, Boundaries Road Feltham, Middlesex, UK TW13 5DR Ph: 020 8890 0045, Mob: 00447947181950 Email: petecarlsons@gmail.com

All health related articles are for first information purposes only. Always consult your doctor before taking any decison affecting your health.

Those who are saying Vladimir Putin is committing a war crime in Ukraine, don’t know what they are speaking about. Because, Putin is committing a war crime on the whole world!

Today, it is amusing to see Western media outlets - including the good and balanced ones - unearthing stories about how Putin was a street bully and petty thug, growing up dangerously in Leningrad, and how he dodged getting caught and jailed by police, and finally joined KGB on his judo prowess, to earn respectability! The point they are trying to make now is clear - Putin resorted to thuggery in Ukraine because he has always been a thug. This is not entirely true. Putin resorted to thuggery in Ukraine because, almost all the nations had turned a blind eye towards the earlier thuggeries he had done in Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea & Syria. Just over a decade back, these same media outlets were hailing Putin as the strongman of Russia for his achievement of placing

his country again as a superpower on the world stage by way of military and economic revival. All his flagrant violations of democratic norms to cling on to power and emerge as a de facto dictator were conveniently overlooked. Why? Simply because Western style capitalism was allowed in Russia, and Western governments and giant businesses stood to gain much by operating in the country which was trying to rebuild itself from a small economic base. For over two decades, the West foolishly thought that since communism had collapsed and capitalism was allowed a free run, Russia would turn more and more democratic! Just the reverse happened. Russia turned more and more undemocratic under Putin, with opposition getting decimated, opposition leaders getting killed or jailed, and even Russian oligarchs who didn’t toe Kremlin’s line getting jailed forever and their wealth getting confiscated. Corruption became rampant, and many careful analyses say Vladimir Putin is the wealthiest person in the world today, even ahead of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos! And with his uncontested power at home, he also started flexing his muscles at all the weaklings around Russia whom he knew he could easily subdue. With the West turning a blind eye, his military adventures became bolder and wider, with its zenith being in Syria, where he chose a careful enemy that much of the world loathed - ISIS - even when he allied with one of the cruellest dictatorships in the Middle East. And just because he defeated ISIS in their hometurf, the world again turned a blind eye to his war crimes there. Syria, one of the cradles of ancient civilizations and especially its cities of glorious heritage like Aleppo were razed to the ground, beyond recognition or restoration, just to win the war for his Syrian dictator ally, and thus to prove what Russia is capable of internationally. But like all dictators, Putin too has an expiry period. His very act of shutting down democracy has also invariably shut down the sane voices around him. The foolish invasion of Ukraine is the first evidence. Almost all the top military and intelligence leaders who said pleasing things alone to Putin - like Kyiv falling within hours to saviour Putin’s marching army - will soon be headless literally or figuratively. The eeriest thing remains the kind of stuff the West overlooked. As far back as 2014, Angela Merkel had made it clear to Obama that after meeting Putin she had felt that he was totally out of reality, and living in his own world. And repeated instances of President Putin and his aides stealing priceless stuff like a crystal kalashnikov filled with vodka from international museums during their visit, were overlooked.

And the literal distance that Putin keeps from his officers and even visiting heads of states during personal discussions - using a looong conference table and the usage of microphones instead to discuss things, were also overlooked. There are reports that say Putin is paranoid about catching Covid as well as other infections. And there are reports that say Putin is seriously sick and under severe medication. What are the side effects of his medications? Is that weakening his judgement on the risks he is forcing Russia and the world into? Some reports say he is afflicted with cancer, and what if the cancer is affecting his brain or nervous system? See the danger the world has put itself into by allowing so much power to concentrate into the hands of a man who may be too sick to make safe judgements? Remember, he is the sole authority to decide on launching intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying nuclear payloads that can obliterate most cities of Europe and North America, and of course most of Russia too, when the West’s programmed nuclear defence systems retaliate in reflex action. The world is hoping that such a scenario doesn’t happen. It may not too, but what about the economic burden slapped on the whole world by the senseless actions of this single individual? Oil prices are going through the roof, inflation is breaking all barriers, and the world is being pushed towards an economic turmoil that will take several quarters to be undone, even if peace were to be restored in Ukraine today. Russia is not an isolated case either. Our very neighbour China, who is even more capable than Russia to wage wars, both militarily and economically, too remains a dictatorship where a central figure is increasingly usurping all the decision making powers. Democracy is an imperfect system, but it remains the only hope for the world, if it has to avoid these kinds of ultra dangerous situations it has gotten itself into. The strategy should be perfecting and strengthening democracy and not deriding it for its obvious imperfections. John Antony SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CONTENTS JSSAHER SPARKLING IN RESEARCH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research is fast growing to be a powerhouse in basic and applied research as well in entrepreneurship development and startup incubation. JSSAHER has bagged several funded projects from Indian Government’s R&D arms like Department of Science & Technology and Department of Biotechnology, some of them worth Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 20 crore. The Mysuru headquartered leading deemed university, with its thrust on health sciences, has also started a Centre of Excellence in Entrepreneurship Development (CEED) in association with Karnataka..

ICFAI

WORLD CLASS BEST PRACTICES AT IFHE & IBS

MANAV RACHNA

WORLD CLASS MATURITY IN PRODUCING SUCCESS STORIES

SATHYABAMA

HOW SATHYABAMA MOVES AHEAD, UNFAZED BY THE PANDEMIC ISSUES

SASTRA

GRADED AMONG TOP-5 INSTITUTIONS NATIONALLY

Prestige Estates

NO.1 DEVELOPER BY SALES When it comes to capital markets, there is nothing like being a leader. From TCS to Asian Paints and from Reliance to HDFC Bank, it is a winner-takes-it-all market. Eyes of the foreign and domestic institutional investors, who basically drive the Indian equity market,

SRM GROUP ACHIEVES WORLD CLASS PLACEMENTS, TOP OFFER OF RS.1 CRORE FROM AMAZON, GERMANY

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

KIIT TO ACHIEVE 100% PLACEMENT SOON

THE WISDOM & POWER OF RITUALS, AS TAUGHT BY SAGE CONFUCIUS FEW TAKERS FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN'S HIGH PROFILE GLOBAL INVESTMENT MEET Many business leaders are concerned about even being seen at this year's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Vladimir Putin's annual economic

INDIA’S YOUNG ARE REELING FROM SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

THE POWER OF A 1-WEEK SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX New BMW M2 Coming The BMW M2 is a highperformance version of the BMW 2 Series automobile developed by BMW's motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. BMW has confirmed that the new M2 will use the S58 sixcylinder engine from the M3 and M4 and will be available with manual and automatic gearbox options.

As per the findings of a new randomised, controlled trial, even a brief social media cleanse of around one week can aid in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression, thus improving mental well-being.

HOW TO USE SMALL HABITS TO WIN BIG

THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS SECRET: HOW TO OVERCOME THE FEAR OF REJECTION Jia Jiang is the owner of Rejection Therapy, a website that provides inspiration, knowledge and products for people to overcome their fear of rejection. He is also the

TOYOTA HYRYDER TAKES TIEUP WITH SUZUKI TO NEXT ORBIT Toyota Urban Cruiser HyRyder is set to be revealed on 1st July 2022 and will be followed by Maruti’s version of the compact SUV.

Young Indians are dropping out of college, their IIT aspirations turning to dust and many are now in de-addiction centres. Is smartphone dependency growing?

For a life of harmonious ease, find the rhythm in the everyday, by making your world your temple and by submitting to its sacred rituals, as taught by the ancient Chinese Sage Confucius, says Prof. Alan Jay Levinovitz, associate professor of philosophy and religion at James Madison

The habits people build end up structuring their everyday lives, often without them noticing. When people recognize a bad habit, they often try to change it through willpower alone - but that rarely works. Here's what research says are the most effective ways to replace bad habits with good ones.

THE ETERNAL WISDOM OF DOSTOYEVSKY What the Legendary Author & Philosopher Wrote on the Meaning of Life, Just After His Death Sentence Was Repealed. - “To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart—

ULTRAWIDE MONITORS ARE THE RAGE, SHOULD YOU GET THAT MEGA SCREEN? Anyone using computers for every day, serious work, knows that much time is lost on switching between programs and tasks, all because desktop and laptop screens are small. But the new ultrawide monitors along with their supporting software can

ECONOMIST EXPLAINS WHY CRYPTOS WILL CRASH FURTHER Economist Peter Schiff Explains Why He Expects Bitcoin, Ether & Other Cryptos to Crash Further as Recession Deepens, and Warns 'Don't Buy This Dip'.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SHRADDHA KAPOOR'S BROTHER SIDDHANTH DETAINED FOR CONSUMING DRUGS AT RAVE PARTY

KUWAIT TO DEPORT EXPATS OVER PROTEST AGAINST NUPUR SHARMA'S PROPHET REMARKS

Actress Shraddha Kapoor's brother Siddhanth Kapoor was detained during police raid at a rave party in a Bengaluru hotel on Sunday night. As per Bengaluru Police, Siddhanth was among the six people to have tested positive for drug usage. The police raided the hotel after a tip-off and reportedly sent samples of 35 people for drug test.

Kuwait will be deporting expats who took part in a demonstration against the remarks made by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Muhammad after Friday prayers. The protesters violated the laws and regulations of the country which stipulate that sit-ins or demonstrations by expats are not to be organised in Kuwait. They will be banned from entering Kuwait again.

RARE ALBINO GALAPAGOS GIANT TORTOISE BORN IN SWISS ZOO, PICS RELEASED

A rare albino Galapagos giant tortoise was recently born at a Swiss zoo and made its public debut this month. It's part of a pair of newborn tortoises at the zoo. While one of them is black in colour like its parents, the other one is albino. The two babies' genders haven't been determined yet.

DELHI POLICE WARNS OF TRAFFIC AMID 'SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT', SHARE LIST OF AREAS TO AVOID

The Delhi Police advised commuters to avoid some routes in view of "special arrangements" on Monday. "Avoid Gol Methi junction, Tughlak Road Junction...Claridges Junction...Q-point Junction, Sunehri Masjid Junction...Maulana Azad Road Junction and Man Singh Road Junction between 7am & 12pm," police said. Police also advised public to avoid Motilal Nehru Marg, Akbar Road, Janpath & Man Singh Road.

I'M NOT TAKING ANY EXTRA MEASURES TO MAKE MY SKIN LOOK DIFFERENT: MASABA Fashion designer-actress Masaba Gupta has said she's not taking any extra measures to make her skin look different from what it is. "I'm not taking any extra steps to make my body look smaller than what it is," she added. "I'm not trying to fit people's idea of what I should be like if I'm an actor," Masaba further said.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HEAVY LIFTING NEEDED IN AIR INDIA, EXPECT VISIBLE PROGRESS IN 1-2 YRS: CHANDRASEKARAN

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran while speaking about the transformation at Air India said that there "are lots of issues that need heavy lifting". He added, "There is no magic wand... A lot of work needs to be done on IT systems, processes...We want to make Air India the flagship company...In the next 12-24 months, there will be visible progress."

TOTALLY ILLEGAL: EX-CJ OF ALLAHABAD HC ON DEMOLITION OF UP VIOLENCE ACCUSED'S HOUSE

Speaking on the demolition of the house of Prayagraj violence accused Javed Mohammad by UP government, former Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Govind Mathur said, "This is totally illegal." He added, "It's impermissible that you demolish a house on a Sunday when the residents are in custody. It is not a technical issue but a question of rule of law."

SEQUOIA RAISES RECORD $2.85 BN FOR INDIAN, SOUTHEAST ASIAN STARTUPS Sequoia Capital has raised $2.85 billion for startups in India and Southeast Asia, the company said on Tuesday. Out of the funds raised, $2 billion is dedicated to India across two funds, and the remaining $850 million is for Southeast Asian firms. This is Sequoia's largest fund for the region. This year Sequoia completes 16 years in India.

PLENTY OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIAN BUSINESS IN RUSSIA: ENVOY

There are plenty of new opportunities for Indian business in Russian market, especially after many western countries' withdrawal, said Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov. The multidimensional cooperation between India and Russia is among the world's "most elaborate ones", he said. Priority is being given to early conclusion of free trade pact between the Eurasian Economic Union and India, he added.

MY FATHER'S GENERATION HELPED CRICKET GROW WHEN THERE WAS NO MONEY: KAIF ON PENSION HIKE

Former India batter Mohammad Kaif took to Twitter to thank BCCI for hiking monthly pension for former cricketers and umpires. "My father, Mohammad Tarif, is always very happy when he gets his pension," he wrote. He added, "His generation helped the game grow when there was no money. By remembering their contribution, BCCI has shown a big heart."

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HOW TO MURDER YOUR HUSBAND' WRITER JAILED FOR LIFE FOR MURDERING HUSBAND FOR MONEY

US-based romance novelist Nancy Crampton-Brophy, who published an essay called 'How to Murder Your Husband' in 2011, has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband. A jury found that she shot her husband of 26 years in 2018 for a $1.5million life insurance pay-out. Nancy was convicted of the murder last month.

GUJ VILLAGERS LOCK SCHOOL OVER ALLEGED MISUSE OF FUNDS; PROBE ON Residents from the Sundhiya village in Gujarat's Mahesana locked a government primary school on Monday alleging that the principal was misusing government grants using fake bills. However, officials claimed that government grants can only be used following permission from school management committees, which include parents. District Education Officer has ordered an investigation into the matter.

CRYPTO FIRM BLOCKFI TO FIRE 20% STAFF, CEO CITES 'MACROECONOMIC CONDITIONS' Cryptocurrency firm BlockFi on Monday announced that it will fire 20% of its 850 employees and that the job cuts will impact every team in the company. CEO Zac Prince while sharing a Twitter thread about it wrote, "We’ve been impacted by the dramatic shift in macroeconomic conditions", and this was not a "decision taken lightly".

MOCKERY OF JUSTICE: TRUMP ON US CONGRESS PROBE INTO CAPITOL RIOTS Former US President Donald Trump criticised the congressional inquiry into the riot by his supporters at the US Capitol last year as a "mockery of justice". Trump said the Democratic-led panel was "a Kangaroo Court, hoping to distract...Americans...from the great pain they're experiencing". This comes after the committee held two public hearings accusing Trump of an attempted coup.

SELF-HELP

THE CREATIVE POWER OF A BRAIN DUMP This creative exercise turns disorganized thoughts into gold, by helping you untangle your to-do list from your big, passionate ideas. o you have days where you’re facing a huge stack of assignments, but you find yourself unable to get rid of all the thoughts buzzing around in your brain? It might be time to try a brain dump. A brain dump is when you gather all your disorganized thoughts and, appropriately, dump them onto a blank canvas. This exercise allows you to clear your mind and pave the way for new, creative ideas. You let all your thoughts tumble onto paper, and see what you come up with after the process. To try it yourself, start with a completely blank slate, like a piece of paper or a new memo note on your phone. Start recording everything - from your nagging to-do list, to budding creative ideas for your business - onto the paper or screen. You might write down a partial grocery list, or ideas you have for redesigning your house. Then, once you have a list of all the brain clutter spilled out in front of you, take a moment to double-check if there are any lurking thoughts you forgot to include. Maybe there is an upcoming but low-priority deadline you forgot about, or a networking follow-up you dropped the ball on. Once everything is written down, start to rank each idea or task by priority and category. You might try organizing work and personal tasks, and indicating if they’re long-term or short-term projects. Finally, start to consider which part of your brain dump can be assigned to yourself at this very moment, to other people, or to tackle yourself at a later point. Some productivity bloggers have described the exercise as a “release valve.” Others emphasize that a brain dump should be a free-flowing and nonjudgmental process. So try to refrain from editing. Instead think of it as a way to generate creative material for later. Here are three reasons why this practice can be so effective.

1. BRAIN DUMPS STOKE CREATIVITY SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Contributor Aytekin Tank says he uses brain dumps as a means to tap into his creativity, as leader and founder of a company. “The truth is, our mind isn’t at its best or at its most creative when it’s being held under the weight of thousands of tasks and projects,” he writes. Doing a brain dump can free up mental real estate by helping address attention residue, or leftover preoccupations from your most recent and unfinished task.”Keeping these ongoing mental lists leaves little room for the spark of new ideas to flourish,” Tank points out. The act of writing thoughts down in a space outside your temporary mental archives, makes it easier to see the bigger picture. Research shows that just attempting to multitask can be harmful. Author and computer science professor Cal Newport told Fast Company in 2016 about how without putting aside dedicated time for focused work, people convince themselves “shallow tasks” are real work. “Many people have convinced themselves that it’s crucial that they are always connected, both professionally and socially, but the reality is that this requirement is self-imposed,” he explains. In Newport’s book Deep Work, he discusses how when you hop from one task to the other, you can weaken your focus, making it increasingly more difficult to jump into deep-work projects over time. Doing a brain dump can be a first step at making sense of the busy rush of tasks that fill our lives.

2. BRAIN DUMPS HELP US MAKE SENSE OF COMPLICATED FEELINGS Ultimately, the method has done its job when it helps you to organize your confused thoughts. Think of your tangled thoughts as a ball of yarn. If you don’t have time to untangle them at the current moment, you can do a brain dump instead, and throw the tangled mess into a separate receptacle for safekeeping.

Research into similar activities - like filling out a diary - suggests these endeavors help people cope with traumatic events. A study from the University of Texas with North Carolina State University suggested individuals who have experienced trauma can use expressive writing to tamp down distracting thoughts, as well avoid unhealthy behaviors.

3. BRAIN DUMPS HELP US RECONNECT WITH OUR PASSIONS When your mind is given leeway to calm down after a “brain dump,” the extra mental space can be great for focusing on what you love. Work and its constantly growing demands can make it extremely hard to break out of a cycle of busyness. And when we’re too overloaded with tasks, it can lead to burnout, not to mention a disconnection from your true passions. Burnout is linked with symptoms such as lowered productivity and feelings of losing your identity. Moreover, a worker who feels burnt out may feel disillusioned in their job or feel like even meeting their goals is no accomplishment. These sentiments make it easier to lose sight of why you took on a certain role, or why you feel empowered doing a certain project. By trying a brain dump, you can more clearly visualize what’s standing in the way of doing what you love. (By Diana Shi for Fast Company)

SUCCESS

HOW TO USE SMALL HABITS TO WIN BIG THE HABITS PEOPLE BUILD END UP STRUCTURING THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES, OFTEN WITHOUT THEM NOTICING. WHEN PEOPLE RECOGNIZE A BAD HABIT, THEY OFTEN TRY TO CHANGE IT THROUGH WILLPOWER ALONE - BUT THAT RARELY WORKS. HERE'S WHAT RESEARCH SAYS ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO REPLACE BAD HABITS WITH GOOD ONES.

o you want to make a change in your everyday life - say, exercise more, meet all your deadlines, or develop a new skill. You make a plan, conjure your willpower, and commit. Yet, like the vast majority of people, you eventually fail. What happened? Perhaps getting to the gym was more of a hassle than you realized, or you found yourself too tired at night to study that new programming language.

at what habits are, and whether they’re having a negative or positive effect on our lives. Habits are automatic behaviors. Instead of requiring intention, they occur in response to environmental cues like time of day or location. Essentially, your brain forms an association between a specific context and a specific behavior. You then execute that behavior - the ritual or habit - in that context without even thinking about it.

It’s easy to blame yourself for lacking selfcontrol or dedication. But behavioral change rarely occurs through willpower alone, says Dr. Wendy Wood, a behavioral scientist at the University of Southern California. Instead, the people most likely to make lasting changes engage their willpower less often than the rest of us. They know how to form helpful habits.

Habits might be things like checking your email as soon as you get to work in the morning, walking a certain route home every evening, chewing your fingernails when nervous, or scrolling through your social media newsfeed when you hop in bed at night. Habits

The habits we build end up structuring our everyday lives, often without us even noticing. “In research we’re able to show that people act on habits much more than we’re aware of,” Dr. Wood says. Sure, humans have advanced brains capable of creativity, problem-solving, and making plans. But it’s our daily habits - the small, everyday behaviors we do without thinking about it - that account for so much of how we spend our time and energy. Dr. Wood’s research finds that around 40% of our daily behaviors are habits. That’s why it’s worth taking a close look SEASONAL MAGAZINE

form when you receive a reward for a behavior. And like Pavlov’s dogs, you might not even realize that you’re learning something new. When exposed to something enjoyable, your brain releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This “dopamine rush” makes you feel good, so you’re incentivized to repeat that behavior in order to get rewarded with dopamine again. Over time, the association between the context, behavior, and reward gets stored in areas of your brain like the basil ganglia and dorsolateral straitum, which are associated with emotions and implicit learning. Checking your newsfeed at night, for example, might be enjoyable, at least

sometimes. So, without even realizing it, that hope for another dopamine hit brings you back to checking it before bed. Before long, this habit gets stored in your brain and is hard to change. Over time, some habits can become so ingrained that they remain even when the reward ends. In one classic study on habit change, researchers tried to get people to change a simple workplace behavior: taking the stairs instead of the elevator. The researchers tried educating people about the benefits of using the stairs, like reduced electricity use and getting some quick exercise. It made no difference. So, the researchers made the elevator doors close 16 seconds slower - just enough of inconvenience to nudge about onethird of people into taking the stairs. But the more remarkable finding was that people continued to take the stairs even after the elevator speed returned to normal. They stuck with their habit. Habits are rarely changed by knowledge, planning, or willpower alone. Remember that habits are stored in areas of the brain like the basil ganglia and dorsolateral striatum. These areas are involved in basic life functions, including procedural memory (e.g., how to ride a bike or do other actions) and emotion. They are considered somewhat primitive, even primal, developing early on in evolution to ensure animals completed the vital tasks of feeding, fighting, fleeing and reproduction. On the other hand, willpower, explicit knowledge (such as the ability to state facts), and planning are primarily directed by the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the most advanced part of the brain. But because it is separate from where habits are stored, Dr. Wood argues, it alone cannot directly change habits. “Our habits are stored in a memory system that we don’t have access to, we can’t fuss with,” Dr. Wood says. “It’s a way of securing the most important information and protecting it from change.” For instance, just as educating people about the benefits of taking the stairs didn’t reduce elevator use, educating people about how to eat more healthily is unlikely to change their diets. Even providing financial incentives does not

generally lead to lasting habit change after the incentive ends. So how can you change habits? Try making a new habit! Yes, the best way to change a habit is to replace it with a new one. This means you must complete a new behavior in a given context, get a reward, and repeat. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Forming new habits is challenging because of what psychologists call “friction” - the barriers that get in the way of completing a behavior, like distance, time and effort. One of the best ways to overcome friction is to create an environment that makes the new behavior easy and rewarding. The new environment ideally will reduce old cues that led to bad habits, and increase cues that lead to helpful new habits. “One of the really important things about behavior change is you have to work with what’s around you,” Dr. Wood says. “We really need an environment that would make it easier to actually achieve our goals.” This is where your planning and thinking comes into play. If going to the gym is a hassle or you just don’t like it, find an at-home exercise routine you actually enjoy and leave your exercise clothes and equipment out in a convenient, obvious spot. If you want to start reading before bed instead of checking your phone, consider charging your phone overnight in a spot out of reach from your bed, and find yourself a book you just can’t put down. Although habits get a bad rap, using them wisely can substantially improve your life. In addition to helping you reach your goals, habits can provide a sense of structure, control, and even meaning to your life. Many professional athletes, for example, gain a sense of confidence and control when they perform specific rituals before or during games. Other people might have family traditions or routines that provide meaning. Because habits take so little brain power, they can also free up your mind for other things, like thinking about your important life goals or calling your mom on your drive home. “When we’ve practiced on things enough that we don’t have to think about it, then we can do other things,” Dr. Wood says. (By Elizabeth Gilbert for Big Think)

INDIA'S WHOLESALE INFLATION RISES TO RECORD 15.88% IN MAY AS AGAINST 15.08% IN APR India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) surged to a record high of 15.88% in May, up from 15.08% in April, data released by the government showed. The WPI inflation was 13.11% in May 2021. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry attributed the high inflation in May to a rise in "prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum and food articles", among others.

INDIAN STREET FOOD RESTAURANT CHAI PANI NAMED BEST IN US Chai Pani, which serves Indian street food in North Carolina, was named US' Outstanding Restaurant at the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago on Monday. The menu at Chai Pani features 'Bhel Puri', 'Sweet Potato Chaat' and 'Green Mango Chaat'. It was the first time the honours were awarded in two years, after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

IT'S COMPLETELY MADE IN INDIA: PREITY AMID REPORTS OF IPL MEDIA RIGHTS FETCHING RS 44,000 CR

Amid reports of IPL TV and digital rights fetching more than ?44,000 crore, PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta tweeted, "Waiting to hear...BCCI announce the new IPL media rights." She added, "What an incredible sports property IPL has become! Employing thousands & entertaining billions across the globe...it's dwarfing all other sports leagues by its incredible growth and it’s completely Made In India." SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SOCIAL MEDIA

THE POWER OF A 1-WEEK SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX AS PER THE FINDINGS OF A NEW RANDOMISED, CONTROLLED TRIAL, EVEN A BRIEF SOCIAL MEDIA CLEANSE OF AROUND ONE WEEK CAN AID IN REDUCING THE SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION, THUS IMPROVING MENTAL WELL-BEING. n our fast-paced, tech-driven world, a break from social media - every once in a while - is always welcome. A contributor to our mental anguish, social media platforms can play a significant role in rousing feelings of unworthiness, anxiety, and unease. "Human beings are social animals that have an evolutionary need for companionship and to build connections that constitute their social milieu," says Nishtha Narula, Counselling Psychologist. "Although, this very social system that offers us the support, can, at times, put us under pressure, triggering angst. Social media platforms are the best example of this dichotomy," she goes on to explain. In keeping with this notion, a study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking has established a link between a week-long social media cleanse and a notable decrease in the anxiety and depression experienced by its participants. The research based its findings on the social media behaviours of 154 participants, with a mean age of 29.6 years, who were either asked to refrain from using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for a week, or continue to do so. The mental health of the sample size was assessed before the study commenced and it was found that those who abstained from social media for a week noted a significant reduction in anxiety and depression, and a consequent increase in overall well-being. The control group, who didn't undergo the detox, failed to experience any comparable positive outcomes. "Many of our participants reported SEASONAL MAGAZINE

positive effects from being off social media, with improved mood and less anxiety. This suggests that even just a small break can have an impact,” posits Jeffrey Lambert, first author of the study and lecturer at the University of Bath. Future research should extend this to clinical populations and examine its effects over the long term, the study put forth.

The mental health of the sample size was assessed before the study commenced and it was found that those who abstained from social media for a week noted a significant reduction in anxiety and depression, and a consequent increase in overall well-being. The control group, who didn't undergo the detox, failed to experience any comparable positive outcomes.

"Future work could attempt to recruit a larger sample of participants to explore process-related queries around frequency, intensity, and type of social media, and add further understanding to the mechanisms by which reducing social media can contribute to better mental health. It should also examine how participant-level psychological, social, behavioural, and individual factors moderate the effect of social media abstinence on mental health outcomes," claimed the authors of the study. While on the one hand, social media aids in building social connections and presents a platform for self-expression, it can also set off a downward spiral of comparisons. Through constant social pressure to have desirable numbers that plague our self-confidence, a false perception of reality based on what one sees is encouraged. (Credit: Divya Verma)

AUTO

TOYOTA HYRYDER TAKES TIEUP WITH SUZUKI TO NEXT ORBIT Toyota Urban Cruiser HyRyder is set to be revealed on 1st July 2022 and will be followed by Maruti’s version of the compact SUV. he compact SUV segment that has seen outstanding success in the Indian markets is set to get stronger with two very able launches from Toyota and Maruti Suzuki, thus far codenamed Maruti YFG and Toyota D22. The first of these, the Toyota Urban Cruiser HyRyder will debut on 1st July 2022 while its Maruti Suzuki equivalent will be introduced at a later date. This will be the third product to be sold under the Suzuki-Toyota global partnership in India. The first two being Glanza (rebadged from Baleno) and Urban Cruiser (rebadged from Brezza). Unlike the first two, the next one will not be a rebadge exercise. It will have its own unique styling. The new compact SUVs from Maruti and Toyota will be like what Hyundai and Kia have done with Creta and Seltos – sharing parts, engines, etc; but having their own design and interiors. Ahead of its global debut on 1st July 2022, the all new Toyota Urban Cruiser HyRyder's looks have been leaked from what looks like a TVC photoshoot. This is the first time we get to see the upcoming Toyota compact SUV in a fully undisguised avatar. What was leaked is probably the top of the line variant, with dual tone finish of red colour with black roof. Even before the leak, it was reported that the upcoming SUV will be christened Hyryder. What is interesting to know that Toyota is also giving it the prefix Urban Cruiser, which is the name of their Brezza, Nexon rival sub-compact SUV. In the front, the New Toyota HyRyder SUV gets a massive grille, flanked by headlights boxed in black surround. Above that is a twin LED DRL setup on each side, with a thick chrome strip connecting DRLs and a Toyota logo in the center. Chrome strip is highlighted even further with it being placed on piano

black finish. Side and rear profile has not leaked yet. Its Maruti counterpart will sport a slightly different front look with split headlamps but with A-Cross styled LED DRLs. The front grille is in a similar design as seen on the new Baleno and Ertiga facelift while there is a large Suzuki logo positioned in the center of the grille. There will be many similarities between the Maruti YFG and New Toyota HyRyder SUV both in terms of design and engine specifications but with some distinctive designs to differentiate themselves from one another. They will be produced at Toyota’s Bidadi Plant No 2 in Karnataka. For starters, they will both be positioned on a localized version of Toyota’s TNGA-B (or DNGA) modular monocoque platform. Similarities will be see in their exterior and interior design as well as in their engine specifications. Similarities will be seen on their ground clearance, squared off wheel arches and 17 inch alloy wheels. Both cars are also slated to share some interior equipment with multiple connected car features, powered driver seat, wireless phone charger, head up display

unit and drive modes along with sunroofs. Safety will be via a 360 degree camera, multiple airbags, cruise control, electronic stability control and ISOFIX child seat mounts. The two compact SUVs from Toyota and Maruti will share their engine lineup. They will receive a 1.5 liter K15B petrol engine sourced from Maruti Suzuki with mild hybrid (all wheel drive) and strong hybrid technology (front wheel drive). The engine will offer 103 hp power while in mild hybrid format and 116 hp power with strong hybrid, mated to either 6 speed manual or 6 speed automatic transmission. The strong hybrid setup will allow users to toggle between pureelectric, hybrid and engine-only modes automatically for added efficiency. There will be no diesel engine option. New Toyota HyRyder SUV and Maruti YFG should come in at a starting price of around Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom). Once launched, they will take on the Hyundai Creta along with the Kia Seltos, Skoda Kushaq, VW Taigun and MG Astor. More details will be revealed at the global unveil event on 1st July 2022. (Credit: Rush Lane) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

TECHNOLOGY

ULTRAWIDE MONITORS ARE THE RAGE, SHOULD YOU GET THAT MEGA SCREEN? ANYONE USING COMPUTERS FOR EVERY DAY, SERIOUS WORK, KNOWS THAT MUCH TIME IS LOST ON SWITCHING BETWEEN PROGRAMS AND TASKS, ALL BECAUSE DESKTOP AND LAPTOP SCREENS ARE SMALL. BUT THE NEW ULTRAWIDE MONITORS ALONG WITH THEIR SUPPORTING SOFTWARE CAN SOLVE THIS PROBLEM AND BOOST PRODUCTIVITY. BUT SHOULD YOU GET ONE OF THESE EXPENSIVE SCREENS FOR YOURSELF? ore screen space, more productivity. Is it really that simple? After using an ultrawide monitor for over a year, there are a few things I wish I’d known before investing in a big, expensive ultrawide screen for my daily work. Here’s my take on what it’s like to use an ultrawide monitor for productivity. First, a little bit about myself. My primary work involves spreadsheets. Lots of spreadsheets, with thousands of rows, dozens of columns, formulas, flashing buttons, you name it. Last year, I convinced myself I needed some extra screen real estate to accommodate my overgrown spreadsheets. I was working on a

standard 20-incher I bought long back, but to be honest, the real reason was I wanted to spoil myself with something nice. After some rather perfunctory research (that would come back to bite me), I picked up an ultrawide monitor from Dell, the 34-inch Dell P3421W, for approximately $650. Overall, the Dell P3421W is a solid, if not flashy purchase. It looks sleek on my desk, and the aluminum stand is sturdy enough not to wobble even at the tallest setting. It’s the kind of classy, understated design that works in just about any setting. It has plenty of ports, including USB-C, which makes it possible to connect a laptop and

charge it simultaneously with one cable. Just not my laptop, as I quickly found out (remember that perfunctory research I mentioned?). I also realized my aging laptop simply cannot output 3,440 x 1,440 pixels at 60Hz, forcing me to use the monitor at 30Hz, like a barbarian. Woe is me. The Dell P3421W lacks bells and whistles, including some I would’ve genuinely found useful. My big missing features are the integrated webcam and speakers. Like most office workers in 2022, my day is just an endless series of video calls, so I’ve come to regret the lack of a built-in webcam. You can at least buy a modular soundbar from Dell for $50 that you can snap magnetically to the bottom of the screen. And, of course, there’s the 34-inch 3,440 x 1,440 21:9 panel. Technically, it’s a curved panel with a bend radius of 3800R. In plain English, the curvature exists, but only barely. You can see it if you look for it, but you probably won’t notice it in dayto-day use. The curvature on an ultrawide monitor is supposed to have a practical purpose: to decrease the distance to the edges of the screen, making it easier to see UI elements. That doesn’t happen with the Dell P3421W, and I often found myself moving windows to the middle of the screen so that I didn’t have to squint to the sides. On the flip side, there’s no distortion like on some curvier gamingoriented models. While you don't get lots of bells and whistles, the Dell P3421W is definitely a reliable purchase. With a large, high-quality 34inch display, USB-C connectivity, and a classy design, this ultrawide monitor will get the job done. The display quality is solid. I don’t have high demands, and the Dell P3421W is not the right choice for serious gamers. But all the basics are delivered just fine, including the resolution, brightness, refresh rates, contrast levels, and panel uniformity. Finally, it also turns out my desk is just a little too narrow to ergonomically accommodate a 34-inch screen, so keep that in mind when you buy yours. The Dell P3421W was my first time using an ultrawide monitor, so I was ready for a brave new world of pixels and productivity. A year later, I’m

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

no productivity master, but switching to ultrawide has improved many aspects of my work. If you spend your day in apps or websites featuring complex interfaces, lots of information, and big workspaces, an ultrawide screen will make your life easier. You can just fit more stuff on the screen, especially if the UI is designed with wide screens in mind, or if you can customize it to take advantage of the horizontal space. Spreadsheets, tables, and databases are my primary “killer app.” In Airtable, Excel, or Google Data Studio, having more space for columns means less scrolling and an easier time wrangling the data. It’s hard to quantify, but the productivity gain is real. Developers, videographers, graphic designers, 3D modelers, and other creators will benefit from switching to an ultrawide format. The 5:9 space you get beside the classic 16:9 makes it possible to fit more UI elements while maintaining a generous space for your main work. Developers can, for instance, code in one window and see the results render beside it without having to switch windows. Multitasking is the other big benefit. Having a 21:9 screen is not equivalent to using two monitors side by side, but it’s almost there. You can place a Word window on the left side, fire up the browser on the right, and seamlessly switch. You can do that on a 16:9 monitor too, but the ultrawide format gives you way more breathing space. You can go beyond that and comfortably switch between three columns. Or, if you really want to go crazy, you can turn your screen into a full dashboard with five or six windows displayed simultaneously. Liveblogging major events like Google I/O is a bit less frantic when you can watch the livestream, coordinate with colleagues over Slack, work in WordPress, and monitor the traffic, from one screen and without feeling cramped. The ability to fire up multiple windows and arrange them to suit your work style is the biggest strength of the ultrawide experience, but it can also be the biggest weakness. Working on an ultrawide is awesome if you have a specific layout that you rarely stray from. If like me, you constantly switch between a variety of apps,

window sizes, and window positions, you better get good at it. Otherwise, all the switching, moving, and resizing may quickly become tedious. Or worse, you’ll end up using one app at a time in full screen, which is a waste of perfectly good pixels. Perhaps you like to focus on one window at a time to avoid succumbing to endless distractions. That’s where an ultrawide becomes less valuable because all the screen space on the sides goes unused. If you tend to work in just one app, especially one that doesn’t take full advantage of the horizontal space, you’ll be better off investing in a highquality 16:9 monitor instead. To become an expert window wrangler, you will need a window management tool. My go-to app is FancyZones, part of Microsoft’s PowerToys suite of utilities, but Dell has a similar one, and there are others out there. These apps let you define areas of your screens and quickly snap windows into position, making it a breeze to arrange them around the screen. You can have windows automatically snap into place whenever you hit a keyboard shortcut. The catch

You can go beyond that and comfortably switch between three columns. Or, if you really want to go crazy, you can turn your screen into a full dashboard with five or six windows displayed simultaneously.

is you’ll need to show some discipline and actually make use of these tools. Otherwise, it’s easy to devolve to using the ultrawide as a normal monitor, which will make you slower and less productive. Gaming and watching video are beyond the scope of the article, so I’ll just say one thing: I hope you don’t mind seeing black bars. After a year of living the ultrawide life, my advice is to ignore the hype. It’s easy to watch your favorite YouTuber tour their awesome desk and think, “I need that monitor in my life.” But that YouTuber probably has a specific use case for that monitor: video editing. If your use case doesn’t involve video editing or programming or lots of research, or other tasks that would actually benefit from the ability to define expansive window layouts, an ultrawide monitor should not be your default choice. I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy one - just that it won’t be the amazingly superior experience you may expect. Definitely don’t buy it just because it looks cool, and know that you will need a little discipline to make the most out of it. In my case, given how much time I spend up to my knees in spreadsheets, I am happy with my purchase. For everything else, I could’ve managed just as fine with a 16:9 screen and maybe saved some bucks in the process. (By Bodgan Petrovan for Android Authority) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

WORLD CLASS PRIVATE

UNIVERSITIES OF INDIA

The last three years, from 2020 to 2022, will be going down in the history of Indian higher education as the period in which several of the country’s leading private and deemed universities started turning into world class institutions. Not only did they embrace the best technologies to deliver seamless online education, but started participating actively in funded research projects, reflecting a global move in accelerated research and innovation, driven by the challenges thrown up by the unprecedented pandemic. This was so, not only in the medical sector, but in many other sectors too, as the world grappled with the new realities of lessening contact even while maintaining productivity. Add to this India’s booming campus based startup incubation during these past few years, and we have a situation where some Indian private institutions are looking just like their famed Western counterparts. And just when the world was slowly crawling out of the pandemic, after tackling its three waves, has come this bolt from the blue - a reckless Russian invasion of its neighbour Ukraine, which happened to be one of the major overseas medical education hubs preferred by Indian students for many years now. But, just like how even the worst of outcomes may have a sunny side, this double whammy too is likely to be a blessing in disguise for students as well as the Indian higher education sector. More and more students who would otherwise have flown abroad for their studies are highly likely to stay in India, and the comforting fact is that unlike a few years back, this time many private and deemed universities are fully equipped to satisfy even such discerning students. This cover story, ‘World Class Private Universities of India’, includes in-depth coverage on such select higher educational institutions. Key domains that make an institution worldclass like their academic achievements, faculty strengths, research accomplishments, national / international accreditation, campus placements, world-class practices, startup incubation, academic tie-ups, industry linkages, innovative courses, infrastructure upgradation, technology adoptions etc are featured here.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

JSSAHER

SPARKLING IN RESEARCH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WORLD CLASS PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF INDIA

JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research is fast growing to be a powerhouse in basic and applied research as well in entrepreneurship development and startup incubation. JSSAHER has bagged several funded projects from Indian Government’s R&D arms like Department of Science & Technology and Department of Biotechnology, some of them worth Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 20 crore. The Mysuru headquartered leading deemed university, with its thrust on health sciences, has also started a Centre of Excellence in Entrepreneurship Development (CEED) in association with Karnataka Government, and has launched a unique pitching platform, Blaze, for innovative startups incubated by it. JSSAHER is increasingly undertaking globally relevant research in

association with several leading universities in the West including University of Oxford, University of Manchester and Boston University. The University’s Board of Management too has been expanded accordingly to include renowned national and international experts in various domains including Honourable Justice Sri Shivaraj Patil; Prof. Gyongyi Szabo, Chief Academic Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School, USA; Prof. Randeep Guleria, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi; Prof. Yogesh K Chawla, former Director of PGIMER; and Dr. Krishna M. Ella, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International. Ltd, among other luminaries.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Advances in Cancer Biology – Metastasis’ published by the Elsevier Group is one of the leading peerreviewed international journals on the subject. Recently this renowned journal carried an in-depth study on how breast cancer leads to liver inflammation or hepatitis, fibrosis, and even liver cancer. It was an interdisciplinary research, as for understanding the molecular mechanisms behind this connection, researchers of JSSAHER from medicine, life sciences and pharmacy had collaborated. The study found that sedentary lifestyle & lack of exercise, high calorie Western diets, obesity & metabolic syndrome were some of the contributing factors. The study which grabbed international eyeballs, would easily have been from

JSSAHER DST-PURSE Project JSSAHER is a recipient of the prestigious PURSE project from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. Dr. Prashant Vishwanath, Head of Research at JSSAHER, is heading the PURSE project which has a grant of Rs.19 crore. The focus area is Accelerating Interdisciplinary Research for Improving Human Health by the Development of Molecular Therapeutics and Devices. PURSE which stands for Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence is one of the flagship Infrastructure programs of DST, which commenced in the year 2009 exclusively for the University sector. The main objective of the scheme is to strengthen the research capacity of performing Indian Universities and provide support for nurturing the research ecosystem and strengthening the R&D base of the Universities in the country. DST had restructured and re-oriented PURSE in the year 2020. Universities are now selected on the basis of the research prowess of the university as well as faculty, along with NIRF Ranking. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

the likes of Harvard or John Hopkins, but was from Mysuru based JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSSAHER). For this deemed university, such achievements are, however, just a way of life now, as can be seen from its research accomplishments so far. It has 10,200 publications to its credit of which 1282 were added in the year 2021. The h index of the institution stands at 80 in web of science and 90 in Scopus which speaks about the quality of its publications. JSSAHER has also filed for 12 patents of which 2 have been granted in 2021. No wonder then that this private sector university has received Rs. 21.77 crore for various Central and State Government research projects. In 2021-2022, JSSAHER had turned truly world-class, as apart from its 34th rank in the country, it got placed in the band of 351-400 among the ranked world universities by UK based Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022. The deemed university is ably led by JSS Mahavidyapeetha’s Executive Secretary Dr. C. G. Betsurmath, Dr. B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor and Dr. Surinder Singh, Vice Chancellor of JSSAHER. Mysuru based JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSSAHER) is forever being proactive and innovative with its initiatives, projects, industry collaborations and outreach activities, so much so that its students, research scholars, faculty and the community around it are being enriched continually, like how a true world-class university should be. No wonder then that national and international accolades are coming searching for this primarily health sciences university which has also diversified well into life sciences. JSSAHER remains at the cutting edge of delivering medical, pharma & dental courses, and has also introduced B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Medical Genetics and Genomics, a sunrise field now. Apart from its new mammoth campus which is under construction, JSSAHER is investing heavily into digital infrastructure for expanding its online education, where it sees exponential growth. It has invested Rs. 12.31 crore for upgrading its various infrastructure

JSSAHER DBT BUILDER Project JSSAHER has also been selected by the Union Government’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for implementing their DBT BUILDER (Boost to University Interdisciplinary Life science Departments for Education and Research) programme. DBT BUILDER promotes the interdepartmental cross-talk with the vision to solicit a large number of post-graduate students to nurture them and make them competent enough for the globally competitive and emerging bio-economy. JSSAHER’s DBT BUILDER project has swung into momentous action by identifying three emerging research domains and attracting highly qualified and experienced research scholars. They are currently undertaking research in the three domains of novel biomarkers and therapeutics, nanotheranostics and spatial health informatics for prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases. The Rs. 5 crore grant by DBT will enable these researchers to pursue their research for a period of 5 years. and developing this new campus. The 12th Convocation of JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSSAHER) was a mega event that saw 2,318 students receiving their degrees and diplomas in various disciplines. Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala, D. Veerendra Heggade was the chief guest and delivered the convocation address and gave away medals and

Hon’ble Justice Sri Shivaraj Patil

Dr. Gyongyi Szabo Chief Academic Officer, Beth Israel Deaconess medical Centre, Harvard Medical School, USA

Dr. C G Betsurmath Executive Secretary, JSS MVP

Padma Shri Prof. Randeep Guleria Director, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi

Dr Suresh Bhojraj Pro Chancellor, JSS AHER

Padma Shri Prof. Yogesh K Chawla Former Director of PGIMER Former Professor & Head, Dept. of Hepatology, PGIMER

Dr. Surinder Singh Vice Chancellor, JSS AHER

JSSAHER's Partnership With Howard University Tracing its history to 1867, Howard University has been steadily growing and now offers undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees in more than 120 programs. Howard is a private, federally chartered, research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The Indian Embassy in USA and Howard University have been jointly celebrating 2021-22 as 'Howard University India Year', under which various India-linked events have been organized in Howard University, USA. These events were organized to commemorate the 150 years of glorious existence of Howard University, USA. In this regard, the Indian Ambassador to the USA, Taranjit Singh Sandhu had a detailed interaction with Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, President of the Howard University, in February 2021. While discussing the education and knowledge partnership between Howard University and the Indian institutions, especially in the fields of healthcare, medicine and technology, Dr Frederick had mentioned about their existing links with JSSAHER, Mysuru. In the first week of April 2022, JSSAHER, Howard University & the Indian Embassy in USA organized an International Symposium on Impactful Education & Sustainable Development. The focus was on the sustainable development goals of Good Health and Wellbeing and Quality Education and set the course for discussions and proactive initiatives for the next several years. Hosted in virtual-mode, the symposium was well-attended.

Padma Bhushan Dr. Krishna M. Ella Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd.

Dr. Manjunatha B Registrar, JSS AHER

awards to the toppers. A total of 47 candidates were awarded with PhD, with 7 candidates being conferred with Doctorate in Medicine and Master of Surgery on the occasion. 61 academic toppers were presented with 83 medals and awards with certificates for their exceptional academic performance. In order to carry out research and to develop startups in the area of digital healthcare, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the JSSAHER and Gurugram based NASSCOM CoE IoT, which is the Centre of Excellence for Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is an initiative by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, supported by the Governments of Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. This agreement will facilitate the mentoring and participation of startups incubated or supported by JSSAHER to develop different healthcare related solutions. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

When the Times Higher Education (THE), a Global Ranking Agency, recently released its World University Rankings 2022 which covers more than 1,600 Universities across 99 countries and territories, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research had a lot to beam about. JSSAHER became the only Indian university, apart from IISc Bengaluru and IIT Ropar, to come in the Top 500 ranks. It was also ranked No.1 among Young Universities in India. No other government, deemed or private university from India could make into this prestigious list, which also made a mark as the largest and most diverse University rankings till date. Even from India, 72 Universities of all hues participated in this ranking. There were more reasons for JSSAHER to smile about. While it was ranked in the 351-400 band in the THE ranking behind the two national institutes, when it came to research, the deemed university was at the very top. JSSAHER was ranked number 1 in India for the citations generated from its research publications, while in world ranking it came at the 8th position. The ranking methodology had assessed the institution’s performance across four areas - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. JSSAHER also bagged the fourth rank in India for International outlook. Speaking to Seasonal Magazine, Dr. B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor of JSSAHER said that rather than resting on these laurels, all efforts are now on to maintain and improve the university’s ranking in the coming years.

As a leading health sciences university in India, it is not only in academics and research, but in medical practice too that JSSAHER has been winning international accolades. Recently, Dr. Indira and Dr. B. Nandlal, Paediatric Dentists at JSS Dental College and Hospital (JSSDCH), received the prestigious 'Bright Smiles, Bright Future' Award from the International Association of Paediatric Dentist (IAPD) in the 28th IAPD Virtual Congress. This award is in recognition of an innovative Baby Oral Health Primary Preventive Education Programme to mothers of children below one year of age at the ‘Baby Oral Health Promotion Clinic,’ which is a unique extension clinic of JSSDCH. The six-year old Clinic was inaugurated

by Stefanie L. Russel from New York University, and this is not the first time that it has bagged an international recognition. Earlier, the International College of Dentist (India Section) had also recognised the Clinic as one of the best modality to promote oral health in children. The Clinic has been instrumental in providing anticipatory guidance to mothers to prevent early childhood dental decay in children less than three years. More than 7,000 children have been benefited from this preventive JSS programme since its inception. The success and international recognitions for these efforts by JSSAHER underscores the passion and rigour with which this private sector university has

JSSAHER Sparkle Cine BLAZE JSSAHER has developed a Centre of Excellence in Entrepreneurship Development (CEED) under the auspices of its own Non Profit Organization, Sparkle Cine, in tie-up with Technical Consultancy Services Organization of Karnataka (TECSOK), which is a Government of Karnataka venture. The activity of the Centre focuses on the development of an entire innovation driven startup ecosystem including entrepreneurship awareness, handholding research outcomes from lab to market, encouraging innovations that are relevant to society, addressing the societal problems through startups, exploring funding opportunities for both proof of concept as well as initial setting up of businesses and capital for scaling the business. Sparkle Cine had recently also developed BLAZE an innovation pitching and takeoff platform that provides a unique opportunity for the faculty and student innovators at JSSAHER to pitch their innovation and ideas with developed proof of concepts, before the academic and industry mentors. The limelight created at the event will ensure continued process development with industry academia collaboration aiming at translation of the innovations to market ready products.

JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru

School of Life Sciences, Ooty SEASONAL MAGAZINE

been pursuing its community outreach programs so as to achieve meaningful and significant outcomes for the immediate community it serves. JSSAHER could make rapid strides in research due to the establishment of JSSAHER Research Hub (JSSRH), which is the university's nodal centre for translational and transformative research for societal benefit. JSSRH achieves this by helping the individual institutions grow in research capabilities beyond their boundaries. Towards this, JSSAHER Research Hub develops inter institutional research projects & grants, publications & patents. It also disseminates curated courses in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Another responsibility handled by JSSRH is forging targeted alliances with partners for product development and commercialization. And all through these activities, the JSSAHER Research Hub inculcates values and principles of international organizations like UN, WHO, and social organizations through various academic, outreach and research activities. The functional wings of JSS Research Hub are Sparkle Cine, Entrepreneurship Cell, IPR Cell, Institution Innovation Council, Innovation Lab, Ideation Lab, 3D Printing facility, Special Interest Groups and the Centre for Advanced Drug Research & Testing (CADRAT). The various Centres of Excellence at JSSAHER in collaboration with the JSSAHER Research Hub empowers entrepreneurship development, industryinstitution partnerships and furthers the

JSSAHER - SASHI International Project South Asia Self Harm Initiative (SASHI) is an International collaborative project between JSSAHER, Mysuru, University of Bangor (Wales), University of Manchester and University of Oxford, United Kingdom. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Manchester, envisages international collaboration and active research on the area of Mental Health and well-being. The delegation from the University of Manchester was led by Professor Catherine Robinson, Professor of Social Care Research and Director Social Care and included an array of specialist doctors and researchers from there. Dr Muralikrishna, Research Fellow for SASHI and Adjunct Faculty, JSSAHER, is heading the project, and the team has already started several initiatives befitting this international collaboration. JSSAHER had recruited some new research scholars too as part of this project. JSS Dental College and Hospital, Mysuru

causes of environmental protection and sustainability. The university and research hub spearhead a slew of activities throughout the academic year to achieve these objectives. These include research and academic activities focused on encouraging the spirit of innovation & entrepreneurship in both staff and students. A special focus area is the pursuit of collaborative and complementary research themes. The research hub organizes regular talks, seminars, lectures & workshops so as to germinate a conducive research atmosphere in the campus. The outlook of JSSAHER's research initiatives are mostly long-term. Towards this the focus is on establishing long-term engagements and partnerships with industry partners and research institutions. Emphasis is given to developing patents and protecting intellectual property rights of the research activities. All the existing national and

international research collaborations including with government organizations are taken seriously and continually strengthened. JSSAHER, which has been a national level leader in hosting international conferences, seminars and workshops, is continuing these initiatives in the online mode through high-profile webinars that are witnessing excellent participation from subject matter experts and key influencers. JSSAHER's Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, under Faculty of Life Sciences, had organised a two-day National webinar and Infographic Competition on the theme ‘Food Safety: Everyone’s Business’ to commemorate the World Food Safety Day - 2021. The two-day virtual programme included two sessions each day addressed by internationally recognised Nutritionists, Academicians and Health professionals from reputed institutions and industries in the relevant field. The key SEASONAL MAGAZINE

JSSAHER DST STUTI Project JSSAHER has been selected by Central Government’s Department of Science & Technology (DST) as one of the institutions to implement the Synergistic Training Program Utilizing the Scientific and Technological Infrastructure (STUTI). JSSAHER’s Department of Academics is executing the various initiatives under their principal investigator Dr Prashant M. Vishwanath. One of the recent initiatives under the multi-crore JSSAHER STUTI’s scheme is Science-on-Wheels, a unique bus which contains research related equipment such as the world’s smallest and portable live cell imaging microscope (cytosmart), cancer cell lines, nanodrop spectrophotometer, pH meter, colorimeter, micro pipettes and anatomical models of human organs. Another speciality of this bus is that it is internet enabled and can livestream various programmes anywhere in the world besides creating awareness on Science and Research to the interested public.

beneficiaries were JSSAHER's UG/PG students, research scholars and HCPs from different subject areas. This webinar focused on the production and consumption of safe food which has immediate and longterm health benefits and synergies between the health of people, the environment and the economy. This event also helped everyone in understanding the role of safe practices in agriculture and in food industries to ensure food security as well as the quality of food products. The webinar was inaugurated by Arun Singhal, IASCEO, FSSAI, MoH&FW. The keynote address was by Dr. B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor, JSSAHER. There were four sessions by professional leaders in the subject including Dr. K. Madhavan Nair, Chairperson – Scientific Panel on Labelling & Claims/Advertisements, FSSAI, MoH&FW, Govt. of India & Scientist F (Retd.), NIN, Hyderabad; Dr. K.A. Anu Appaiah, Head, Food Protection and Infestation Control & Sr. Principal Scientist (Retd.), Department Microbiology & Fermentation Technology, CSIRCFTRI, Mysuru; Niraj Marathe, CoFounder & CEO, Coolcrop Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Gujarat; and Dr. Chaitra Narayan, Founder – Codagu Agritech & Shivam Distillations, Mysuru. The well attended event was a feather

JSS Hospital, Mysuru

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Other Major Funded Research Projects at JSSAHER While research projects funded by government arms like DST and overseas research institutions are hotly competed for by different universities and institutions, JSSAHER has been repeatedly selected due to their prior track record in impeccable execution. DST has appreciated JSSAHER’s initiatives in this regard. Other ongoing funded projects at JSSAHER include a Rs. 3.5 crore project headed by ace pulmonologist Dr. PA Mahesh which is on the subject, ‘Longitudinal effects of Air Pollution Exposures on Lung growth and development of biomarker of lung function deficit in Urban Children’. Another funded project to the tune of Rs. 1.77 crore is headed by Dr. H. Basavanagowdappa on the topic ‘Capacity building of Infrastructure and human resource for conducting COVID Vaccine clinical trials and immunogenicity studies as per GCP guidelines.’

JSSAHER Led International Workshop on Gender Issues in Water Management in Developing Countries Under the MoU JSSAHER has with Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre), an International Workshop on Gender Issues in Water Management in Developing Countries and Sustainable Development, which was held on February 22 this year. Apart from JSSAHER and NAM S&T, the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), Amstelveen, The Netherlands, was also an organizer. The objective of the international workshop was to address the gender-related issues in water resource management and policy non-aligned and other developing countries. The event has highlighted the role and the status of women in water use and management, and to identify feasible strategies to empower them in the overall water governance. The event aimed to gain the experience on gender and social equity approaches to water management, as well as actively assist the development of local knowledge and resources to facilitate dissemination of knowledge and information. More than 54 Experts and 200 participants from about 50 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries working in water science, environment socio-economic sectors, and gender studies as well as members of planning and policy groups have participated together in the virtual workshop. The experts from various non-aligned and other developing countries like Nepal, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Egypt, south Africa, Malaysia, Iraq, Pakistan, Morocco including India have participated in the workshop to discuss and develop recommendations for policy actions, which is expected to be implemented in the NAM Countries.

JSSAHER's Partnership With NAM S&T During last October, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the JSSAHER and the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre), an inter-governmental Organization based at New Delhi. The objective was to re-establish and expand their collaborative relationship on the basis of previously built contacts and mutual understanding. 43 countries are the members of the NAM S&T Centre and JSSAHER will support and collaborate with various initiatives of this international body. The MoU was signed by Dr. Surinder Singh, Vice Chancellor, JSSAHER and Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General, NAM S&T Centre, in the presence of Dr. B. Suresh, Pro Chancellor, JSSAHER at the NAM S&T Centre, New Delhi. Under this MoU, both partners will take up joint scientific activities including organization of International Workshops, Training Workshops and Training Programmes in areas of common interest; providing fellowship opportunities to the scientists and researchers from the developing countries for working in the laboratories of JSSAHER or its designated Institutions/Centres in the fields of Science and Technology including Medical Sciences; and bringing out scientific publications from time to time through mutual assistance and cooperation. The MoU also outlines a plan for providing Scholarships for bright students from the developing world to pursue their Post Graduate Studies at JSSAHER and affiliated academic institutions.

in the cap for JSSAHER's Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, which offers M.Sc in Nutrition & Dietetics, M.Sc in Sports Nutrition & Management, PGD in Nutraceutical Technology, B.Sc in Food, Nutrition & Dietetics and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) programmes. Admissions are open now for these courses. JSSAHER also collaborated with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry Of Home Affairs, Government Of India, to conduct a Webinar on the most relevant topic, Impact of Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals. The keynote address was by Prof. Anil K. Gupta, Head, ECDRM, NIDM. The speakers were Dr. Sushma Guleria, Assistant Professor, NIDM and Dr. Pranab J. Patar, Chief Executive, Global Foundation for Advancement of Environment. Dr. Suresh also had some highly inspiring insights to share the global audience of students and research scholars. He elaborated about Dr. Krishna Ella’s illustrious career from being a graduate in Agricultural Sciences and later on heading towards excelling to enable India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN from his company Bharat Biotech. Giving excerpts of his discussions with people like Dr. Krishna Ella, Dr. Suresh mentioned that companies like Bharat Biotech have an immense requirement of Life Science graduates with essential skills to cater to the needs of the emerging healthcare sector. JSSAHER is constructing a new mammoth campus, to which almost all of the academic and research wings would be eventually shifted. But for now, the university is giving more priority to investing in its digital infrastructure for online education. Speaking to Seasonal Magazine, Dr. Suresh shared that the university expects the online / offline hybrid model to continue for many more months or years, and that it also provides a way for the university to pursue exponential growth.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WORLD CLASS PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF INDIA

SRM GROUP ACHIEVES WORLD CLASS PLACEMENTS, TOP OFFER OF RS.1 CRORE FROM AMAZON, GERMANY

SRM Institute of Science & Technology (SRMIST), the flagship deemed university of SRM Group of Universities, has created a record among all private and deemed universities in India, when one of its final year engineering students was offered a Rs.1 crore per annum CTC package recently by Amazon, Germany. SRMIST has also shown tremendous growth in the overall placement metrics, both in quantity as well as quality of the offers. Around 1050 companies have visited SRMIST campuses this season and successfully placed over 10,000 SRM students this placement season. And the numbers will rise more as the placement season is still continuing at SRM. This is an accelerating growth as last year the total placements were around 8000 students and in the year before it was around 7000. Quality of placements is also on a sharp upswing. During this season, over 4000 students have got Super Dream Offers (of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Rs.10 Lakh+), and Dream Offers (of Rs.5 Lakh+) and so far there have been over 5200 unique offers. Top recruiters this year include Amazon, Google, Morgan Stanley, Toyota, Ernst & Young GDS, Deloitte, JP Morgan, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, Capgemini, Honda R&D, IBM, Fidelity, Barclays, Walmart, John Deere, Philips, Bank Of America, Siemens, Hitachi, Air Asia, MediaTek, KPMG, Loreal and more. There was a sharp increase of 30-40% in the number of students getting placed in the above 10 Lakhs per annum category, as compared to the previous years. In the most lucrative CS/IT category, SRMIST almost touched an average of 9.5 LPA, with most of the students preferring high paying product companies. Without doubt, the campus placements at SRMIST and its other universities like SRM-AP are turning worldclass, thanks to the world-class best practices they follow in selecting & training faculty, furthering research, and developing state-of-the-art academic infrastructure both physical and digital.

When young Puranjay Mohan was asked how he could set a record among all private & deemed universities by bagging the highest ever Rs. 1 crore package from Amazon Germany, he credited it to the updated curriculum followed at SRMIST. According to this brilliant young achiever, in most universities and engineering colleges there is a big gap between what they study and what they are expected to do at the workplace, but over here at SRMIST he says he has not felt that gap at all, as this final year student is raring to go and prove himself at Amazon Germany, his recruiter from day one onward. He has been offered a Software Development Role (in Embedded Systems as a Linux Kernel Developer) with a whopping CTC of Rs. 1 crore per annum. This high profile achievement was announced by none other than SRMIST’s Founder Chancellor Dr. TR Paarivendhar, who is also a Member of Parliament, at a press meet held at Ramada Plaza Chennai, recently. Also

present during the announcement were Pro Chancellor (Academics) Dr. P. Sathyanarayanan, Vice Chancellor Dr. C. Muthamizhchelvan, Registrar Dr. S. Ponnusamy and Director (Career Centre) Mr. Venkata Sastry. Honouring Puranjay with the Illustrious Student Award, Dr. TR Paarivendhar said, “Puranjay will be a role model for others. He is not only an exemplary student, but what is unique about him is that he is not from the Computer Science or IT branches but from Electronics and Instrumentation.” Dr. P. Sathyanarayanan added that, “Last year, two of our students were placed for Rs.50 lakhs each and this year the highest offer is Rs.1 Crore. It is a very proud moment for SRMIST. This is the highest offer made in any private university in India.” How does SRMIST, SRM-AP and other SRM campuses achieve such placement success? Much of this achievement is due to the kind of world-class exposure that SRM campuses give to its students.

Ever heard of Materials Genome? It is the cutting-edge of materials science, in which the varied and minute aspects of functional or engineering materials are described conceptually like in the genomic structure used in biology. This throws open interesting possibilities like the accelerated, automated & iterative development of new functional and specialized materials using Artificial Intelligence technologies like machine learning! This is dizzying stuff for even some of the world’s finest universities. Recently, over one hundred scientists and professors from sixteen countries came together to discuss and analyze the developments in this sector in an international conference on materials genome. But it was not hosted by MIT or Harvard, but a private university in Andhra Pradesh - SRM University at Amaravati! In India, it is never easy for a private sector higher education group to be taken as seriously by students, teachers & recruiters, like how they view the world’s top-class institutions. But that is

Founder Chancellor of SRMIST Dr. T. R. Paarivendhar presents the Illustrious Student Award to Mr. Puranjay Mohan. Also seen are (L-R) Director (Career Centre) Mr. Venkata Sastry, Vice Chancellor Dr. C. Muthamizhchelvan, Pro Chancellor (Academics) Dr. P. Sathyanarayanan and Registrar Dr. S. Ponnusamy at the press meet held at Ramada Plaza Chennai, Guindy.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

what SRM Group has now achieved with its deemed and private universities, with feats like the recent materials genome conference. As another example, consider what some SRM engineering students achieved recently. Even while large 2-wheeler manufacturers - both traditional brands and startup firms - were scrambling to create viable electric vehicles, these SRM students went on to develop an electric bike by leveraging the university’s tie-up with a leading battery manufacturer. The students develop such ambition as the university is forever keeping them abreast with the latest technological breakthroughs in every field! SRM’s Distinguished Lecture Series is a prime example for this, which has seen participation frrom IITs, NITs, IISERs, leading domestic & overseas universities, CSIR, DST, DBT, DRDO, DAE, ISRO, NARL, MoES etc. Recently, the 14th edition of this Lecture Series saw a highly knowledgeable talk from Dr Chennupati Jagadish, distinguished professor in Physics in the Research School of Physics and Engineering at the Australian National University. He addressed the students on 'Semiconductor Nanostructures for Optoelectronics Applications'. At the same time, SRM takes care to inculcate compassionate values in its students as well as projects. Assisted by a noted external organization, SRM has initiated a Thought Lab itself for imparting value education to students, who in turn go on to do many charitable activities to the economically challenged communities around them, like distributing winter wear. The Group’s foundation and its medical college hospital also excel in philanthropic initiatives like its recent health card which provides discounts for the needy sections of the population. SRM Group of Universities are growing and spreading their great roots into the communities and industries around them. Its flagship deemed university, SRM Institute of Science & Technology (SRMIST), near Chennai, continues to be a powerhouse in engineering and medical education and research, with its number one position in placements. SRMIST’s medical wing, SRM Medical College Hospital & Research Centre (SRM MCH&RC) had become internationally renowned as one of the

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

select few centres for Covaxin trials. It has also entered into several tie-ups with pharma majors. The Group’s newest university, SRM University, Andhra Pradesh, is also scaling similar or even greater heights by achieving 100% placements for its maiden batch itself, and by starting two Centres of Excellence with industry majors like Titan’s Tanishq Division and Amara Raja Batteries. No wonder then that SRM is getting tie-ups and recognitions from the likes of Harvard & Stanford. Stanford University needs no introduction, and when Stanford speaks, the world listens. Such has been the overall achievement level of this institution that, even while it is not part of the Ivy League, it boasts of real-world achievements that span not only academia and research, but the startup ecosystem. Stanford is indeed the cradle where some of the world’s greatest tech businesses were born. Stanford University had recently selected the top 2% of the world’s scientists in various sunrise fields including energy, biotechnology etc. Only 91 scientists were chosen worldwide for their research achievements in biotechnology, and Dr. Imran Pancha of SRM University, AP, was one among them. Dr. Pancha is a

professor of SRM-AP’s Department of Biological Sciences, and had won this selection in 2020 too. Similarly, when Stanford selected 178 scientists as the top 2% of researchers excelling in energy and related fields, SRM University, AP, had two reasons to smile. Dr Karthik Rajendran and Dr Lakhveer Singh both from SRM-AP’s Department of Environmental Science made the rare cut. This goes on to say much about the diligence with which the SRM management and Vice-Chancellor Prof. VS Rao has been choosing faculty for this most promising new private university in the Indian landscape. Prof. Rao himself is a distinguished researcher who made his mark in US and elsewhere, and made sure that 100% of faculty at SRM-AP should be PhD holders to start with. With such worldclass brains to teach and mentor students, it is no wonder really that SRM University, AP, is going great guns in placements too. While most private universities would struggle to place their first batches, SRM-AP had no issue recently in placing 100% of its students in its very first batch. The maiden convocation for BTech students of SRMAP was an unforgettable event that was simultaneously conducted physically and online, with renowned international figures like New York University’s

President Prof. Andrew D Hamilton, and Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) gracing the high-voltage event. The first batch of BTech students has received 100 percent placement with an average salary of Rs 7 Lakh per annum, which is a commendable record when compared to peers. The highest offers were for two Computer Science & Engineering students by PVP Inc., Japan, for Rs. 50 lakh per annum. And it was not only about career placements. SRMAP students also excelled in academic placements, with as many as 24 students opting for higher studies in top universities including University of Michigan, New York University, Georgia Tech, and King's College London (Madison Campus). The SRM Andhra Pradesh Convocation was also attended by Chancellor Dr T R Paarivendhar, and President Dr P Sathyanarayanan. These leaders have come to exemplify the unique vision behind SRM University, AP, as well as the other older and larger institutions in their stable, especially SRM Institute of Science & Technology (SRMIST), a deemed university near Chennai with multiple campuses, which was earlier named SRM University. SRMIST has been achieving high volume of placements year after year, and that is why when the SRM Group started a new university in Andhra Pradesh, it was armed with a wealth of experience on how to train and groom students to be fit enough to be chosen by world-class Indian and multinational companies. However, being a greenfield project, SRM-AP also brings in several new innovations by itself to emerge as one of the top universities in the world.

700 research papers in scopus indexed journals such as Nature, Nature Communications and other such reputed research publications. Despite its young age, SRM-AP is a powerhouse in research achievements. The faculty is already working on 42 funded research projects with an outlay of Rs 20.13 crores funded by the Indian government and various industry giants. 42 patents have been filed, 32 published and three granted in the past 3 years symbolizing the momentum and brilliance of research here. This year alone faculty from the Engineering and Science departments have been granted six DST SERB projects and Ramanujan fellowships.

has also tied up for niche knowledge transfer with Titan’s Tanishq division and Amara Raja Batteries. Healthcare is one field were SRM Group continues to make great inroads. SRMIST is home to a world-class medical college and its teaching hospital, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre (SRM MCH&RC). Recently, the School of Public Health (SPH) at SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), Kattankulathur, celebrated the successful completion and dissemination of the key findings of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5) for the state of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry at (SRM MCH&RC).

For instance, during the last 3 years, SRMAP faculty members have published over

The university has also signed agreements with various educational institutions, research and industrial establishments in India and across the world. These include Harvard Business School Online, Australia’s Lindus University, Taiwan’s Asia University, CSIR’s Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT). With IICT, the university has plans to pursue frontline chemicals research. SRM University, AP,

NFHS-5, the fifth in the NFHS rounds, provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India and each of its states/union territories (UT) and also provides data at the district Level. NFHS5 includes some new topics, such as preschool education, disability, access to a toilet facility, death registration, menstrual hygiene etc. The scope of clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical testing (CAB) has also been extended to include measurement of

Dr Imran Pancha

Dr Lakhveer Singh

Dr Karthik Rajendran SEASONAL MAGAZINE

waist and hip circumferences and the age range for the measurement of blood pressure and blood glucose has been expanded. The SRM Group continues to push its research initiatives in all domains, and especially in the medical field. SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), through its Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences had recently set up a 5000 square feet Research Facility in SRM called the ‘Centre for Clinical Trials & Research’. This world-class facility is located at SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre (SRM MCH&RC), and will function as a clinical trial research center capable of handling clinical trials of drugs, vaccines, and medical devices. The facility has two wards with 12 beds and several rooms for sample collection, processing, data documentation, and monitoring. It has state-of-the-art equipment for preserving serum samples at -80 degrees Celsius and -20 degrees Celsius deep freezers, high-speed centrifuge, facilities for electronic data capture with high-speed internet, thermohygrometers, and data security is maintained with controlled access. With such new infrastructure in place, SRM MCH&RC which has already come in 46th position in research, is likely to better its ranking. Students and faculty can do any type of clinical trials at this centre like the recent COVAXIN trial done here. The hospital was earlier awarded the clinical trial of COVAXIN, and for that there was a requirement for a virology lab, which was met by SRM itself by developing a world-class lab SEASONAL MAGAZINE

that was done entirely in-house. The SRM Centre for Clinical Trials & Research is headed by Professor of Pharmacology Dr. Satyajit Mohapatra, and supported by a team of investigators from all major branches of medicine including Clinical Pharmacology, General Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Cardiology, Pulmonary Medicine, Nephrology, Anesthesia & Critical Medicine, Dermatology etc. The same team had earlier successfully conducted the COVAXIN Clinical Trials (Phase 1, 2 and 3), making SRM MCH&RC the only hospital in Tamil Nadu which successfully undertook it. During the last ten years when SRM MCH&RC started focusing more on research, over 35 sponsored and academic clinical trials have been done here. Grants have been obtained from various funding agencies such as ICMR, BIRAC, DBT, DHR-ICMR National, and International Pharmaceutical companies such as Sanofi-GSK, Genova Pharmaceuticals etc to carry out these research activities. The competency-based MBBS curriculum being followed at present in SRM MCH&RC gives the student exposure to Clinical Research in the prefinal year. Students can choose it as an elective subject, and they get exposure to the current Clinical Research and Trials in this Centre. And it is not only in medicine, but in all fields including engineering and material science that SRM Group of Universities are making great R&D

strides. Recently, two Centres of Excellence was started at SRM University, AP, which was inaugurated by Dr. VK Saraswat, Member, Niti Aayog. Established to promote translational research, the first one is SRM Amara Raja Centre for Energy Storage Devices, which has been set up in collaboration with Amara Raja Batteries Limited, Tirupati, with the objective of application-oriented research in renewable energy and emobility. The second CoEx is the Centre for Pioneering Studies in Gold & Silver, which is a flagship R&D project with Titan Company Ltd (Tanishq Division) to develop novel gold alloy for contemporary jewellery design. The centre also aims to work on projects in collaboration with Waman Hari Pethe & Sons, Mumbai, and other jewellery manufacturers across India to produce high strength 22 Karat gold and to develop tarnish free silver alloys. During his visit, Dr. Saraswat also proposed to develop a Value Addition Centre in SRM University-AP to promote translational research. The centre would be strengthening the relationship between industry and academia to work on product engineering to deliver market relevant products. With several such initiatives in place, it is no wonder why deemed and private universities from the SRM stable are already making waves in worldclass placements for its students.

WORLD CLASS PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF INDIA

KIIT TO ACHIEVE 100% PLACEMENT SOON ODISHA BASED KALINGA INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY (KIIT) IS ALL SET TO ACHIEVE 100% PLACEMENTS FOR ITS 2022 BTECH BATCH. FOUNDED BY THE NOTED EDUCATIONIST, PHILANTHROPIST, SOCIAL WORKER AND LOK SABHA MEMBER, PROF. ACHYUTA SAMANTA, KIIT IS NOW LEAVING NO REASON FOR STUDENTS FROM ODISHA TO GO OUTSIDE THE STATE FOR THEIR HIGHER STUDIES. When the latest round of placements for this ongoing academic year was completed, the leading deemed-to-beuniversity has landed placements for 3000 eligible students of the current BTech batch, out of a batch size of 3500 students. What is more, multiple offers have been raining on KIIT students, despite this being a most difficult academic year due to the pandemic’s unprecedented second wave and the suddenly erupting invasion of Ukraine by Russia. These 3000 students have bagged over 4200 job offers, even under this scenario. The Bhubaneswar headquartered KIIT had begun its first round of placements in May 2021, with the ‘Day One’ numbers from four major MNC firms alone amounting to over 2000 offers. This had marked a major breakthrough for KIIT as unlike its peers based in metro cities, the university had to battle the image of being housed in a relatively economically backward state of the country. The deemed university’s placement performance this year, by way of quantity and quality, since that momentous Day One, shows that it has successfully broken that mould

and that it is giving BTech aspirants of Odisha no more reason to go searching for a university outside the state at a much higher cost. For instance, the average CTC in this year’s placements is Rs. 6.05 lakhs per annum, which is a 30% growth over the average CTC last year. Out of the 3000 students who already bagged placement offers, 1500 students have obtained it from Tier 1 or ‘Dream Companies’ with an average CTC of Rs. 8.10 lakh per annum.

KIIT also proved that it is attracting topnotch talents, when five of the students in this batch obtained the highest CTC of Rs. 52 lakh per annum, which is comparable to the best institutions in the country. Thirty-five companies also offered above average CTC of Rs. 10.00 lakh or above per annum, to get such high quality recruits trained to perfection at KIIT. The faculty of KIIT has also been an inspiration for these students to outperform. While various KIIT faculty routinely end up as newsmakers, two innovations by Prof. Biswaranjan Acharya of the School of Computer Engineering deserve a special mention. The young Prof. Acharya has successfully created an advanced wearable biomedical device that takes multiple automatic inputs from the user via sensors to assess the stress and anxiety level of its users, and suggest remedial measures like engaging them in soothing talk or notifying some friends or relatives! This invention is likely to bag an international patent, much like Prof. Acharya’s earlier invention of a hightech glove for visually impaired people that helps them to detect and navigate obstacles around them, which had bagged a patent from the Australian Government. With such exceptional faculty to inspire, it is no wonder that KIIT students are performing well in the real world too, for which the acid test is campus placements. Assisting KIIT Founder Prof. Achyuta Samanta in the exemplary running of this deemed university are Prof. Sasmita Samanta, Vice-Chancellor, and Prof. Saranjit Singh, Pro-ViceChancellor. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HIGHER EDUCATION

WORLD CLASS PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF INDIA

WHY SATHYABAMA IS IN A WORLD CLASS LEAGUE The world’s best universities are outpacing the rest of the pack on two key domains - research projects and startup incubation. Chennai based Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology, a leading deemed-to-be-university in the country, has followed this cutting-edge path to emerge in this world class league of universities. In the research domain, Sathyabama has more than 10,000 publications indexed so far in Scopus with a high H Index of 72 and around 5,000 publications in Web of Science with a respectable H Index of 62. The university also has over 250 sponsored research projects, which are worth Rs. 100 crores. Sathyabama is also highly active in applied research, with more than 500 patents filed, over 100 patents published, over 90 patents granted and 10

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

patents having successfully undergone technology transfer. Sathyabama also has impressive achievements in the startup domain. Nearly two dozen student startups have been incubated at Sathyabama campus so far. These startups have been partially funded by the university and span diverse domains. The credit for Sathyabama’s elevation to a world class league goes to Sathyabama's three decades rich pedigree, being founded by (Late) Col. Dr. Jeppiar who was a successful politician, bureaucrat, entrepreneur, industrialist and edupreneur. This heritage is giving Chancellor Dr. Mariazeena Johnson and President Dr. Marie Johnson the power and creativity to overcome every hindrance and emerge on the world stage.

Sathyabama fares well in campus placements with over 90% of students getting placed each year. More than 350 companies recruit from Sathyabama campus now and the university classifies its recruiters as Dream Recruiters and Super Dream Recruiters, and as of now there are 100 plus companies in the Dream category and over 25 companies in the Super Dream category. In the year 2020-2021, 91.6% of the students had been placed across 257 companies. Some of the recruiters include the international heavyweights, Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, Siemens, Capgemini, Cognizant, TCS and Wipro,“ “Admissions to various courses are now open at Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology. These include graduate, post graduate and research courses in engineering, architecture, management, arts & science, law, dental, pharmacy & nursing. Admissions will be through the two-phase SAEEE 2022 Examination to which candidates can now apply with the tests scheduled for late April and early May.““In the latest Convocation by Sathyabama, over 3,000 students,

including 2,892 undergraduates, 386 postgraduate students; 144 PhD scholars, and 10 diploma students from pharmacy, received their degrees. The medals and certificates, including 24 gold medals, were distributed by A Rajarajan, Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre.““Like a true university destined for greatness, Sathyabama has a strong focus on all dimensions that matter, including state-of-the-art digital delivery of academics, premium physical infrastructure, faculty quality, updated curriculum, industry tie-ups, campus placements and applied research. Thanks to such overall performance, this private sector deemed university is today a leader in diverse courses spanning engineering, management, science, pharmacy, dental and other such professional domains.““Choosing a wellestablished university like Sathyabama is important for students in this challenging year as too many things are remaining fluid due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Sathyabama was ranked at the 39th position among Universities in India by NIRF, Government of India, for the year 2020. The stability of academics and operations at Sathyabama is evident from the fact that it has been ranked among the Top 50 Universities for the fifth consecutive year.““Impressively, apart from students in the engineering stream, placements are also bagged by students in architecture, dental, management, arts and science streams. The university’s success in placements owe a lot to its rigorous approach that includes Online Practice and Assessments, Training Modules including Quants, Verbal, Reasoning, Technical, Soft Skills, Certification Programs, Career Development Programs and Value Added Skill Developments. Training attendance should be at least 90%, and the university arranges for even off-campus interviews after the end of final semester.““In tune with the times, Sathyabama is also highly active in the startup domain. About two dozen student startups have been incubated at Sathyabama campuses so far. These startups have been partially funded by Sathyabama and spans products & solutions in technology, healthcare, defence, transportation, farming, drones,

wastewater treatment, automotive, shielding materials, wearables for Covid patients, seaweed based cosmetics, shrimp supplements, e-waste management, air detoxifiers and more. ““The university is also highly active in the research field, especially in applied research, with more than 500 patents filed, over 100 patents published, over 90 patents granted and 10 patents having successfully undergone technology transfer.““Sathyabama has over 250 sponsored research projects, which are worth Rs. 100 crores. The university has more than 10000 publications indexed in Scopus with an H Index of 72 and around 5000 publications in Web of Science with an H Index of 62.““Sathyabama is home to a Technology Business Incubator (TBI), set up in assistance with National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), a nodal body coming under Government of India’s Department of Science & Technology (DST). This TBI follows best practices by which all student proposals for a startup are scrutinized by an expert committee, followed by presentation of the shortlisted proposals.““These future entrepreneurs are also trained to share their concept in five minutes to potential investors, partners and customers. The TBI at Sathyabama provides free incubation support to potential startups and helps them to accelerate towards angel investors. There is also an active Entrepreneurship Development Club working in the campus that conducts workshops regarding various steps in starting a business. Such workshops are led by leaders from the industry, especially from the startup world.““There was a time when higher education curriculum, even in engineering and management, was required to be updated every decade or so. But when the pace of technological developments accelerated, many engineering colleges and business schools started updating their curricula every few years. But even this has proved to be inadequate as disruptive technologies and innovations appear every quarter or so.““Sathyabama University has effectively tackled this challenge through various measures like industrial collaboration and certification SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WHY SATHYABAMA IS IN A WORLD CLASS LEAGUE programs. The deemed university has tied up with industry majors including Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Accenture, and more such companies to remain abreast of the latest trends in the industry and thus update their curricula whenever necessary.““Sathyabama is also a leader in delivering certification programs in emerging domains and delivers around two dozen such courses in areas like Cloud Computing, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Data Science & Big Data, App Development, Embedded Systems & Robotics, Cyber Security & Forensics, Aircraft & Ground Maintenance etc. Sathyabama is one of the handful of deemed universities to have obtained approval for starting new vocational degrees BVoc and MVoc in domains like software development, hardware & networking, web technologies etc.““Sathyabama has emerged as a

Dr. MARIAZEENA JOHNSON, Chancellor Dr. MARIE JOHNSON, President

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

strong player in research programs, having undertaken research work for various central government organizations and has proved it mettle in entrepreneurial class projects by creating its own satellite that was launched by ISRO making it the first university to achieve that feat, a few years back. Sathyabama has significant initiatives in both applied and basic research. During the last five years, faculty and researchers at Sathyabama have been undertaking research for various government agencies with supporting grants.““These organizations include cutting-edge organizations like Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Science & Technology (DST), National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS), National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Combat Vehicles Research and

IN THE RESEARCH DOMAIN, SATHYABAMA HAS MORE THAN 10,000 PUBLICATIONS INDEXED SO FAR IN SCOPUS WITH A HIGH H INDEX OF 72 AND AROUND 5,000 PUBLICATIONS IN WEB OF SCIENCE WITH A RESPECTABLE H INDEX OF 62. Development Establishment (CVRDE), Board Of Research In Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), among many such organizations. Sathyabama has also launched a next generation laboratory in the campus, which will further boost research facilities in the university.““Sathyabama is structured as 10 broad schools, including 5 in engineering and one each for business, law, science/humanities, pharmacy, & dental. Sathyabama’s engineering schools are School of Computing, School of Electrical & Electronics, School of Mechanical, School of Bio & Chemical, and School of Building & Environment. However, these five broad schools deliver 15 engineering degrees including in emerging areas like Mechatronics at the graduate level, while at the post graduate level there are 12 courses including in latest domains like Internet of Things (IoT), Medical Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence etc.““Sathyabama’s School of Science & Humanities similarly delivers 13 graduate programs including in buzzing domains like visual communication, Interior Design and 6 post graduate programs including sunrise sectors like data science, Robotics, Material Science. Research programs are also offered in most domains. Combining these with Sathyabama’s School of Management and School of Law, there is clearly the potential for interdisciplinary work, and students stand to distinctly benefit from this breadth of courses.““Sathyabama had rapidly deployed an impressive digital infrastructure as soon as the first wave began and this resulted in academic delivery with not much disruption. The university has been awarded with E Lead (E - Learning Excellence for Academic Digitization)

SATHYABAMA IS ALSO HIGHLY ACTIVE IN APPLIED RESEARCH, WITH MORE THAN 500 PATENTS FILED, OVER 100 PATENTS PUBLISHED, OVER 90 PATENTS GRANTED AND 10 PATENTS HAVING SUCCESSFULLY UNDERGONE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.

Certification for exhibiting excellence in adopting ICT enabled Teaching and learning through online platforms, by QS.““Sathyabama sprawling campus is noted not only for its impressive infrastructure but for the well-planned systems that make the whole Sathyabama team, consisting of faculty, students and support staff, work with clockwork precision and effectiveness.“ “It is in academic infrastructure that Sathyabama shines even more as no expense has been spared to ensure that its students get the best of classrooms, labs, libraries and auditoriums. The classrooms are spacious and modern with excellent student seating and facilities, and are provided with LCD projectors and smart boards. The lab

facilities starting from the first year of all courses through to the final years are all modern and without cutting any corners. For instance the School of Computing’s multiple lab facilities include network programming lab, computer graphics and multimedia lab, digital signal processing lab, VLSI simulation and system design lab, linear integrated

IN THE YEAR 2020-2021, 91.6% OF THE STUDENTS AT SATHYABAMA HAD BEEN PLACED ACROSS 257 COMPANIES, INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHTS, AMAZON, ORACLE, MICROSOFT, SIEMENS, CAPGEMINI, COGNIZANT, TCS AND WIPRO.

circuits lab, microprocessor and microcontroller lab, production drawing and cost estimation lab, cluster computing lab etc.““Science labs are also comprehensive, including biochemistry lab and plant cell and tissue culture lab. The internet infrastructure is also impressive with a dedicated Internet Leased line of 155 Mbps and a redundancy link of 100 Mbps, connected to all the terminals throughout the campus. Students and faculty are free to access internet over Wi-Fi from locations like library, hostels etc.““Sathyabama is accredited by UGC’s National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) at Grade A. And unlike some of its peers, Sathyabama is also approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Sathyabama has put up a consistent performance all through its history, and especially so during the last few years.““Sathyabama has been featured in the prestigious international rating by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), and has bagged an overall 4-Star QS Rating, with 5-Stars for three criteria – Teaching, Facilities & Inclusiveness – and 4-Stars for Employability and Innovation. Sathyabama has been awarded with Diamond rating by QS IGUAGE for overall excellence, the rating for Indian universities by QS. ““Sathyabama is also ranked among top universities in the world by Times Higher Education under the category World Ranking, Asia Ranking and Ranking by Subjects. The university has also been ranked in a notable position among World Universities by Times Higher Education Impact Ranking for its contribution towards Sustainable Development. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WORLD CLASS PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

MANAV RACHNA

OF INDIA

WORLD CLASS MATURITY IN PRODUCING SUCCESS STORIES higher education institution may tick many boxes needed for student success, including infrastructure, faculty, curriculum, pedagogy etc, but the ultimate test remains the kind of high achievers it produces. This is a facet in which Faridabad based Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MREI) have been excelling for many years now. While almost every university, engineering college or business school would have an alumni association, how many of them would dare to present before the public, a collection of their topmost achievers? Yet, this is what Manav Rachna did recently when it created a one-of-its-kind book that features the impressive success stories of its Top 25 Alumni. Perfectly titled as 'Utkrisht - Icons of Manav Rachna', this landmark book was launched by none other than one of India's greatest achievers, Kapil Dev, in the presence of Manav Rachna's top functionaries Dr. Prashant Bhalla and Dr. Amit Bhalla, and other dignitaries. The highlight of the book is the kind of diverse and wellrounded achievers that Manav Rachna

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

has produced so far. Showcasing this diversity, these high achievers were classified into six major categories - Art & Glamour, Entrepreneur Magnets, Government & Administration, Industry Barons, Social Flag Bearers and Sports thus spanning almost every sphere of high influence in modern society. How is Manav Rachna able to deliver this kind of performance? The simple answer is the kind of world-class maturity that Manav Rachna has grown into, during the 25 years of its existence. It has not shied away from building up formidable departments in almost every domain that matters including engineering, business management, economics, computer applications, humanities, education, law, commerce, psychology, interior design and more. This has resulted in a huge and successful alumni base of over 34,000 professionals, who have been well employed with over 500 reputed MNCs and Indian companies that have regularly come to source candidates from Manav Rachna campuses. Thanks to this, Manav Rachna alumni today includes ace engineers, senior managers, country representatives of international firms, magistrates, lawyers and more.

Two other areas in which Manav Rachna has forged ahead of competition is startup incubation and applied research, much like the world's best universities. Manav Rachna has already helped incubate over 8 alumni and in-campus startups, which have earnestly begun their participation in the global phenomenon of creating job providers rather than job seekers. In the field of applied research, Manav Rachna scholars, including both faculty and research students, have so far filed for over 535 patents, with a significant percentage of them being granted. These Manav Rachna research scholars have also presented around 7800 research papers in international & national journals as well as in global conferences with participation from over 13 countries. Like all world-class universities, Manav Rachna is also leaving no stone unturned in attracting top-notch student talent by offering 100% scholarship to them.

SASTRA

GRADED AMONG TOP-5 INSTITUTIONS NATIONALLY TAMIL NADU BASED DEEMED-TO-BE-UNIVERSITY, SASTRA, HAS RETAINED THE HIGHEST GRADE OF A++ AWARDED BY THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION COUNCIL (NAAC) IN THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED FOURTH CYCLE OF RE-ACCREDITATION.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WORLD CLASS PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF INDIA

Headquartered near the ancient temple town of Thanjavur, The Shanmuga Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA), also bettered its score to 3.76/4.00 in this fourth cycle from the 3.54/4 it had scored in the third cycle. With this, SASTRA, led by its Chancellor Prof. R Sethuraman and Vice-Chancellor Dr. S Vaidhyasubramaniam, has been graded at the topmost position among all higher educational institutions in Tamil Nadu and has become one among the top five national institutions with such a score. The peer review team of NAAC, which had visited the university’s primary campus at the laid-back town of Thirumalaisamudhram, recently, appreciated SASTRA’s research and social outreach activities apart from its modern infrastructure and proactive management style before arriving at this final score. With this latest reaccreditation, SASTRA will also remain

as a Category 1 University for the next seven years. After receiving the coveted reaccreditation at the nationally topmost level, Vice-Chancellor Dr. S Vaidhyasubramaniam was thankful to the Central and State governments, the entire SASTRA family of faculty, students & parents, and all other stakeholders for their continuous support and encouragement. It is no wonder really that SASTRA has been steadily moving up in such accreditations, rankings, placements and all such metrics. The deemed university is noted for its proactive stance when it comes to furthering its academic and research standards, which has come to inspire generations of students. SASTRA’s practice of giving Distinguished Alumnus Awards is very telling in this regard. In its latest round, four former students were selected as SASTRA Distinguished Alumnus. The university has a thriving SASTRA Alumni Association, which is now headed by SV Ramanan, Secretary, who is working as CEO (India & South Asia) of financial software major Intellect Design Arena. Himself a SASTRA Distinguished Alumnus, it was he who gave away this year’s awards. The latest winners are, Manoj Varghese (of 1994 Mechanical Engineering batch), who is now Chief Platform Head Mahindra & Mahindra; Prof. S Kalyankumar and Prof. K. Sundarajan (of 1998 ME batch), who are now professors of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama, USA; and C Vasudevan, (of 2007 Biotech batch), who is now a noted entrepreneur having co-founded the B2B startup, Ninjacart, which is India's largest fresh produce supply chain company, backed by Walmart, Flipkart, Tiger Global and others, and almost a unicorn now. How do SASTRA students go on to be such high achievers? Much credit goes to the high quality faculty who have been handpicked by Chancellor Prof. R Sethuraman and Vice-Chancellor Dr. S Vaidhyasubramaniam. There are examples galore of such inspiring faculty in the rolls of SASTRA now, with a recent example being Prof. S. Swaminathan who was recently

RECENTLY THE UNIVERSITY DELIVERED FREE MEDICAL CONSULTATION AT A CAMP ORGANISED IN MEMORY OF THE FOUNDER CHANCELLOR OF THE SASTRA UNIVERSITY, S. RAMACHANDRAN AT THANJAVUR AND KUMBAKONAM. awarded the prestigious Prof. CNR Rao Bengaluru India Nano Science Award at the 12th Bengaluru India Nano, India’s flagship Nanotech Event. Another SASTRA faculty who shot into limelight recently was Senior Assistant Prof. James A Baskaradas, of the School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, whose innovative idea on the design of intercept receiver for electronic support systems won the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Innovation Award contest - Dare to Dream 2.0. The idea conceived by Prof. James will be of much use to the armed forces in surveillance support, and his innovation is now under active consideration of the Technological Development Fund Scheme for transforming the idea into a prototype. Apart from selecting, grooming and facilitating such stellar faculty, SASTRA takes immense efforts to forge the right kind of industry tie-ups. Two recent examples of such tie-ups were with Singapore based Cantier Systems and Tata Electronics. The first partnership has resulted in the setting up of the SASTRA - Cantier Centre of Excellence in the campus that will give students a headstart in next generation manufacturing technologies like Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Industrial Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Automation etc. Under the tie-up with Tata Electronics, SASTRA students admitted to the twoyear MTech degree in Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) Design will complete one year of the course at SASTRA campus in Thanjavur, and the second year in either Asia University or Yuan Ze University in Taiwan. The second-year

curriculum will include practical experience in major lab facilities, and a six-month industry internship in Taiwan's advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry. Tata Electronics will help SASTRA to create the course curriculum and will also provide financial support for overseas education and training of these students. With such world-class initiatives, however, it is easy for any university’s faculty and students to lose touch with the ground realities in India. But such things don’t happen at SASTRA, as the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are very particular that the university should do more than its reasonable role in supporting the community around it. Recently the university delivered free medical consultation at a camp organised in memory of the Founder Chancellor of the SASTRA University, S. Ramachandran at Thanjavur and Kumbakonam. An excellent medical team led by the Vice-Chancellor of Sri Ramachandra Medical University, Chennai, Dr. JSN Moorthy provided medical advice to the patients suffering from cardiac, neurology and ENT related problems at the camps. People from economically weaker sections in the Thanjavur district requiring surgery will be identified and the cost of surgery will be sponsored by the University. In another major outreach to the community around it, 75 schools in Tamil Nadu have been provided with Virtual Reality (VR) facilities by Sastra University to promote digital education and interactive learning in the state. This will provide students at these 75 schools an immersive & experiential learning experience. This announcement was made as part of the National Science Day Awards presentation function organized by SASTRA. Explaining this contribution from SASTRA to the greater cause of nation building and education, Vice-Chancellor Dr. S Vaidhyasubramaniam, said, “The VR facility each costing about Rs. 2 Lakhs at these 75 schools shall be loaded with pre-developed subject matter content that shall provide students creative pedagogical tools to appreciate science concepts & improve their learning outcome.” SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WITH MORE PEOPLE BURNING OUT FASTER, A BURNOUT EXPERT OFFERS SOLUTIONS Jonathan Malesic’s intelligent and careful study, 'The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives', brings clarity to a muddled discussion, by exploring what really is a burnout and what to effectively do about it so as to thrive again.

burnout—such as Anne Helen Petersen’s widely read 2019 essay— tend to emphasize the heroic exertions of the burned-out worker, who presses on and gets her work done, no matter what. Such accounts have significantly raised burnout’s prestige, Malesic argues, by aligning the disorder with “the American ideal of constant work.” But they give, at best, a partial view of what burnout is.

hat do bankers, TikTok influencers, and Prince Harry have in common? This sounds like the run-up to the world’s most boring joke, but the answer, pundits assure us, is no laughing matter. These industrious professionals all suffer from burnout. Psychologists have been studying burnout for five decades, and certain professions—physicians, social workers—have long warned of burnout within their ranks. In the last two years, the cultural status of burnout has radically changed. No longer is “burnout” a specialized term describing a state of depletion among workers in certain strenuous human-services professions. Burnout is now a conflagration, blazing through the ranks of elite professionals with greater firepower than the most flaming royal red hair. Everyone, from veterinarians to Amazon account managers, complains of burnout; the New York Times seems on the verge of creating a burnout beat, if its churn of coverage is any indication. How did “burnout” become a keyword of our age? The pandemic, of course, has much to do with the term’s newfound popularity. Covid brought in its train a parallel epidemic of worker exhaustion. The stress and social dislocation resulting from a poorly managed, seemingly interminable public health emergency put limits on what workers could tolerate. Yet burnout’s ubiquity cannot be SEASONAL MAGAZINE

attributed to Covid alone. While exhaustion among nurses, teachers, and other frontline workers accounts for some of the uptick in burnout talk, the term has been seized most avidly by highly educated remote workers in such fields as technology, finance, and media. Is burnout, then, really a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress, as the World Health Organization has classified it? Is it a form of depression? Or is it a mark of disillusionment with the fictions propping up our world of work?

The psychologist Christina Maslach, a foundational figure in burnout research—the Maslach Burnout Inventory is the standard burnout assessment—sees burnout as having three components: exhaustion; cynicism or depersonalization (detectable in doctors, for example, who see their patients as “problems” to be solved, rather than people to be treated); and a sense of ineffectiveness or futility. Exhaustion is easy to brag about, inefficacy less so. Accounts of the desperate worker as labor-hero ignore the important fact that burnout impairs your ability to do your job. A “precise diagnostic checklist” for burnout, Malesic writes, would curtail loose claims of fashionable exhaustion, while helping people who suffer from burnout seek medical treatment.

Jonathan Malesic’s intelligent and careful study, The End of Burnout, brings clarity to a muddled discussion. He casts a critical eye on burnout discourse, in which the term is used loosely and selfflatteringly. Journalistic treatments of

Malesic, however, is interested in more than tracing burnout’s clinical history. A scholar of religion, he diagnoses burnout as an ailment of the soul. It arises, he contends, from a gap between our ideals about work and our reality of work.

Jonathan Malesic

Americans have powerful fantasies about what work can provide: happiness, esteem, identity, community. The reality is much shoddier. Across many sectors of the economy, labor conditions have only worsened since the 1970s. As our economy grows steadily more unequal and unforgiving, many of us have doubled down on our fantasies, hoping that in ceaseless toil, we will find whatever it is we are looking for, become whoever we yearn to become. This, Malesic says, is a false promise. While the book rarely veers into polemic, it has a strong moral-religious bent. It is an attack on the cruel idea that work confers dignity and therefore that people who don’t work—the old, the disabled—lack value. On the contrary, dignity is intrinsic to all human beings, and in designing a work regime rigged for the profit of the few and the exhaustion of the many, we have failed to honor one another’s humanity. Malesic might seem like an improbable mouthpiece for burnout: to all appearances, he had the perfect job. He was a tenured professor teaching in fields he loved: religion, ethics, and theology. His colleagues were intelligent and friendly, and his salary and benefits more than satisfactory. Secretly, he was a shell of his former self. He would barely make it to class in the afternoons. Isolated in a long-distance marriage, he would spend the evenings eating ice cream and drinking malt beer. His sullen and indifferent students, prone to boredom and plagiarism, had broken his spirit. After quitting his job, Malesic resolved to figure out what happened to him. It wasn’t depression, not quite. Talk therapy and antidepressants didn’t help him. Leaving his job did. His ailment, he decided, was burnout. The legendary sociologist C. Wright Mills proposed that the “sociological imagination”—an understanding of how our own experiences reflect broader social and historical forces—could help us link our seemingly private troubles to public issues. Burnout, a personal malady that indexes a broken labor system, is a prime candidate for such reimagining. The emergence of burnout as a psychological concept roughly parallels the development of a distinct

MALESIC MIGHT SEEM LIKE AN IMPROBABLE MOUTHPIECE FOR BURNOUT: TO ALL APPEARANCES, HE HAD THE PERFECT JOB. HE WAS A TENURED PROFESSOR TEACHING IN FIELDS HE LOVED: RELIGION, ETHICS, AND THEOLOGY. phase in American economic history. In the 1970s, the postwar glow faded and inequality began to skyrocket. The rise of the temp industry two decades earlier was a harbinger of things to come. Corporations, advised by consultants, started shedding their direct employees. “[T]he temp,” Malesic notes, “became the ideal worker.” Workers came to be regarded as liabilities, not sources of productive power. Aided by deregulation and the decline of union power, businesses pulled off a massive risk shift from capital to labor. Meanwhile, the growing domination of the service sector put new emotional demands on workers. In service jobs, our personalities and emotions are “the chief means of production”—they are what employers rent and exert control over. In this context, a new moral code for work took hold: what the sociologist

Allison Pugh calls a “one-way honor system” between employers and employees. Employees must devote themselves wholeheartedly to their work if they expect to get (or keep) a job—all while knowing that their employers feel no obligation to reciprocate. These are prime background conditions for an epidemic of burnout. One fact bears repeating: since 1974, labor productivity has kept increasing, but real wages have stayed flat. We are working harder and getting nothing for it. Meanwhile, as if to compensate for an increasingly precarious economy, our fantasies about work have grown, if anything, more intense. Hard work is likely the most universally cherished American value. One recent Pew survey found that 80 percent of Americans describe themselves as “hardworking”— outstripping all other traits. Work has gotten worse, yet our work ideals remain elevated. If burnout stems, as Malesic says, from the discrepancy between the ideal and the real, then burnout is punishment for idealists. William Morris, in his famous essay “Useful Work Versus Useless Toil,” dreamed of a political transformation in which all work would be made pleasurable. Malesic thinks, instead, that work should not be the center of our lives at all. Since Max Weber’s study of the Protestant ethic, Christian thought has often been blamed for instilling poisonous work ideals. Malesic suggests, however, that the poison might yield the antidote. Religious worship, the Jewish Sabbath: these are leisure practices that affirm higher goods than work. He recruits religious thought and practice to show us communities in which work is marginal, or contained within strictly observed limits—a Benedictine monastery in the New Mexico desert; a Dallas nonprofit that seems like either a dream workplace or a charismatic cult. Such examples demonstrate how communities that subordinate work to higher ends can survive economically while promoting their members’ flourishing. Malesic’s fine book has one defect. For all the care with which he recovers burnout’s clinical history, indicts our work ideals, and suggests new ways of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

organizing our lives, the political valence of his central term remains less than clear. Is burnout a weapon of the weak, a way of pushing back against an unjust work regime? Or is it the latest affectation of a self-absorbed and neurotic elite that traffics in victimhood claims while at a safe remove from the “deaths of despair” ravaging blue-collar America and the “dirty work” of slaughterhouses, prisons, and the like? Malesic is attentive to the workplace pressures that push women and racial minorities to burn out, and his discussion of how disability can lead us to rethink our governing fictions about work— drawing on the disabled artist Sunny Taylor’s superb essay “The Right Not To Work”—is stimulating. But class hardly enters his analysis, beyond a brief discussion of how blue-collar jobs now demand a “white-collar service ethic” (no longer allowing for disengagement), and an interview with an avid cyclist who lost a finger working at a tire manufacturer. He does not say how prevalent burnout is among workingclass people; the burnouts in this book are mostly doctors and college professors. And the closest historical parallel Malesic finds to burnout is neurasthenia—a state of nervous exhaustion that was an ailment of the well-off, highly educated nineteenth-century American brain worker. Indeed, the language of burnout appears in American Nervousness, the classic statement on neurasthenia, published in 1881 by the physician George M. Beard. Comparing the human nervous system to an electrical circuit, Beard writes: there comes a period . . . when the amount of force is insufficient to keep all the lamps actively burning; those that are weakest go out. The clarity of this precedent offers yet another reason for suspecting that burnout, like neurasthenia, is a rarefied malady. One bizarre feature of our present economic order, as Daniel Markovits points out in his recent book The Meritocracy Trap, is how hard the super-rich work. The top 1 percent of the income distribution is composed largely of executives, financiers, consultants, lawyers, and specialist doctors who report extremely long work hours, SEASONAL MAGAZINE

movement in China to outcries against deaths from overwork in Japan and South Korea, there is a growing sense of indignation in wealthy countries about inhumane work ideals that turn prosperity into a curse. Sweden and a few other European countries give burned-out workers paid time off; in Finland, burnout sufferers can qualify for paid rehabilitation workshops.

sometimes more than seventy a week. It seems unlikely that our workaholic elites would score highly on the burnout inventory’s metric of inefficacy (exhaustion and cynicism are another matter). But the strange work ethic the rich have devised seems highly relevant for our understanding of burnout as a cultural phenomenon, especially as it spreads beyond its traditional victims— doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, anti-poverty lawyers—and courses through the ranks of knowledge workers more generally. The labor ideals Malesic laments as souldestroying fictions are, to a large extent, middle- and upper-class ones; many working-class people, educated by experience, have long understood the exploitative realities of work. But it seems obvious that working-class people do burn out. One recent British study found that low-paid and less-educated workers were more likely to feel that their jobs were useless. The term has achieved cultural prominence precisely because it resonates with affluent professionals who fetishize overwork. Nor is burnout solely an American phenomenon. From the “lying flat”

THE CLARITY OF THIS PRECEDENT OFFERS YET ANOTHER REASON FOR SUSPECTING THAT BURNOUT, LIKE NEURASTHENIA, IS A RAREFIED MALADY.

Burnout, then, holds some limited potential in the fight for more humane working conditions. And in giving an account of how our mass delusions about work prevent us from flourishing, Malesic has done us a service. But “burnout” is, at best, a transitional term. As a topic of cultural fixation, burnout is, at minimum, highly vulnerable to elite capture. At maximum, it is almost entirely an elite phenomenon. It seems unlikely that the mainstreaming of burnout will lead to a more robust public conversation about the positive goods of idleness, or the pursuit of less alienated forms of work. The term has achieved cultural prominence precisely because it resonates with affluent professionals who fetishize overwork. Burnout isn’t going to create alliances between knowledge workers and the working classes if the latter are consistently excluded from the metric or think about their exploitation in a different way. Malesic hopes to restrict “burnout” to official clinical criteria. But the broadness of the term is the source of its appeal; self-declared burnout cases can congratulate themselves on their diligence while dodging the stigma of depression or another weightier diagnosis. Burnout is an indicator that something has gone wrong in the way we organize our work. But as a concept it remains lodged in an old paradigm—a work ethic that was already dubious in America’s industrial period, and now, in a period of extreme inequality and increasing precarity across once-stable professions, is even harder to credit. Malesic’s central term seems destined to follow the fate of neurasthenia, and, perhaps, that of all ideas once in the zeitgeist: to flame brightly, and then burn itself out. (By Charlie Tyson for The Baffler)

INDIA’S YOUNG ARE REELING FROM SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

YOUNG INDIANS ARE DROPPING OUT OF COLLEGE, THEIR IIT ASPIRATIONS TURNING TO DUST AND MANY ARE NOW IN DE-ADDICTION CENTRES. IS SMARTPHONE DEPENDENCY GROWING?

verything seemed to be going well for Shaurya Pratap Chauhan. Among the brightest in his class, he scored 90% in his 10th board examination, in 2014. Then, for no apparent reason, his grades began to fall. In the 12th boards, he scored 75%. In spite of coaching from a well-known centre in Rajasthan’s Kota, he failed to clear the Joint Entrance Examination, or secure admission to an Indian Institute of Technology. He then studied math at Allahabad University and barely managed to graduate, but says he can’t solve a single math question now. For years, Chauhan blamed a broken romantic relationship for his problems. Like many others, his parents blamed bad company, lack of focus, and the emotional problems young adults generally face. There was one thing no one considered: Chauhan’s most intimate, constant companion, his smartphone. Ever since 2019, a team led by Dr Rakesh Paswan and Dr Ishanyaraj of the

National Mental Health Programme have been battling an epidemic that’s tearing apart the lives of many young Indians. At a centre in the Motilal Nehru Divisional Hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district (formerly Allahabad), the doctors have set up a mobile deaddiction centre. For some young people, it’s their only hope.

behavioural addicts—gamblers and kleptomaniacs, for example—get comfort and pleasure from performing an act. The clinical literature on smartphone addiction in India is thin, but one study found high levels of dependency among young men. Another 2014 paper pointed to multiple health impacts of smartphone dependency among young people.

Experts have long recognised the existence of what is called behavioural addiction. While those addicted to drugs become dependent on a substance,

Like many, Chauhan’s phone use exploded when he graduated from a simple smartphone to a touchscreen. He began to spend more than twelve hours a day on phone calls, WhatsApp, two Facebook accounts (from which he would “log in and log out around 400 times a day”) and YouTube. “I would lie the whole day on a charpai, doing nothing except using my phone,” he said in a conversation with me.

FOR YEARS, CHAUHAN BLAMED A BROKEN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP FOR HIS PROBLEMS. LIKE MANY OTHERS, HIS PARENTS BLAMED BAD COMPANY, LACK OF FOCUS, AND THE EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS YOUNG ADULTS GENERALLY FACE.

23-year-old Shaurya Pratap Chauhan, a resident of Jhansi, scrolling on his smartphone | Photo: Jyoti Yadav | ThePrint The story isn’t unusual. “In one case,” Dr Ishanyaraj says, “a parent came to us SEASONAL MAGAZINE

concerned about their sons, who were in the 11th and 12th standards. One of the boys had flatly refused to sit for his examinations. They became violent when the parents tried to take away their phones. That experience eventually led us to set up the smartphone deaddiction centre.” Chauhan’s story isn’t exceptional. His friend Akash Jaiswal, from a rural background, dropped out of college because of his addiction to playing the video game, PUBG. “He said that he will look after his father’s grocery shop,” Chauhan recalls, “and get a correspondence degree.” Sonu Kumar, 24-year-old student of Allahabad University, saw viewed his father’s WhatsApp status at midnight and immediately got a call from him. “Humko laga tha ki daatenge ki raat ke 12 baje bhi phone se chipke hue ho,” Kumar said, speaking of the far of getting scolded by his father. But he was surprised to see his father beaming with joy and telling him that he was the first person to have seen his latest WhatsApp status, a clear sign of the smartphone addiction having transcended age gaps. It isn’t that young people are unaware of the dangers. Samarjeet Yadav, a 23year-old preparing for the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examination, has deleted all the social media apps from his phone. “I would ask my mom for a cup of tea,” he says, “and then get distracted by my phone, jumping from one app to the other. Then, I would realise the tea had got cold, so I would ask her to warm it up for me. Then, the same thing would happen again, and again, and again.” Satyam Shukla, another competitive exam aspirant, has stopped charging his phone, hoping it would reduce the usage time. Abhishek Kumar went a step ahead and recently broke his phone—fed up, he says, of endlessly Googling “how to get rid of mobile addiction.” A group of three young men drove past SEASONAL MAGAZINE

“SLOWLY, THE MINDSPACE, FREE TIME, AND CREATIVITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE TURNS AWAY FROM THE REAL WORLD,” SAYS DR PASWAN, “AND BECOMES TRAPPED INSIDE THE SMARTPHONES.”

the famous Subhash Chauraha in Prayagraj one summer afternoon last week. One of them was assigned to ride the Pulsar bike, while the one in the middle watched Instagram reels, and the third listened to music. “We have a rota system to drive the bike,” one of them explained. “The fight isn’t over who drives, it’s over who gets to sit at the back, so they can use their smartphones.” Adolescents glued to their phones in public are becoming as much icons of small-town and rural India as farmers working in their fields. There is a story of a Prayagraj student who needed a companion to avoid bumping into lampposts or falling into drains, because he couldn’t take his eyes off his smartphone. The story might be anecdotal, but the message isn’t.

When research about addiction to smartphones first emerged a decade ago, few paid attention. As families began seeking help, though, mental health experts started responding. The first smartphone de-addiction centre in India was opened in Bengaluru in June 2014. Delhi followed soon after. A centre was set up in Pune in 2019, and then in three Uttar Pradesh districts. There is also one in Amritsar. “Slowly, the mind-space, free time, and creativity of young people turns away from the real world,” says Dr Paswan, “and becomes trapped inside the smartphones.” Treatment can help. Over the year, Chauhan has been on medication and his attention span has also increased. His screen-time, earlier more than 14 hours a day, has reduced to 7-8 hours now. There isn’t, however, any magic pill that can fix the problem. “We have registered more than 400 patients,” Dr Ishanyaraj notes, “but only 40% of them turned for follow-ups.” Like all addictions, though, progress can be frustratingly slow, and relapse rates high, the clinical literature suggests. Every addiction, whether behavioural or substance abuse, is interwoven with complex emotional, personal and social factors. The resources to provide all young people in need with sustained mental health support just do not exist. The doctors at the Prayagraj de-addiction centre believe the problem is going to get worse. According to a Deloitte study, India will emerge as the second-largest smartphone manufacturer and about one billion users by 2026, with rural areas driving the sale of internet-enabled phones. Smartphone prices are steadily falling and their use becoming ubiquitous at everything — from online exams, seminars, entertainment, to even a Rs 20 payment at the local fruit-juice shop. The number of smartphone users are set to only grow. And with it, the number of addicts also, inexorably, will explode. (Credit: Jyoti Yadav for The Print)

WISDOM

THE WISDOM & POWER OF RITUALS, AS TAUGHT BY SAGE CONFUCIUS FOR A LIFE OF HARMONIOUS EASE, FIND THE RHYTHM IN THE EVERYDAY, BY MAKING YOUR WORLD YOUR TEMPLE AND BY SUBMITTING TO ITS SACRED RITUALS, AS TAUGHT BY THE ANCIENT CHINESE SAGE CONFUCIUS, SAYS PROF. ALAN JAY LEVINOVITZ, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION AT JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY IN VIRGINIA, USA.

hen I first read Confucius, I was disappointed. He seemed like a stick-in-themud, obsessed with enforcing the status quo. ‘As for music,’ he grumped to his disciples, ‘listen only to Shao and Wu. Prohibit the tunes of Zheng.’ This was the great sage of ancient China, who wandered the country lecturing disciples and rulers on how to live? Maybe his approach worked 2,500 years ago. But for me, in the 21st century? I preferred living freely like the iconoclastic Daoist sages who mocked Confucius. Central to Confucius’s teachings was submission to Li, typically translated as ‘ritual’. I wrote it off as more stale traditionalism. But then, while preparing a course on classical Chinese thought, I re-read the foundational collection of Confucius’s teachings known as the Analects. It was a revelation. Cherrypicked passages such as the one about music were deeply misleading. Li wasn’t about fastidiously obeying fusty old rules. No, this was a different kind of ritual. My default understanding of the word had misled me. What Confucius taught was life-as-ritual, the transformation of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

everyday actions into sacred activity. ‘When we say “the rites, the rites”, are we speaking merely of jade and silk?’ he asks rhetorically. The answer is no. Confucian ritual goes beyond formalised activities that require the proper use of jade and silk. Ritual is – or can be – part of all human activity. It governs greetings and conservations. It’s how you harmonise your life with the rhythms of the world. And if you take ritual seriously, submit to it and practise it, then transforming your life for the better will go from difficult to effortless. One of the first things I transformed with Confucian ritual was my relationship to my phone. Like so many of us, I was constantly tempted to check it. While driving, while bored by a story my nineyear-old daughter was telling, while out on a hike, anywhere. I knew I shouldn’t, but I did anyway, with terrible results: a near-miss of a pedestrian; a daughter who saw I wasn’t paying attention; a lousy hike. And yet, in certain contexts, keeping my phone where it belonged was easy. I have

never taken it out while teaching a class and scrolled through Twitter. Why? Because doing so is ritually inappropriate, and I took that seriously. To embrace Confucian ritual is to treat all contexts the way I treat my classroom, as sacred spaces with their own rhythms and patterns. Driving a car is not a time to check my phone. Likewise for talking with my daughter and for hiking. As soon as I began treating those contexts with the reverence they deserved – as soon as I submitted to ritual – resisting the pull of my phone became effortless. Confucius cared deeply about the practical application of his teachings. ‘To learn and then have occasion to practise what you have learned – is this not satisfying?’ he asks in the first line of the Analects. The real test of li is to see whether it works in your life. It has passed my test, and I think that’s because, more than 2 millennia ago, Confucius discovered universal principles that – unlike his taste in music! – still apply today. Will submitting to ritual work for

you? The Confucian way to find out is by learning and then having occasion to practise. The Analects describes many practices that fit a generic understanding of ritual, like proper mourning and how to respect guests. Guidance is often specific: ‘When attending village drinking ceremonies, [Confucius] would leave only after the elderly people had left.’ But other passages describe a more expansive version of ritual: ‘Do not look unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not listen unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not speak unless it is in accordance with ritual; do not move unless it is in accordance with ritual.’ What might seem like recipe for neuroticism is in fact a revolutionary statement about the all-encompassing range of ritual. Consider proper timing, essential for standard rituals. You sing in church only at the right time. Though, as Confucius points out, timing is an essential element of all activities. ‘To speak when it is not yet time to speak – this is called

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

being rash. To not speak when it is time to speak – this is called being secretive.’ Sometimes you rush to say something instead of waiting for your friend to finish. You haven’t treated the rhythm of the conversation as sacred. You violated Confucian ritual. And what happens? Your friend gets pissed off because you interrupted them. Rhythms and patterns are everywhere, and so is the possibility of harmonising with them. In a remarkable passage, Confucius and his disciples startle a pheasant, which takes flight and then alights in a tree. ‘How timely it is! How timely it is!’ he cries. It’s a puzzling response. How can a bird be timely? Why does this anecdote conclude a chapter otherwise dedicated to generic rituals, such as receiving guests? The puzzle is resolved by recognising that everything is shot through with rhythms. ‘What does Heaven ever say?’ muses Confucius. ‘Yet the four seasons go round and find their impetus there.’ In the words of Ecclesiastes 3 in the Holy Bible, there is a time for everything: a time to be silent and a time to speak, a season for every activity under the heavens. Like skilful musicians improvising harmoniously with each other, we can play along with the world. There is room for freedom in this play. There are infinite ways to have a good conversation, infinite features of nature to focus on while hiking. But, as any musician will tell you, creating beautiful music also requires submitting to constraints. Harmony is cooperative, and cooperation means respecting your partners, the pattern of their desires and contributions. To follow Confucian ritual means partnering with the world in the sacred activity of living … and that means taking constraints seriously, instead of resenting them or ignoring them. Doing so is joyful, not burdensome, just like playing with fellow musicians is better than trying to play over them. Practise enough, and proper ritual comes automatically. The harmony is effortless. And ‘when it comes to the practise of ritual, it is harmonious ease that is to be valued.’Ritual as effortless action – the Chinese term is wu-wei – might make ritual seem like habit. Good habits (and bad ones) are effortless, reflexive actions cultivated SEASONAL MAGAZINE

remove them during a visit to a Buddhist temple. It’s easy, not because you’ve outsourced your will to habit, but because you understand the ritual importance of taking off your shoes in this context despite your habit of leaving them on. Confucian ritual simply makes the world your temple.

ALAN JAY LEVINOVITZ, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION AT JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY

through repetition. But there’s a serious problem with this analogy. Habits are difficult to change. They are inflexible. If you are in the habit of, say, greeting people by shaking their hand, then not shaking hands during the COVID-19 pandemic might initially take effort. You must change the habit. In this sense, ritual is more like improvised music or athletic performance. Jazz soloists do not play according to rigid habits. They adjust to their bandmates, the mood of the evening. The same is true of good athletes, who adjust to different opponents and conditions. Playing exactly the same way according to habit would be the equivalent of greeting every person you meet, from strangers to your spouse, in exactly the same way. Confucian ritual is similarly flexible. It depends on awareness of the relevant factors in any given situation. Someone who submits to ritual does not shake hands out of habit. She shakes hands because in that context shaking hands is the proper thing to do. When a pandemic hits, shaking hands may no longer be the right way to greet someone. If your actions are habituated, changing them will take effort. But if your actions are a function of ritual, you shift away from handshaking and adjust your greeting style to the relevant factors of the new context. And if you are a master of ritual, adjustment comes effortlessly, like an athlete or musician who’s ‘in the zone’. We already make these effortless adjustments in traditional ritual contexts. If you are in the habit of wearing shoes in your place of worship, it takes no effort to

In fact, embracing Confucian ritual has helped me break all kinds of bad habits, like plucking my beard nervously or tossing clothes on the bed instead of hanging them up. How? I acknowledge the patterns of the world and treat them as sacred. Beards are not for plucking; the bed is not a place to store my clothes. Violating those patterns is like walking into the temple with my shoes on. But all this talk of patterns raises an important question. In some cases – clothes on the bed, texting while driving – the pattern is clear. But what if the pattern isn’t clear? What if you find yourself floundering, the musicians around you playing a melody you’ve never heard? Fortunately, Confucius has the solution: study! Throughout the Analects, Confucius stresses the importance of studying. Since he cites frequently from classics such as the Book of Odes, I originally thought Confucian ritual was little more than mindless obedience of whatever those classics described. But that’s not what Confucius teaches. To begin with, he acknowledges that some rare people might not need to learn from the classics at all. When it comes to living an ideal life, ‘those who are born understanding it are the best; those who come to understand it through learning are second.’ Those who are born understanding it. All of us have met someone like this – a virtuoso who intuits the complicated dynamics of a social gathering without knowing a thing about the attendees. In the musician analogy, this is the genius who can sit down and jam in any style. However, even if you aren’t like that, you can learn a bit about the event and the people so you don’t blunder by walking into a private conversation or bringing up a taboo topic. Since ritual governs all behaviour in all contexts, studying classics is uniquely helpful in two key ways. First, classics

contain time-tested life wisdom that nonvirtuosos such as myself might come to only through laborious trial and error. Common norms that emerge when you study them – Confucius, like Jesus, advocates a version of the Golden Rule – suggest certain foundational patterns in reality with which the norms are meant to harmonise. Second, if you have never studied the classics, you’ll have more difficulty understanding the dynamics that govern everything from language to basic social interactions. Sacred texts, folk tales and fairy tales, nursery rhymes and proverbs – these are woven into the fabric of our lives and the organisation of our communities. How can you expect to live harmoniously if you do not understand the reasons why you and those around you act as you do, why institutions are structured as they are? Notably, Confucius doesn’t require rigid adherence to the norms described in the classics. ‘If you merely stick rigidly to ritual in all matters, great and small, there will remain that which you cannot accomplish.’ Sticking rigidly to a specific ritual is not ritual at all; it’s habit. That means it’s consistent with Confucius’s approval of flexibility for us to study classics that relates to our own culture. (Instead of the music of Shao, I prefer Johnny Cash’s ‘I Walk the Line’.) And not just our own culture: in a globalised world, ‘our culture’ is frequently many cultures, all with their own rhythms and patterns. Studying broadly helps us harmonise with whatever style of music we happen to encounter. If you know that in India nods and head shakes mean something different than in most other countries, you won’t be needlessly offended the first time you’re surprised by a vigorous head shake. While classics are very useful, they are far from the only object of study. Confucius constantly sought out information about new contexts. While visiting a temple, for example, he ‘asked questions about everything that took place’. Seeing this, someone mocked him: ‘Who said that this son of a man from Zou understands ritual? When he went into the Great Ancestral Temple, he had to ask questions about everything.’ Confucius has a reply for the ages: ‘This asking is, in fact, part of ritual.’

Not only does his response underscore the broad scope of Confucian ritual, it also shows how ritual differs from habit. Habits leave no room for asking questions. Confucius, by contrast, does not act reflexively. When he is missing relevant knowledge, the right ritual is to learn through asking questions. Only then can he proceed to act in accordance with ritual – and, beautifully, merely by asking questions, he was already doing so. Although study is important to Confucius, it is secondary to cultivating virtue. A virtuous person without book learning still possesses the ‘qualities that make one worthy of being called “learned”’. Even more importantly, virtues like sincerity and kindness are essential to ritual. ‘A man who is not Good,’ asks Confucius, ‘what has he to do with ritual?’ This cuts against the common adage of ‘fake it until you make it’, which suggests that performing the right action will eventually lead to the right mindset or intentions. The underlying assumption is that the rightness of an action can be separated from the character of the person performing it. Confucius disagrees. ‘If I am not fully present at the sacrifice, it is as if I did not sacrifice at all.’ A ritual is not a ritual if it is performed insincerely. Pretending to love another human being won’t work, because ‘loving’ entails doing it for real. There is no such thing as a ‘loving action’ independent of sincerity. The same is true for living in accordance with Confucian ritual. You must sincerely believe the world is a sacred place, and you must be genuine in your desire to harmonise with it. My favourite example of this in the Analects is a man named Gongming Jia who is singled out for enthusiastic praise by Confucius. For what? Nothing special:

TO FOLLOW CONFUCIAN RITUAL MEANS PARTNERING WITH THE WORLD IN THE SACRED ACTIVITY OF LIVING … AND THAT MEANS TAKING CONSTRAINTS SERIOUSLY, INSTEAD OF RESENTING THEM OR IGNORING THEM. DOING SO IS JOYFUL, NOT BURDENSOME, JUST LIKE PLAYING WITH FELLOW MUSICIANS IS BETTER THAN TRYING TO PLAY OVER THEM.

‘He only laughed when he was genuinely full of joy, and so people never tired of hearing him laugh.’ This seemingly banal example highlights the necessary relationship in ritual between character and action. You may know when laughter is appropriate but, if you fake it, the ritual will fail. We are habituated to laugh insincerely, to fit in or demonstrate how relaxed we are. Breaking that habit, resisting the temptation – it’s effortless when you recognise fake laughter is as sacrilegious as laughing during a funeral. How do you know the right time to laugh? When it’s appropriate, yes, but also only when you’re feeling it. Follow that ritual, and people will never tire of your laughter, just like they never did of Gongming Jia’s. Despite Confucius’s praise of flexibility, he can still be quite traditional. Zigong, one of his students, wanted to end the ritual sacrifice of a lamb that marks the beginning of each month. Confucius responds: ‘Zigong! You regret the loss of the lamb, whereas I regret the loss of the rite.’ This desire to keep a seemingly wasteful and cruel ritual is of a piece with Confucius’s desire to ‘transmit rather than innovate’. He trusts in the ancient ways and loves them. And it’s not just generic rituals. Women are described, along with servants, as ‘particularly hard to manage’. Is sexism an ancient way that we should love and trust? Modern suspicion of ritual is bound up with broader concerns about freedom and resistance to change. Submission to ritual can feel like giving up on the possibility of changing bad rituals. But that’s not what Confucius wanted. Throughout the Analects, there are examples of his departing from tradition. ‘In education, there are no differences in kind,’ he asserts, a striking departure from prevalent class-based education norms. We can learn from Confucius but also reject the specifics of what he gets wrong. Doing so, like asking questions, is part of ritual. As he says himself: ‘When it comes to being Good, defer to no one, not even your teacher.’ Ultimately, Confucian ritual isn’t a set of practices, but rather a call to harmonise one’s actions with the patterns of the world. The ideal remains constant, even if the actions themselves must change depending on the context. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS SECRET:

HOW TO OVERCOME THE FEAR OF REJECTION

JIA JIANG IS THE OWNER OF REJECTION THERAPY, A WEBSITE THAT PROVIDES INSPIRATION, KNOWLEDGE AND PRODUCTS FOR PEOPLE TO OVERCOME THEIR FEAR OF REJECTION. HE IS ALSO THE CEO OF WUJU LEARNING, A COMPANY THAT TEACHES PEOPLE AND TRAINS ORGANIZATIONS TO BECOME FEARLESS THROUGH REJECTION TRAINING. BASED ON JIANG'S DEEP INSIGHTS, AUTHOR JUSTIN BARISO EXPLAINS THE RULE OF REJECTION, WHICH CAN BE AN ULTIMATE SUCCESS SECRET FOR ENTREPRENEURS, SALES & MARKETING PROFESSIONALS, AND PRACTICALLY ANYONE. "Sorry, we've decided not to invest." Those words stung. After several years in the corporate world, Jia Jiang had taken a huge risk when he attempted to start his own company. Now, his longtime fear of rejection had manifested itself once again. "That rejection hurt me," said Jiang. "It hurt me so bad that I wanted to quit right there." But then Jiang thought: Would a successful entrepreneur quit after a simple rejection? That pivotal moment was a catalyst. Jiang decided it was time to overcome his longtime fear of rejection, and in doing so, he began a remarkable journey that led him to purchase the blog that inspired him: Rejection Therapy. The lessons he learned can be summed up in what I like to call "the rule of rejection." The rule of rejection is founded on principles of emotional intelligence, and it can help you overcome your fears, get more of what you want, and learn valuable lessons in the process. The story actually begins decades ago, when Jiang was 6 years old in Beijing. It was there that Jiang's first-grade teacher had an idea: In an effort to encourage her students, she asked each child to say something nice about one of the others. When a child heard his name called, along with their compliment, they could pick up their gift. "There were 40 of us to start with," Jiang relates. "Every time I heard someone's name called, I would give out the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

heartiest cheer. And then, there were 20 people left. [Then], 10 people left ... Five left ... and three left. And I was one of them." There stood Jiang, crying. "I would die to avoid being in that situation again, to get rejected in public again," says Jiang. Fast-forward years later. After getting turned down by the potential investor, Jiang began searching for strategies to overcome his fear. He came across a game called Rejection Therapy. The basic idea was that for 30 days, you seek rejection. In doing so, you gradually desensitize yourself from the pain, building courage and resolve along the way. For his first request, Jiang asked a stranger to borrow $100. So overcome with fear, Jiang ran away as soon as he heard "no." He didn't even respond to the person's question of why he wanted to borrow the money. Over the next several months, Jiang made over a hundred crazy requests, video recording all of them and posting to YouTube. Over and over, he heard the answer that had become so familiar to him: Can I slide down the fire pole at this fire station? No. Can I have a "burger refill"? ("It's just like a drink refill, but with a burger.") No. Can I speak over the intercom here at Costco? No. Can I attend your Super Bowl party (even though I don't know you)? No. Can I have a free room at this hotel? No.

But as time went on, and Jiang's "rejection quest" continued, something interesting happened. Although many rejected him right away, to Jiang's surprise, others actually gave him exactly what he wanted. And with every yes, Jiang gained courage. For example: A stranger said yes to letting him play soccer in his backyard. A pilot said yes to letting him make an announcement on a flight. Survivor host Jeff Probst said yes to singing Jiang's son a lullaby on nationally syndicated television. A pilot said yes to bringing Jiang up and letting him fly his private plane. A teacher said yes to allowing Jiang to give a lecture to his college students. Jiang learned some important truths along his rejection journey. For one, he discovered that if he didn't run, he could sometimes turn a "no" into a "yes," using a single, one-word question: "Why?"

TESLA FIRES ITS TOP SINGAPORE EXECUTIVE AFTER MUSK WARNED OF 10% JOB CUTS Tesla has fired its Singapore country manager, who had joined the company a year ago. Christopher Bousigues shared a LinkedIn post and wrote, "Proud to have been Tesla's first country manager in South East Asia". Earlier, Elon Musk in a leaked email said he would cut 10% of Tesla's workforce as he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy.

Often, when Jiang asked why (sometimes repeatedly, respectfully, and in different ways), the rejecter would rethink the request. Or they would offer some type of compromise. Or they would offer something else in return. For example, after a stranger rejected Jiang's request to plant a flower in their backyard, Jiang asked why. "Well, I have this dog that would dig up anything I put in the backyard," said the man. "I don't want to waste your flower. If you want to do this, go across the street and talk to Connie. She loves flowers." Connie was more than happy to honor Jiang's request. "Had I left after the initial rejection," explains Jiang, "I would've thought, well, it's because the guy didn't trust me, it's because I was crazy, because I didn't dress up well, I didn't look good. It was none of those. It was because what I offered did not fit what he wanted. And he trusted me enough to offer me a 'referral,' using a sales term." I love Jiang's story so much, because it reminds me of my own life. I also have encountered rejection too many times to

remember--but I've learned not to give up. I've also learned that a "no" doesn't mean "No, forever." It means, no for right now. Or, "No, not the way you just described it." Now to the actual success secret, the rule of rejection. The rule of rejection is simple. It's made up of three parts: A. You won't get anything if you don't ask for it, so don't reject yourself. B. If the answer is "no," ask "why?" This may lead to your getting what you wanted, or getting something else that's close. C. Remember that rejection doesn't define you. It's the way you react to rejection that defines you.

EXPENSIVE DIGITAL PICS OF MONKEYS ARE GOING TO IMPROVE THE WORLD, JOKES GATES ON NFTS Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates took a dig at cryptocurrency projects such as NFTs, calling them "shams based on the greater-fool theory". On being asked about what he thinks of Bored Apes, Gates sarcastically said, "Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely." He further stated that he's neither long nor short the asset class.

So, if you want to overcome your fear of rejection and get more of what you want, don't run. Remember the rule of rejection. When you do, you'll start turning "no" into "yes." More important, you'll change the way you view rejection, forever. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

GREAT MINDS

THE ETERNAL WISDOM OF DOSTOYEVSKY

I mean to work tremendously hard,” the young Fyodor Dostoyevsky (November 11, 1821–February 9, 1881) resolved in contemplating his literary future, beseeching his impoverished mother to buy him books. At the age of twenty-seven, he was arrested for belonging to a literary society that circulated books deemed dangerous by the tsarist regime. He was sentenced to death. On December 22, 1849, he was taken to a public square in Saint Petersburg, alongside a handful of other inmates, where they were to be executed as a warning to the masses. They were read their death sentence, put into their execution attire of white shirts, and allowed to kiss the cross. Ritualistic sabers were broken over their heads. Three at a time, they were stood against

What the Legendary Author & Philosopher Wrote on the Meaning of Life, Just After His Death Sentence Was Repealed. - “To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart—that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.”

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

AND THEN, AT THE LAST MINUTE, A POMPOUS ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE THAT THE TSAR WAS PARDONING THEIR LIVES — THE WHOLE SPECTACLE HAD BEEN ORCHESTRATED AS A CRUEL PUBLICITY STUNT TO DEPICT THE DESPOT AS A BENEVOLENT RULER.

the stakes where the execution was to be carried out. Dostoyevsky, the sixth in line, grew acutely aware that he had only moments to live. And then, at the last minute, a pompous announcement was made that the tsar was pardoning their lives — the whole spectacle had been orchestrated as a cruel publicity stunt to depict the despot as a benevolent ruler. The real sentence was then read: Dostoyevsky was to spend four years in a Siberian labor camp, followed by several years of compulsory military service in the tsar’s armed forces, in exile. He would be nearly forty by the time he picked up the pen again to resume his literary ambitions. But now, in the raw moments following his close escape from death, he was elated with relief, reborn into a new cherishment of life. He poured his exultation into a stunning letter to his brother Mikhail, penned hours after the staged execution and found in the first volume of the out-ofprint collection of his complete correspondence, the 1988 treasure Dostoevsky Letters (public library). A century before Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl offered his hard-won assurance that “everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances,” Dostoyevsky writes: "Brother! I’m not despondent and I

STILL, EVEN THROUGH THIS ELATION, THE ANIMATING FORCE OF HIS BEING — HIS IDENTITY AS A WRITER — GROUNDS HIM INTO A DEPTH OF DESPAIR. “CAN IT BE THAT I’LL NEVER TAKE PEN IN HAND?” HE ASKS IN SULLEN ANTICIPATION OF THE NEXT FOUR YEARS AT THE LABOR CAMP.

haven’t lost heart. Life is everywhere, life is in us ourselves, not outside. There will be people by my side, and to be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart — that’s what life is all about, that’s its task. I have come to recognize that. The idea has entered my flesh and blood… The head that created, lived the higher life of art, that recognized and grew accustomed to the higher demands of the spirit, that head has already been cut from my shoulders… But there remain in me a heart and the same flesh and blood that can also love, and suffer, and pity, and remember, and that’s life, too! " Still, even through this elation, the animating force of his being — his identity as a writer — grounds him into a depth of despair. “Can it be that I’ll never take pen in hand?” he asks in sullen anticipation of the next four years at the labor camp. “If I won’t be able to write, I’ll perish. Better fifteen years of imprisonment and a pen in hand!” But he quickly recovers his electric gratitude for the mere fact of being alive and, reassuring his brother not to grieve for him, continues: "I haven’t lost heart, remember that hope has not abandoned me… After all I was at death’s door today, I lived with that thought for three-quarters of an hour, I faced the last moment, and now I’m alive again!" In a beautiful testament to the elemental fact that when all the static of our self-righteousness dies down, what remains between good people is only love, he writes: "If anyone remembers me with malice, and if I quarreled with anyone, if I made a bad impression on anyone — tell them to forget about that if you manage to see them. There is no bile or spite in my soul, I would like to so love and embrace at least someone out of the past at this moment." "When I look back at the past and think how much time was spent in vain, how much of it was lost in delusions, in errors, in idleness, in the inability to live; how I failed to value it, how many times I sinned against my heart and spirit — then my heart contracts in pain. Life is a gift, life

is happiness, each moment could have been an eternity of happiness. Si jeunesse savait! [If youth knew!]" Half a century before Oscar Wilde penned his extraordinary letter about suffering as a force of transformation and transcendence from prison, where he was interned for having loved whom he loved, Dostoyevsky adds: "Now, changing my life, I’m being regenerated into a new form. Brother! I swear to you that I won’t lose hope and will preserve my heart and spirit in purity. I’ll be reborn for the better. That’s my entire hope, my entire consolation." "Life in the casemate has already sufficiently killed off in me the needs of the flesh that were not completely pure; before that I took little care of myself. Now deprivations no longer bother me in the slightest, and therefore don’t be afraid that material hardship will kill me." Having spent years in material privation myself — though never, mercifully, nearly to the extent Dostoyevsky endured — and being always grateful for how those times annealed me, how they made me less afraid of poverty and hardship, more willing to take risks others might not, to take less materially secure paths in life, I can’t help but wonder how much this harrowing experience fomented Dostoyevsky’s extraordinary perseverance as an artist against the tides of convention and the constant specter of poverty. It certainly reverberates throughout Notes from the Underground, Crime and Punishment, and especially The Brothers Karamazov; it certainly informed his ideas about the meaning of life, set forth decades later in the guise of a dream, and inspired his insistence upon the existential duty of seeing the goodness in people “despite the abundance of all sorts of wretches.” Complement this with Walt Whitman on what makes life worth living, then revisit Anna — the love of Dostoyevsky’s life, who saved him from poverty and debtor’s prison — on the secret to a happy marriage. (By Maria Popova for The Marginalian)

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WORLD

FEW TAKERS FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN'S HIGH PROFILE GLOBAL INVESTMENT MEET Many business leaders are concerned about even being seen at this year's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Vladimir Putin's annual economic forum in St. Petersburg was always a hot ticket for Russian and foreign business tycoons eager to curry favor with the Kremlin by hosting glitzy parties or announcing major investments. His invasion of Ukraine has made it a radioactive one.

Many business leaders are concerned about even being seen at this year's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, fearful it may make them targets for sanctions, three people familiar with the situation said, declining to be identified because the issue is sensitive. At least two executives said they plan to leave early to avoid attending Putin's speech at the event, which in past years was the highlight for the well-connected. Some have asked the organizers, Roscongress, not to identify them on their badges at the June 15-18 SPIEF forum, the people said. Roscongress didn't respond to requests to comment. Even as Russia contends with unprecedented international sanctions that threaten its deepest economic recession in decades, officials are projecting a business-as-usual approach for the 25th anniversary event under the slogan of "new opportunities in a new world." The confrontation with the West that has escalated at times to warnings of nuclear war gets barely a mention on SPIEF's website, though foreign visitors are told to bring cash since sanctions mean Mastercard and Visa bank cards issued outside Russia won't work there. Russia used previous forums to "demonstrate the success of the country" while business leaders could show they have "connections and money," said Ekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist and fellow at

BEFORE THE WAR, RUSSIAN TYCOONS AND STATE-RUN COMPANIES COMPETED TO OUT-DO EACH OTHER BY FLYING IN ENTERTAINERS LIKE STING AND ROBBIE WILLIAMS, WHOSE "PARTY LIKE A RUSSIAN" SONG CAUGHT THE EXTRAVAGANT MOOD OF SPIEF'S LATE-NIGHT SCENE. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Germany's Robert Bosch Academy who moderated discussion panels at last year's SPIEF. This year, "if domestic participants don't all want to demonstrate their participation, then foreign ones even more so," said Schulmann, who's been labeled a "foreign agent" by the Kremlin. Before the war, Russian tycoons and state-run companies competed to outdo each other by flying in entertainers like Sting and Robbie Williams, whose "Party Like a Russian" song caught the extravagant mood of SPIEF's late-night scene. Most of the same tycoons and companies are now under US and European Union sanctions and few parties are planned this time.

Putin's flagship event once attracted global political figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This time, it's hosting an Afghan Taliban representative, according to the Tass news service, the investment minister from Myanmar's military government and the head of Venezuela's central bank, all heavily-sanctioned countries. Officials from Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the Central African Republic are also attending, as well as from former Soviet republics. Even so, the number of foreign representatives is a fraction of those at past SPIEFs. Despite their governments' sanctions on

Russia, leaders of business organizations in Moscow representing France, Italy, Canada and the US are listed by SPIEF's organizers as taking part. An American Chamber of Commerce in Russia spokeswoman confirmed its participation.

New BMW M2 Coming The BMW M2 is a high-performance version of the BMW 2 Series automobile developed by BMW's motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. BMW has confirmed that the new M2 will use the S58 six-cylinder engine from the M3 and M4 and will be available with manual and automatic gearbox options.

Putin didn't mention what he calls Russia's "special military operation" in a greeting letter to participants that blamed "mistakes of Western countries" for surging global inflation, disruption to supply chains and food shortages. But what he dubbed the "difficult time" in relations is reflected in much of SPIEF's program. Panels are dominated by Russian officials with few foreigners, and cover topics such as protecting "national media sovereignty" and boosting consumer and business patriotism in import substitution efforts. Some previously prominent names at SPIEF are adopting a lower profile. Russia's largest lender, sanctioned staterun Sberbank PJSC, won't host its traditional party at the forum, two people familiar said. Sanctioned billionaire Oleg Deripaska appeared to rule out his participation, saying the issue was "finally decided" in a June 8 Telegram post of cherry trees laden with fruit. "It's time to gather the harvest," said Deripaska, who often spends time in his native agricultural Krasnodar region of southern Russia. One program highlight is Gazprom head Alexey Miller, a rare speaker at past forums, who'll join a session on the global gas market, according to SPIEF. The forum's high cost at 960,000 rubles ($16,600) per person is causing some to skip the event because it makes less business sense with many international companies no longer in attendance, executives of two big industrial firms said. "No senior executive of a foreign company will want to be photographed at SPIEF this year," said Chris Weafer, chief executive officer of MacroAdvisory Ltd. Restrictions on travel to Russia are "a very convenient excuse for those that do not wish to attend and also do not want to burn bridges with the Kremlin."

BMW has revealed that the new M2 will make its global debut in October this year with a launch in global markets planned for April 2023. As per reports, the new M2 will be BMW's last non-hybrid M model with BMW confirming that it will use the S58 in-line six-cylinder engine from the current M3 and M4. BMW claims that the new M2 will offer performance similar to the outgoing M2 CS and that it “allows the driver to experience that pure racetrack feeling in any conditions – even at the limit.” Alongside the details, BMW shared images of the pre-production M2 test mule revealing some of the upcoming performance model's styling details. The new M2 will miss out on the oversized BMW grille seen on the likes of its larger siblings the M3 and M4. In line with other BMW M cars the rear will feature a quad exhaust with a subtle spoiler on the boot lid. The rear-drive only M2 will sit on a wider track than the standard 2 Series. Reports suggest that the M2 will also be notably wider than its 2 Series stablemates replete with a wider track, M-specific suspension set-up and larger wheels. The new M2 will also be a rearwheel-drive-only coupe as its predecessor. BMW has confirmed that the new M2 will get a carbon fibre roof

as standard to keep weight in check. Images of the pre-production mule's interior reveal a cabin in line with other newer BMW's with a freestanding curved panel sitting atop the dashboard housing the digital instrument panel and central touchscreen, the familiar BMW M steering and rotary iDrive controller on the centre console behind the gear lever. BMW has also confirmed Mspecific graphics for the display along with a ‘track' drive mode. The new M2 will get BMW M sports seats as standard with buyers also set to get the option to upgrade to carbon fibre bucket seats. Interior design in line with other new BMWs with free standing unit housing the digital dials and infotainment touchscreen. Coming to the engine, as mentioned previously, the new M2 will use the familiar S58 engine as the current M3 or M4 though the engine is expected to be tuned to deliver lesser power and torque than in its larger siblings. The M2 CS for reference developed 444 bhp from its twin-turbocharged in-line six engine. With BMW having offered the last generation of the M2 in India, we could see the carmaker bring the newgen model to India sometime soon after its global launch. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MIND POWER

HOW ADHD COPING STRATEGIES CAN HELP ANYONE TO FOCUS BETTER ATTENTION DEFICIT / HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER IS NOT SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS KIDS ALONE. MANY ADULTS SUFFER FROM IT TOO, MANY OF THEM BELOW DIAGNOSTIC STANDARDS, AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY MANY ADULTS OFTEN EXHIBIT SUCH BEHAVIOR. THIS IS WHY ADHD COPING STRATEGIES CAN HELP ANYONE TO FOCUS AND CONCENTRATE BETTER FOR SUCCESS.

functioning in daily life. As a psychologist and an assistant clinical professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, I lead an adult therapy group that focuses on skills to manage ADHD. From that work, I’ve compiled numerous strategies to help anyone who has trouble harnessing their attention, whether or not they’ve received a formal ADHD diagnosis. A simple organizational system can improve focus by providing a way to keep track of important activities. Ideally the system is centered on one tool, such

as a notebook or phone app, assuming the phone is not too distracting. Developing a routine that includes a daily schedule, a regularly updated todo list and a calendar to remind yourself of appointments can provide a foundation for building focus and a sense of control. With the to-do list, it’s crucial to break tasks down into manageable parts and then prioritize them. Knowing what to prioritize can be difficult, but one helpful approach is the Eisenhower matrix, which divides tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important, like a work project

magine that it’s 4:59 p.m., only one minute before your deadline. You swore you’d never put yourself in this position again, and yet you have. This isn’t your best work, and you’ll be lucky just to turn anything in. What would you do differently if you could turn back the clock? Living with ADHD can feel like this on a daily basis, but it doesn’t have to. For millions of adults throughout the world, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, best known as ADHD, is a persistent disorder that begins in childhood and is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, or a combination thereof. Complicating the diagnosis is that ADHD often co-occurs with, and is sometimes mistaken for, other health conditions like anxiety or substance abuse. Because of the steady stream of negative feedback people with ADHD receive about their productivity, organizational skills and time management, some people with the disorder may have low self-esteem or feel inadequate. But rather than an intrinsic personal defect, ADHD is a treatable condition. Research shows that behavioral strategies, along with medication when necessary, can help people improve their focus and ease of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

successful persons

that’s due tomorrow; urgent and unimportant, such as a request that someone else can fulfill; nonurgent but important, like long-term projects; and nonurgent and unimportant, meaning something that doesn’t need to be done. Many with ADHD are motivated to first fulfill urgent and unimportant tasks such as responding to the requests of others, because someone else’s sense of urgency seems more important than their own needs. Also, doing something for someone else can lead to quick positive feedback and provide a welcome break from what may be a stressful task. The Eisenhower matrix prioritizes what’s most important instead of what’s most immediately gratifying. Several strategies can help you stay on track. It’s key to create an environment that’s conducive to productivity. That means limiting distractions and setting up barriers to temptation. Use social media web blockers while working, and

ideally put your phone and computer in airplane mode. Set up environmental cues, like alarms and visual reminders, to monitor time and make sure you’re sticking with your targeted priority. Waiting to focus on a task until just before the deadline not only causes lastminute stress, but it also has a domino effect on other priorities and basic life necessities, like eating and sleeping. This can be remedied with the “distractibility delay,” a method of staying on task that’s especially useful for tasks you want to avoid. The first step is to designate a time period for which you can stay focused. For example, focus on work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break before repeating the cycle. Set a timer and have your notebook nearby. When you begin doing the challenging task, you may discover that other unrelated activities suddenly seem urgent. Instead of acting on them, jot down those tasks in your notebook, remind yourself you can do them later and return to the work at hand. At the end of the focused period, look at what you jotted down and decide if any of those tasks actually require immediate action. If so, you can do them during your break or add them to your to-do list. A support system is critical to staying on task, both to hold yourself accountable and to get encouragement. Your support network could include friends and family, a therapist, group therapy, or an online forum to share goals and receive feedback. Another effective support strategy is body doubling. This means working, either physically or virtually, alongside someone you know who is also working. This creates mutual accountability for staying on task. People with ADHD often have trouble going to bed at a designated time – and then have trouble falling asleep. And a large body of evidence indicates that irregular sleep can perpetuate a cycle of attention difficulties. Sticking to a bedtime schedule and getting up at the same time every day is part of a good sleep hygiene strategy. So is avoiding tobacco, caffeine, large meals and alcohol within a couple of hours of sleep. Also try not to nap within eight hours of your regular bedtime. Develop ways to calmly unwind before bed. It is normal to take time to fall asleep, but if

you’re unable to sleep after 45 minutes, get out of bed and do a relaxing activity until you’re sleepy again. It is not helpful to watch the clock. As you incorporate these strategies, start with those that are most accessible to you. Though people with ADHD often chase novelty and chafe at routine, developing a routine is worth it. You might find that instead of racing to finish at the last minute, you have time to spare and are proud of what you’ve done. (By Rob Rosenthal for The Conversation)

WE IMPORT TEA ON LOAN, REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF TEA YOU DRINK: PAK MINISTER TO PEOPLE Amid the economic crisis, people in Pakistan have been asked to reduce the amount of tea they drink, with minister Ahsan Iqbal saying that it would cut the country's high import bills. "I appeal to the nation to cut down the consumption of tea by one to two cups because we import tea on loan," Iqbal further said.

EX-MYNTRA CEO'S MENSA BRANDS ACQUIRES SMART WEARABLES BRAND PEBBLE Former Myntra CEO and Medlife Co-founder Ananth Narayanan's Mensa Brands has acquired Noida-based smart wearable brand Pebble for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2013 by father-daughter duo, Ajay Agarwal and Komal Agarwal, Pebble offers audio products, fitness wearables, and charging solutions. Earlier in January, Mensa Brands had acquired the majority stake in personal care brand Florona.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SELF-HELP

7 BAD THINKING STYLES AND THE 7 GOOD REPLACEMENTS OLD STYLE: COMPARING YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE AROUND YOU NEW STYLE: THINK ABOUT WHAT MAKES YOU SPECIAL Lots of us have a friend who posts perfect craft projects (“Nailed it!”) or know a fellow parent who never misses a kid’s game, but dwelling on where you fall short isn’t helpful. “By learning to focus on ourselves instead of others, we can decrease our stress and anxiety, increase our happiness and self-esteem, and live a more purposeful and authentic life,” says Renee Exelbert, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and an adjunct professor at New York University. She suggests celebrating strengths and victories (even tiny ones!) and doing things that bring you happiness without external validation. OLD STYLE: SHOULDERING RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVERYTHING NEW STYLE: DELEGATE - EVEN IF IT DOESN’T SEEM WORTH IT Whether you’re handling a big project at work or planning a family reunion, it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing most of the work to be sure the end result is perfect. “We go through life as if we’re responsible for every outcome we experience,” says Amy Johnson, Ph.D., author of The Little Book of Big Change. “We fail to recognize just how much happens effortlessly.” Letting other people pick up the slack will lower your stress, and you may be pleasantly surprised with the outcome. OLD STYLE: TRACKING WHO DISAPPOINTS YOU NEW STYLE: NOTICE WHO COMES THROUGH It’s hard to forget friends who didn’t visit when you were laid up or failed to attend SEASONAL MAGAZINE

an event you hosted. “This ‘injustice collecting’ causes us to see the glass as half empty versus half full,” Exelbert says. “Embrace gratitude for those who do show up. It increases our happiness, improves social relationships and selfesteem, and increases our longevity.” Try starting a gratitude journal: Every day, write a few sentences about something you’re thankful for. In addition to loved ones, maybe you’re grateful for a robust subway system that shuttles you to work or a barista who knows what your “usual” is and gives it to you with a smile. OLD STYLE: CONSTANTLY CHECKING YOUR PHONE NEW STYLE: TAKE INTENTIONAL BREAKS Leave your phone out of the picture when you’re with friends and family, even if you’re just digging into takeout food on the couch. “We simply can’t focus after so much online time; this practice shortens our attention span,” says Lori Whatley, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and the author of Connected & Engaged. Plus, she adds, “too much social media use has been connected to depression and anxiety.” One thing that will help: practicing mindfulness. If you’re new to the idea, try a meditation guide or an app like Headspace. Staying in the present moment should boost your emotional well-being, and it will likely make your companions happier as well. OLD STYLE: SHOPPING FOR HAPPINESS NEW STYLE: REVEL IN NONMATERIAL JOYS AND EXPERIENCES “So much of our energy is spent chasing physical things we think will make us happy,” says Johnson. “The next vacation, losing a few pounds - they never lead to lasting happiness.” She says

humans evolved to “recalibrate” quickly after events, so the happiness boost triggered by things outside of ourselves fades fast. Teaching a niece how to read, having adventures with friends intangibles like these give us real warm fuzzies. OLD STYLE: OVERTHINKING NEW STYLE: FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL Thousands of years ago, the practice of turning stuff over in our minds kept us from repeating dangerous mistakes, says psychiatrist Mimi Winsberg, M.D. These days, overthinking can lead us to agonize over mundane things like the wording of an email or events beyond our control. To prevent spiraling, decide whether you’re obsessing about something you can actually change. If so, allot a certain amount of time to taking action, then distract yourself with an activity like a movie or exercise. OLD STYLE: HOLDING ON TO A GRIEVANCE NEW STYLE: LOOSEN YOUR GRIP AND LET IT GO Even if you know that your coworker purposely leaves you off happy hour invites or that a neighbor spoke ill of you, revisiting these complaints hurts only you. “Holding on to anger and repressing angry feelings may increase blood pressure and the risk of coronary heart disease,” Exelbert says. “Forgiveness can lead to healthier relationships and improved mental health.” Consider where the other person was coming from (maybe your coworker feels insecure about their work performance or your neighbor has been stressed by caregiving duties). Even if you can’t forgive them, you can decide it’s their problem, not yours, and commit to a fresh start. (Credit: Prevention US)

GADGETS

Xiaomi 12 Ultra, the Top Variant of the Flagship Chinese manufacturer, Xiaomi, has already released its flagship Xiaomi 12 series. The first model in this series officially hit the market in December last year. However, the top end model of the series, the Xiaomi 12 Ultra, is yet to arrive the market. However, there are now reports that this flagship model will launch next month.

GT2 Master Explorer Edition, and iQOO 10 Pro. Founder of Xiaomi, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, Lei Jun, said that Leica has been in existence for 109 years. The company is also confident that Leica’s tone and aesthetics are considered to be the top benchmarks in the camera world. The depth of cooperation between Xiaomi and Leica is also unprecedented. The entire link of smartphone imaging from optics, imaging, image processing, experience, etc. is jointly polished by both parties. This is a comprehensive integration of the imaging capabilities of both parties. In addition to the cooperation between China and Germany, Leica also specially sent a team of engineers to Beijing to work side by side with Xiaomi’s engineers and conduct in-depth joint debugging.

hile we wait for the official release of this smartphone, there are several leaks and speculations regarding this device. The latest of these reports is that the Xiaomi 12 Ultra will come with a 5000 mAh battery. This is consistent with the battery capacity of the previous generation.

photo camera. In addition, the main camera of this smartphone will also support Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). Furthermore, this device adds a Leica imaging algorithm to support 8K movies and video filters. It will also support Leica natural colour, black and white filters, and more.

Under the hood, this high-end flagship smartphone will come with Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. This chip uses TSMC’s 4nm process. In comparison with Samsung’s 4nm process, TSMC’s 4nm process has a higher yield rate and better power consumption control.

The biggest highlight of this flagship smartphone is the camera. Xiaomi founder, Xiaomi Group chairman, and CEO Lei Jun said that Xiaomi’s new flagship is jointly developed by Xiaomi and Leica. This will comprehensively improve Xiaomi’s strength in mobile imaging and the camera experience of mobile phones.

Recent leak reports reveals that this smartphone will officially launch next month. The main camera uses a 200MP super outsole sensor close to 1 inch, a 165Hz Samsung ultra-high refresh screen, and an ultra-narrow bezel. This device also supports a 200W fast charging adapter but we are certain that the smartphone will not support up to 200W. The smartphone itself should support a maximum of 100W fast charging.

Specifically, the maximum frequency of the Cortex-X2 super core of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 CPU is 3.2GHz. While the performance is better, the power consumption of the chip is also higher. Officially, the CPU power consumption is reduced by about 30% compared with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 while the GPU power consumption is reduced by up to 30%. The overall power consumption of the platform is reduced by about 15% compared with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

According to reports, the imaging flagship built by Xiaomi and Leica has three rear cameras. This flagship smartphone will come with a super-bottom main camera, ultra-wide-angle, and periscope tele-

At the moment, there are five Chinese flagships that will support 200W charging adapters. These smartphones include Xiaomi 12 Ultra, Motorola’s new flagship, ROG gaming phone 6, Realme

From all the reports so far, this upcoming Xiaomi flagship smartphone will officially debut in July. However, there is no official launch date for this smartphone at the moment. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

FOOT BALL

TACKLING FOOTBALL BOTH ON & OFF THE PITCH Sharan Parikh is the kind of sports promoter who could be doing a thousand other businesses, yet is dreaming about revolutionizing football in India. Sharan hails from Mumbai’s leading business family of Parikhs who run several companies under the Lemuir brand in the buzzing sector of integrated intercontinental logistics across surface, air & sea, with a heritage that goes back 77 years, even before India’s Independence. Sharan Parikh was the CEO of a group firm before he ventured into sports promotion through Mumbai based Pyramid Sports and Bengaluru based South United Football Club (SUFC) & South United Sports Foundation. Leading this passion from the frontline is SUFC’s CEO Pranav Trehan, a successful self-made entrepreneur, who shares much common ground with Director Sharan. Both are passionate sportsmen themselves and both have significant exposure and experience, in developed countries like US & UK, from their young days itself on how business and sports are managed. This combination of passion and experience shows for itself in the world-class expertise offered across the South United ecosystem by way of its superb sporting infrastructure and its global coaching standards. Apart from the club’s achievements in the league, this unparalleled ecosystem has identified, trained and groomed over 8300 young football talents at the grassroots level. Yet, Sharan and Pranav still consider SUFC as a work-in-progress. And the bigger story is SUFC’s vision that looks beyond football to objectives like employment and character building in their trainees by fostering life-skills like selfdiscipline, competitive spirit, teamwork and goal setting that decides success in every field. Seasonal Magazine caught up with SUFC’s Director Sharan Parikh and CEO Pranav Trehan, at the SUFC campus in Bengaluru, to understand this sports ecosystem better.

estled in the heart of Bangalore city, South United Football Club (SUFC) is fast becoming one of India’s premier footballing academies. Owned by Sharan Parikh, a Mumbai-based businessman and die-hard football lover, SUFC can be best described as an academy that hones a youngster’s technical skills in the sport but also cultivates their overall development as conscientious & educated individuals. To put it simply, the curriculum is not just a manual on how to kick a ball but to also teach that sport is more than what happens on the field. Parikh’s mission is to help grow the footballing ecosystem in the country regardless of whether one is training to be a professional athlete or is committed to improve the sport at the grassroots level. SUFC is also at the forefront of a revolution to showcase the benefits of playing outdoors. The academy houses an 11-a-side turf ground, which provides an equal emphasis on fun and sporting success. Ably guided by a best-in-class coaching staff that includes former professional footballers & coaches from the famed English Premier League and other national & international teams. Set against the background of the picturesque Ulsoor Lake,

the academy has opened its doors to this year’s Summer Camp from 25 April to 21 May for ages 3 to 17 years. As Bangalore’s first professional club, SUFC has come a long way since its inception in 2012. Their first successful campaign would see them finish runners up in the 2012-2013 Bangalore Super Division, which paved the way for their first competitive outing in the I-League 2nd Division. The victory in the Kedari Redekar United Cup elevated the club’s status as a force to reckon with in local tournaments. Despite their on-field successes, the SUFC mission was always to steadfastly focus on grassroots development & training of some of the city’s brightest young talents. “Infrastructure is in fact just one of the first steps we've taken to build a world-class organization” , says Director Sharan Parikh. While factors like infrastructure and facilities provide the foundational setting to flourish in any sport, the intangibles like empathetic coaches and educational readiness of the players are what makes this academy-club stand apart from the others. “Our outstanding coaches provide the best-in-class sports training along with the latest advances in sports therapy and nutrition, all of which are important elements that we invest time, effort and money in”, says Parikh who speaks glowingly of the sport’s evolution in the country. He relates to this problem because he himself was faced with the existential question staring at every youngster back in those days about whether to pursue sports as a career or continue with studies. Back then, this choice was also not a luxury everyone could afford. Today, he says that with the advent of good infrastructure, a young kid does not need to confront a similar dilemma like he did because he/she can now hope that sports are a viable path to achieve a better life. While there is still a long way to go, Parikh is strongly of the opinion that good training and mentorship, along with the right infrastructure, creates the right environment for kids to thrive. Perhaps what stands out about the culture and ethos at SUFC is their holistic approach to football training. Every youngster who dons the iconic

orange and black jersey is not just trained in the technical aspects but also to mould their cognitive abilities that are required to excel in the sport today. The soft skills that are crucial to the development of a well-rounded individual such as teamwork, communication, discipline in the face of adversities etc are central to the training approach at SUFC. “Sports help build a lot of character and qualities in young men and women. We know that not everyone is going to end up being a professional football player. Maybe 1 out of 100. But that's not the end of the road. There are so many careers within sports for which we want to build a budding ecosystem where we can teach good values to our students and help them become better professionals”, observes Mr. Parikh. The personalized attention and constructive feedback, which are provided by the coaches, ensures that every kid is regularly monitored on their performance. With a regular dose of fun games and team building sessions, the individual’s experience represents one that brings with it important life lessons along with the ability to exude confidence in their daily lives. It is not often that an Indian football academy has the luxury of having a dedicated and premium coaching staff. Terry Phelan, the Technical Director of SUFC, is also a former Manchester City and Irish National Football Team player who is also accredited with a UEFA ‘A’

Coaching license holder. National and international coaches bring with them years of experience of coaching at various levels including U-8, U-12, U16, U-18. Former India & I-League players also form the core of the coaching staff. The message is loud and clear as far as Pranav Trehan, CEO, SUFC is concerned: “we believe that in order for India to start producing world-class footballing talents like Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri, we need to have three things - world-class infra, world-class coaching and genuine passion to spread the game we love”. Based on what SUFC has produced thus far, none seem to be in short supply. The far-reaching change is certainly in the positive outlook of corporates who have stepped up and walked the talk in recent years to promote grassroots football. In a country where the entire budget of the national hockey federation is Rs. 48 crores (2019-2020) and the entire income earned of the BCCI is around Rs. 4000 crore (20182019), it is easy to see why the private sector in India needs to play a crucial role to turn the fortunes of the world’s most loved sport. There are also other encouraging signs with countries like Australia seriously exploring investments, for instance, in women’s football in India as part of their sports collaborations with Indian football federation and non governmental organisations.

However, Mr. Parikh is exploring nontraditional models to boost participation of the private sector. “Today, corporates see CSRs as a one-time thing - probably one a year or a mandatory bi-yearly routine. What we want to grow as an organization is to host a lot of corporates and assist them in curating special team building activities in our environment. We are definitely open to helping companies curate different kinds of activities they can host in our facilities”, he said. In order to solicit the participation of the private sector in the development of grassroots football, it is important to include the game as part of their corporate recreational activities. SUFC is on course to grow this model exponentially. While the business model is something to take note of, there is nothing like helping out the downtrodden to build new lives through the medium of sports. Passion breeds community giving, which is exactly what SUFC is hoping to achieve through its foundation – South United Sports Foundation. “We believe that in order to truly spread the game, we need to work with NGOs and other institutions to work with a large number of children who find hope in sports. One initiative we've done in Mumbai is to assist a lot of children who reside in the Dharavi slums, as well as underprivileged students from Khar, and introduce them to the world of sports. Sports is an amazing medium to empower young minds and establish good values and fundamentals.”, says Mr. Parikh brimming with hope. Here is the full transcript of the interaction Pete of Seasonal Magazine had with SUFC Director Mr. Sharan Parikh and CEO Mr. Pranav Trehan: What are SUFC’s broad strategies for identifying and attracting grassroots level footballing talent, given that you have trained over 8300 budding footballers till now? Sports help build a lot of character and qualities in young men and women. We know that not everyone is going to end up being a professional football player. Maybe 1 out of 100 will make it. But for others, that should not be the end. There are so many careers within sports itself and we want to build an emerging ecosystem where we can teach good values to our students and help them SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Pranav Trehan become better people and professionals. I don’t like to compare sports at all. But In a cricket crazy nation, we think other sports too deserve such recognition. We believe that in order for India to start producing world-class footballing talents like Bhaichung Bhutia or Sunil Chetri, we need to have world-class Infrastructure, world-class coaching and a genuine passion to spread the game we love. There are several success stories for Cricket and we need to create more and more success stories for football and other sports as well. Can you explain the activities of the SUFC foundation? What kind of initiatives do you undertake?

The foundation in Bangalore is a workin-progress and is in fact a small initiative that we do. We are not people who like to talk about our social work or want everyone around us to see it. We believe that in order to truly spread the game, we need to work with NGOs and other institutions to work with a large number of children who find hope in sports. India as you know is a large country with several pockets, so it's impossible for just one person or organization to do it. It should be a collective effort. One initiative we've done in Mumbai is to assist a lot of children who reside in the Dharavi slums, as well as underprivileged students from Khar, and introduce them to the world of sports. Sports is an

We had hosted a corporate event last week and the team thoroughly enjoyed the game, especially so, since it was in an outdoor environment with their professional team who they usually see and work in only indoors. We are definitely open to helping companies curate different kinds of activities they can host in our facilities. Do other group companies like Pyramid and Lemuir associate with SUFC’s initiatives in any way? They're both family businesses of mine so not directly related to SUFC. However, they assist students in pursuing sports management courses and other related paths that are very much relevant to the professional sport they've been exposed to. What do you suggest to corporates or startups who want to help spread the game of football?

amazing medium to empower young minds and establish good values and fundamentals. You have created some impressive infrastructure for both your main team to practise as well as for football training for youngsters. How important is infrastructure for developing footballing talent in your opinion? Infrastructure is just one of the first steps we've taken to build a world-class organisation. There are several factors why a footballing club or foundation like us stand out - Infrastructure is yes one, empathetic and world-class coaches are another, education in sports training, sports therapy and nutrition are other important facets where we invest time, effort and money in. Talking about Infrastructure - good

sports facilities can help young minds dream big. Infra can make a young kid hope that sports is a viable path for him to achieve a better life. But that is not enough. Good training and mentorship along with such infrastructure help create the right environment for kids to thrive. Do you think Indian corporates can invest more in the development of football in the country, as part of their CSR initiatives? Today, corporate companies see sports CSR as a one-time thing. Probably once in a year or a mandatory bi-yearly routine. But sports as we know are enjoyed at all levels. From kids to teenagers and even adults. We even host a lot of corporate companies here and assist them in curating special team building activities in our environment.

One thing they can do is support the sportsmen as working professionals. They can also sponsor local events or even participate to show their support as well. They are welcome to use our facilities and expertise for related activities as well. Apart from the main football infrastructure, what are the supporting facilities offered by SUFC? We have a state-of-the-art gym which is run by Cult.Fit-MultiFit where students can work out between sessions and practices. Along with that we have good locker room facilities, showers, steam rooms, saunas etc. SUFC also has a popular coffee shop that's frequently visited by the general public too. It's managed by a popular chef in Bangalore. We have quite a bit of footfall coming in from there. It is also a popular spot for parents when their kids are practising. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

KARUR VYSYA BANK

KVB GETTING READY FOR A STRONG PICKUP IN GROWTH

Karur Vysya Bank's total business has crossed the Rs 1.25 lakh crore mark by the end of March 31, 2022, which is a significant milestone in the history of the over 100 years old bank. The bank is shining on the deposits front with total deposits of Rs. 68,676 crore as on FY'22 end, and with total advances reaching Rs. 58,086 crore, the total business recorded has reached Rs. 1,26,762 crore. While overall deposits grew by 7.7% at the end of Q3, which is its last reported quarter, the quality of the deposit base is even more impressive as it is composed mainly of retail deposits, with 95% of KVB's term deposits being from retail customers. The growth in the low-cost CASA (current and savings accounts) grew significantly faster at over 12%, driven mainly by savings account deposits, and the CASA share in total deposits has now crossed 36%. A higher CASA and retail term deposit base readily translates to high octane fuel for credit growth. The bank is reaping rich dividends from the vision of its top management led by Ramesh Babu, Managing Director and CEO, who has been an SBI veteran, with a proven trackrecord pan India and especially in Tamil Nadu where he was responsible for SBI's growth. Under his leadership, KVB is now aiming to touch double-digit credit growth in FY'23 itself and hopefully accelerate growth to mid-teens thereafter, with an objective to touch a Return on Assets of 1%.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

KVB is sitting on more than adequate capital for immediate growth needs, as its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stands at 18.79%, well above regulatory requirement, and of which Tier I CAR stands at 16.76%, which also means KVB need not raise further equity capital in a hurry, which is a source of comfort for its investor base. Karur Vysya Bank, like most of its peers, was beaten down mainly on higher provisioning during the two pandemic years. But now its asset quality has been improving sharply as witnessed in Q3, and provisions are getting written back, resulting in soaring profits - with a fourfold surge in Q3 on a YoY basis. However, the bank is yet to come back to a solid growth trajectory when it comes to its loan book. But on closer inspection, it can be seen that this lull in credit growth is due to the bank's prudence in bettering the loan book composition, with less of risky loans and more of secured and high quality credit. KVB's loan book is also impressively diversified, with no

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

sector having more than one-third representation. Its largest credit segment continues to be Commercial loans at 32%, followed by Retail loans at 23%, and both Agriculture and Corporate credit tied at 22% each. According to Ramesh Babu, MD & CEO, the strategy is, "to offer our customers, need-specific financial products and services by providing tailor-made solutions and a positive customer experience through delivery of quick and efficient services.”

AT THE 17TH ANNUAL BANKING TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE, EXPO & AWARDS, 2021 KVB BAGGED THREE AWARDS IN THE SMALL BANKS CATEGORY, FOR BEST CLOUD ADOPTION, BEST USE OF AI / ML & DATA ANALYTICS, AND BEST IT RISK & CYBER SECURITY INITIATIVES.

Most Indian banks had lost steam starting in fiscal 2009 due to the global financial crisis, and the resultant NPA crisis that started unfolding back then. The preceding four years of bull run from FY'04 to FY'08 had led to a severe growth bias at corporates and credit excesses from banks to drive that growth, which led to a severe downturn in banking stocks for the next several years. But Tamil Nadu based Karur Vysya Bank was an exception to this phenomenon. That is, until mid of FY'18. From then on the impact of the demonetization drive in the previous fiscal of FY’17 began to spare no banks, including Karur Vysya Bank which was more focused towards the MSME sector which bore the major burden of demonetization. While this traditional private sector bank headquartered at Karur near Erode kept on a good performance on the income front, helped both by the core Net Interest Income (NII) and the Non Interest Income or Fee Income, the Net

Profit nosedived to almost half in FY’18 and almost one-third in FY’19. As usual in all banks, the culprit was falling asset quality. But part of the issue at KVB was also this lender’s traditional stance when it came to provisioning. Putting safety first, KVB went in for generous provisioning, at par or even more than comparable peer banks. When the profits went down for two years in a bank that was always growing faster than average for more than a decade, it was only natural that many retail investors panicked and some institutional investors deserted the ship or reduced their stake. But it goes on to the credit of KVB’s Board and its top management that now when the smoke is clearing in the banking sector, the bank still has most of its high-profile investors like Big Bull Rakesh Jhuhjhunwala, Ashish Dhawan and the Franklin India Group. Even while the stocks of most banks were falling like ninepins, driven first by the NPA crisis, then by demonetization and then by the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic, intelligent analysts kept on predicting that unless in other sectors, banks will have a faster and more momentous turnaround as provisions get written back into profits. And KVB was one of the first smaller sized private banks to turn around. Interestingly, KVB resumed on the profit growth path as early as FY’20, the year in which the pandemic began. While some analysts predicted that KVB won’t be able to hold on to that turnaround, proving them wrong KVB substantially built up on that base in FY’21 which was the most pandemic affected fiscal by registering a smart profit growth. Meanwhile, starting in the second quarter of FY’21 the bank had a

WITH THE FIRST THREE QUARTERS OF FY’22 ITSELF, KVB HAS REGISTERED A PROFIT OF RS. 458 CRORE AS AGAINST FY’21’S NET PROFIT OF RS. 359 CRORE.

change of guard at the very top after a long time when State Bank of India veteran B Ramesh Babu was appointed as the MD & CEO. Earlier also, the Bank’s Board had selected an SBI veteran for the top post. The bank’s strong performance in FY’21 and its spectacular performance now in FY’22 is also due to a new vision and expertise that Ramesh Babu brought in. For instance, by the first three quarters of FY’22, the bank has registered a profit of Rs. 458 crore as against FY’21’s net profit of Rs. 359 crore. In his last stint, Ramesh Babu was Deputy Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer in State Bank of India with an experience of developing and overseeing the Retail Business and Banking Operations for more than 21,000 retail branches and 1,20,000 other touch points of the Bank successfully. He has extensive experience in redressing pain-points in Customer Service related areas and furthering Financial Inclusion by actively leveraging the services of Business Correspondents in SBI. He was SEASONAL MAGAZINE

actively involved in Direction setting and Policy formulation by participating in various apex committees of State Bank of India. Ramesh Babu is also highly experienced in heading banking operations in the Tamil Nadu state, which is also KVB’s core market. At SBI, he has successfully headed the whole business and operations of 1,300 Branches of Chennai Circle of SBI for three years with excellent understanding of business dynamics and man management. Since he was appointed in 2020 with a tenure of three years at KVB, he got the necessary mandate to implement his full vision for taking this traditional lender to the post pandemic world. B Ramesh Babu also holds 14,000 equity shares in the Bank. Recently, the technology initiatives of Karur Vysya Bank have been recognized with three awards. At the 17th Annual Banking Technology Conference, Expo & Awards, 2021 conducted virtually by the Indian Bank's Association, the Bank was honoured with three awards in the Small Banks Category - Best Cloud Adoption - Winner, Best Use of AI / ML & Data Analytics - Joint Winner, and Best IT Risk & Cyber Security Initiatives - Joint Runner-Up. "These awards reiterate the abiding conviction of Karur Vysya Bank that technology, if harnessed in the best possible manner, will enable delivery of the finest banking services to customers. KVB has been continuously investing in technology and this has resulted in these honours. We derive great pleasure in dedicating these awards to the valued customers and well wishers of the Bank", said Mr. Ramesh Babu, Managing Director and CEO of KVB. Technology has enabled the bank to SEASONAL MAGAZINE

make such offerings as the KVB DLite Mobile App, the one app that provides complete banking solutions and the Loan Originating System (LOS) that is fully digitalized from application to documentation and disbursal of the loan, thereby enabling almost immediate in-principle sanction of retail and commercial loans and quickest processing and disbursal of the loans. In the most recent reporting period of Q3, Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) has posted a four-fold rise in net profit to Rs 185 crore as compared to Rs 35 crore during the same period last fiscal. The much predicted writeback of provisions to profits is happening momentously at KVB now.

KVB WAS ONE OF THE LEAST AFFECTED BANKS BY MULTIPLE CHALLENGES LIKE NPA CRISIS, DEMONETIZATION & PANDEMIC, AND ONE OF THE FIRST BANKS TO BOUNCE BACK, IN FY'21 ITSELF.

The bank's total income during the quarter was down marginally to Rs 1,600 crore as against Rs 1,614 crore during the same quarter in 2020-21. Operating profit for the quarter stood at Rs 402 crore - up by Rs 133 crore from Rs 269 crore for Q3 of the previous year. Net interest income for the quarter improved by 18 per cent to Rs 687 crore for the current quarter from Rs 584 crore for Q3 of FY 2020-21. Net interest margin stands at 3.68 per cent. Cost of deposits has reduced by 58 basis points to 4.22 per cent compared to 4.80 per cent during the previous period. Yield on advances was at 8.42 per cent (8.66 per cent for Q3 of previous year). Non interest income (excluding treasury profit) improved to Rs 209 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 197 crore during the previous period KVB improved its asset quality during the quarter, with gross nonperforming assets (NPAs) falling to 6.97 per cent (Rs 3,888 crore) of the gross advances as of December 31, 2021, as against 7.37 per cent (Rs 3,842 crore) in the year-ago period.

HEALTH

WHY IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO KEEP EXERCISING AND HOW TO SOLVE THIS We all believe we should exercise more. So why is it so hard to keep it up? Prof. Daniel E Lieberman, Harvard professor of evolutionary biology, explodes the most common and unhelpful workout myths.

ecently at an outdoor coffee shop, I met my old friend James in person for the first time since the pandemic began. Over the pandemic on Zoom, he looked just fine, but in 3D there was no hiding how much weight he’d gained. As we sat down with our cappuccinos, I didn’t say a thing, but the first words out of his mouth were: “Yes, yes, I’m now 20lb too heavy and in pathetic shape. I need to diet and exercise, but I don’t want to talk about it!”

If you feel like James, you are in good company. With the end of the Covid-19 pandemic now plausibly in sight, 70% of Britons say they hope to eat a healthier diet, lose weight and exercise more. But how? Every year, millions of people vow to be more physically active, but the vast majority of these resolutions fail. We all know what happens. After a week or two of sticking to a new exercise regime we gradually slip back into old habits and then feel bad about ourselves. Clearly, we need a new approach because the most common ways we promote exercise – medicalising and commercialising it – aren’t widely effective. The proof is in the pudding: most adults in high-income countries, such as the UK and US, don’t get the minimum of 150 minutes per week of physical activity recommended by most health professionals. Everyone knows exercise is healthy, but prescribing and selling it rarely works. I think we can do better by looking beyond the weird world in which we live to consider how our ancestors as well as people in other cultures manage to be physically active. This kind of evolutionary anthropological perspective reveals 10 unhelpful myths

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

about exercise. Rejecting them won’t transform you suddenly into an Olympic athlete, but they might help you turn over a new leaf without feeling bad about yourself.

Myth 1: It’s normal to exercise Whenever you move to do anything, you’re engaging in physical activity. In contrast, exercise is voluntary physical activity undertaken for the sake of fitness. You may think exercise is normal, but it’s a very modern behaviour. Instead, for millions of years, humans were physically active for only two reasons: when it was necessary or rewarding. Necessary physical activities included getting food and doing other things to survive. Rewarding activities included playing, dancing or training to have fun or to develop skills. But no one in the stone age ever went for a five-mile jog to stave off decrepitude, or lifted weights whose sole purpose was to be lifted.

Myth 2: Avoiding exertion means you are lazy Whenever I see an escalator next to a stairway, a little voice in my brain says, “Take the escalator.” Am I lazy? Although escalators didn’t exist in bygone days, that instinct is totally normal because physical activity costs calories that until recently were always in short supply (and still are for many people). When food is limited, every calorie spent on physical activity is a calorie not spent on other critical functions, such as maintaining our bodies, storing energy and reproducing. Because natural selection ultimately cares only about how many offspring we have, our hunter-gatherer ancestors evolved to avoid needless exertion – exercise – unless it was rewarding. So don’t feel bad about the natural instincts that are still with us. Instead, accept that they are normal and hard to overcome.

Myth 3: Sitting is the new smoking You’ve probably heard scary statistics that we sit too much and it’s killing us. Yes, too much physical inactivity is unhealthy, but let’s not demonise a behaviour as normal as sitting. People in every culture sit a lot. Even huntergatherers who lack furniture sit about 10 hours a day, as much as most westerners. But there are more and less healthy ways to sit. Studies show that people who sit actively by getting up every 10 or 15 minutes wake up their metabolisms and enjoy better long-term health than those who sit inertly for hours on end. In addition, leisure-time sitting is more strongly associated with negative health outcomes than work-time sitting. So if you work all day in a chair, get up regularly, fidget and try not to spend the rest of the day in a chair, too.

Myth 4: Our ancestors were hardworking, strong and fast A common myth is that people uncontaminated by civilisation are incredible natural-born athletes who are super-strong, super-fast and able to run marathons easily. Not true. Most huntergatherers are reasonably fit, but they are only moderately strong and not especially fast. Their lives aren’t easy, but on average they spend only about two to three hours a day doing moderate-tovigorous physical activity. It is neither normal nor necessary to be ultra-fit and ultra-strong.

Myth 5: You can’t lose weight walking Until recently just about every weightloss programme involved exercise. Recently, however, we keep hearing that we can’t lose weight from exercise because most workouts don’t burn that many calories and just make us hungry so we eat more. The truth is that you can lose more weight much faster through diet rather than exercise, especially moderate exercise such as 150 minutes a week of brisk walking. However, longer durations and higher intensities of exercise have been shown to promote gradual weight loss. Regular exercise

also helps prevent weight gain or regain after diet. Every diet benefits from including exercise.

Myth 6: Running will wear out your knees Many people are scared of running because they’re afraid it will ruin their knees. These worries aren’t totally unfounded since knees are indeed the most common location of runners’ injuries. But knees and other joints aren’t like a car’s shock absorbers that wear out with overuse. Instead, running, walking and other activities have been shown to keep knees healthy, and numerous highquality studies show that runners are, if anything, less likely to develop knee osteoarthritis. The strategy to avoiding knee pain is to learn to run properly and train sensibly (which means not increasing your mileage by too much too quickly).

Myth 7: It’s normal to be less active as we age After many decades of hard work, don’t you deserve to kick up your heels and take it easy in your golden years? Not so. Despite rumours that our ancestors’ life was nasty, brutish and short, huntergatherers who survive childhood typically live about seven decades, and they continue to work moderately as they age. The truth is we evolved to be grandparents in order to be active in order to provide food for our children and grandchildren. In turn, staying physically active as we age stimulates myriad repair and maintenance processes that keep our bodies humming. Numerous studies find that exercise is healthier the older we get.

Myth 8: There is an optimal dose/ type of exercise

One consequence of medicalising exercise is that we prescribe it. But how much and what type? Many medical professionals follow the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of at least 150 minutes a week of moderate or 75 minutes a week of vigorous exercise for adults. In truth, this is an

arbitrary prescription because how much to exercise depends on dozens of factors, such as your fitness, age, injury history and health concerns. Remember this: no matter how unfit you are, even a little exercise is better than none. Just an hour a week (eight minutes a day) can yield substantial dividends. If you can do more, that’s great, but very high doses yield no additional benefits. It’s also healthy to vary the kinds of exercise you do, and do regular strength training as you age.

Myth 9: ‘Just do it’ works Let’s face it, most people don’t like exercise and have to overcome natural tendencies to avoid it. For most of us, telling us to “just do it” doesn’t work any better than telling a smoker or a substance abuser to “just say no!” To promote exercise, we typically prescribe it and sell it, but let’s remember that we evolved to be physically active for only two reasons: it was necessary or rewarding. So let’s find ways to do both: make it necessary and rewarding. Of the many ways to accomplish this, I think the best is to make exercise social. If you agree to meet friends to exercise regularly you’ll be obliged to show up, you’ll have fun and you’ll keep each other going.

Myth 10: Exercise is a magic bullet Finally, let’s not oversell exercise as medicine. Although we never evolved to exercise, we did evolve to be physically active just as we evolved to drink water, breathe air and have friends. Thus, it’s the absence of physical activity that makes us more vulnerable to many illnesses, both physical and mental. In the modern, western world we no longer have to be physically active, so we invented exercise, but it is not a magic bullet that guarantees good health. Fortunately, just a little exercise can slow the rate at which you age and substantially reduce your chances of getting a wide range of diseases, especially as you age. It can also be fun – something we’ve all been missing during this dreadful pandemic. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

REALTY

PRESTIGE IS NOW INDIA'S When it comes to capital markets, there is nothing like being a leader. From TCS to Asian Paints and from Reliance to HDFC Bank, it is a winner-takes-it-all market. Eyes of the foreign and domestic institutional investors, who basically drive the Indian equity market, are forever focused on the longstanding sector leaders, and on emerging leaders if any. That is why Prestige Estates Projects is in international limelight right now, after their FY’22 numbers were published. For, in this past fiscal, Prestige has stunned most industry watchers to emerge as the largest developer in India in terms of sales booking, ahead of

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

NO.1 DEVELOPER BY SALES traditional sector leaders including DLF, Macrotech (Lodha) & Godrej Properties. If you are stock savvy, you will now be eager to know the market cap of Prestige vis-a-vis these peers, and the answer is it is way too low only 46% of Godrej, 34% of Macrotech and 22% of DLF. Yes, by now, you will be able to guess where Prestige is headed, and that is only one reason why Prestige Estates is in international limelight right now! For Chairman & Managing Director, Irfan Razack, the emergence of Prestige into national leadership and international limelight is a matter of vision fulfilled as he has always guided the listed developer to be highest in

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

hen the Q4 and annual numbers of India’s top four listed developers came in recently, there were many interesting trends to detect. For one, all were in serious sales upswings. But Prestige squarely beat all the other three - DLF, Lodha & Godrej - in absolute sales bookings during the past fiscal, and also on percentage terms, except for DLF. Against Lodha’s sales bookings of Rs. 9024 crore, DLF’s Rs. 7273 crore, and Godrej’s Rs. 7861 crore, Prestige recorded a sales booking of Rs. 10,382 crore, beating them all by a wide margin. Needless to say, it is Prestige’s largest sales booking ever too. In percentage terms, while Lodha witnessed a 51% growth in sales bookings and Godrej saw a 17% growth, Prestige grew by 90%, second only to DLF’s 135% growth which was however from a low base last year. There was more to this performance by Prestige than which meets the eye. Firstly, all the other three developers were headquartered in either Mumbai or in Delhi-NCR, and their primary development activities concentrated in these two regions, which are the most expensive two realty markets in India. In contrast, Prestige is headquartered in Bengaluru, with its primary developments there, and has only recently entered Mumbai and NCRDelhi, which means its highest-value sales are yet to kick in, on a massive scale! And when it comes to market capitalization, Prestige is much smaller than these three peers that it decisively overtook in sales bookings! And when

you go into the internals of this marketcap riddle, you realize that it is indeed a matter of lower valuation, with Prestige’s Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) Price/ Earnings (P/E) multiple being at just 15 times, as against 53 times accorded to DLF, 46 times to Lodha and 105 times given to Godrej! Now, with Prestige emerging as the sales leader, expect a big shakeout in the realty sector valuations! No wonder then that international heavyweights like Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan are both having ‘Overweight’ stance on the Prestige stock with targets of Rs. 612 and Rs. 635 respectively as against the scrip’s price of around Rs. 425 now. One reason why Prestige has been able to do quite well in FY’22 is its unwavering focus so far on the Bengaluru market. The Silicon Valley of

Prestige Central, Bangalore

India performed quite well in Q4 of FY’22, both in terms of housing sales and new launches. As per ANAROCK Research, Bengaluru saw housing sales of nearly 13,450 units in this quarter, which is an yearly growth of over 55%, while new launches stood at 13,210 units, an increase of 72%. As the de facto leader of Bengaluru, Prestige reaped rich dividends from this post pandemic trend. There was robust demand for its sprawling Prestige City project in Bengaluru as well as for its new launches in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the country. But the future game changer for Prestige is expected to be its recent foray into India’s economic capital of Mumbai, and arguably the country’s most expensive realty market. Prestige had recently launched residential projects in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including Prestige City at Mulund, Prestige Daffodils at Pali Hill, and Prestige Jasdan Classic at Central Mumbai. The response to these three projects at the launch event itself has been extremely good, attesting to the well-thought of nature of these offerings. Prestige has a stated aim of achieving Rs. 3,000 crore in annual sales from these and upcoming MMR projects. Total launches by Prestige in FY22 stood at 16.77 million square feet. For this ongoing financial year, the company has set a sales guidance of more than Rs.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Prestige Windsor Park, Chennai

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

10,000 crore, which it expects to achieve through a strong pipeline of projects in Bengaluru and other markets like Mumbai. Going forward, more than 50% of the new launches are slated outside of its core Bengaluru market.

Prestige Polygon, hennai

Prestige has long been pursuing a goal of debt reduction, and it has a stated objective of maintaining net debt/equity ratio at around 0.5x in the medium term. In Q4 of FY’22, the success of this plan was visible with its net debt to equity ratio standing at 0.35x. Net debt fell sequentially or QoQ from Rs. 4,170 crore in Q3 of FY’22 to Rs. 3,360 crore in Q4 of FY’22. The company has achieved this through some extraordinary and well-structured deals during the last two years. In 2021, Prestige had announced the sale of some of its commercial and residential assets in two phases to the US based Blackstone Group, for reducing its debt. The deal had a total enterprise value of around Rs. 9,160 crore. The second phase of the Blackstone deal has also concluded in FY’22, with the remaining payment of Rs. 250 crore to Prestige expected soon. During the last three years, Prestige has been witnessing a dramatic period of turnaround. Under Chairman & Managing Director Irfan Razack’s visionary leadership, FY’21 saw Prestige’s profits and RoE nearly tripling, and debt-to-equity diving to one-third of the previous year thanks to the $1.5 billion Blackstone deal. Unlike many of its southern peers, Prestige has a significant portfolio under lease. Prestige has 29 million sq ft of office space and 5 million sq ft of retail space in various stages of implementation now. The residential sales and commercial leasing activity act as twin engines of growth for Prestige, and are complementary in nature. While sales momentum in the residential segment generates free cash, timely execution in the leasing segment contributes to the further value generation. Prestige also enjoys significant pricing power in the market, and this has come SEASONAL MAGAZINE

in handy during this inflationary period that has driven up input and construction costs. To offset this, Prestige has raised prices by 7-8% recently. The company’s average realization per sq ft was Rs 6,889 during last fiscal. Its collections came in at Rs 7466.4 crore, up 47% YoY. But what really matters for Prestige now is the impressive diversifications it is undertaking in warehousing, hospitality, retail and its impressive geographic diversification into Mumbai. One huge advantage a brand like Prestige Estates holds in India’s realty

Prestige Tranquil, Hyderabad

market is that, having made a name for itself in high quality residential and commercial projects, it can extend that expertise and goodwill to new buzzing segments as they emerge. The firm had some time back made such a silent foray into large Grade A warehouses. For testing the waters, it built two such warehouses in a 15 acre land it held in Malur near Bengaluru. As in every Prestige project, keen attention went into every detail, especially as it was a learning experience for the company too, as it was doing Grade A warehouses for the first time.

But it came out with flying colours with one of the buildings attracting e-com major Flipkart as the tenant and the other being taken by Dhoot Transmission. Now, having proved itself in this domain with such a pilot project, Prestige Estates is going all out to develop this domain, especially as there is a huge demand from e-commerce companies like Flipkart, Amazon, and several of their smaller peers. Towards this, the company has acquired multiple land parcels in and around Bengaluru as a first step. Being a Bengaluru headquartered developer, the company has unparalleled expertise in the city, and the city being the e-commerce hub of India also augurs well for it. Later on, Prestige plans to take this vertical to other regions of the country too. But unlike some of its peers, it is not making a big splash for attracting investors at this stage, despite the warehousing sector attracting $900 million investments in 2021 alone. Like in everything it does, Prestige wants to differentiate itself in this sector with premium offerings, and it also wants to undertake significant growth and value

addition in this vertical, before considering to on-board investors into this. This has been a strategy it did quite successfully in its retail & office space vertical, as seen in the Blackstone deal. In Grade A warehousing, it is eyeing a unique opportunity, as large organized players like itself with expertise in everything from conceptualization to land acquisition to design to execution to leasing, is rare in this field. That is why Prestige is confident of differentiating its upcoming warehouses from the rest of the pack. By investing significant funds into this vertical on its own, Prestige wants to build one of the largest Grade A warehousing portfolios in the country. With its foray into warehousing, Prestige is also closing a gap in its portfolio in retail. Already, it was a noted player in brick n’ mortar retailing, having developed several malls and running them too. Even though it sold off significant retail properties to Blackstone, it remains bullish on physical retailing as it believes that going forward retailing will follow a hybrid model of e-com and brick n’ mortar. This can be seen from the changing

strategies of e-com companies like Flipkart, Amazon, Jiomart etc, all of whom are planning to leverage the tens of thousands of multi-brand and singlebrand physical stores owned by individual retailers in malls and high streets for wider reach and rapid delivery to their growing customer base. This means significantly more business for such shops and malls, and Prestige is gearing up for this future with two new malls under construction and six more malls in the planning stage. When these are complete, Prestige will have double the retail properties compared to the retail assets it sold to Blackstone last year. With large IT and ITES players starting to bring back their huge workforces back to their offices, Prestige is also eyeing an uptick in the demand for office space. Sensing the green shoots of recovery in office space demand, it is building several such office space projects in multiple cities including India’s economic capital of Mumbai. Another segment that is witnessing a renewed surge post the pandemic is revenge travel, among both business and leisure travellers, and hospitality

Meridian Park @ The Prestige City, Bengaluru

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Prestige Valley Crest, Mangalore

Conrad Bengaluru, International Brand of Luxury Hotels & Resorts

properties stand to gain the best benefits out of this. Prestige, which already has a strong foothold in hospitality, is all set to cement it further by a major tie-up with US hospitality major Marriott International for two new hospitality projects in New Delhi. Prestige and its 50:50 joint venture partner DB Realty will develop two Marriott hotels and a convention centre in a 7.7 acre land in Aerocity. The two projects - New Delhi Marriott Marquis & Convention Centre and The St. Regis Aerocity – are unique in the Indian market. While the former will be the first Marriott Marquis & Convention Centre in India, the latter will be a tribute to Marriot’s flagship hotel in US, The St. Regis New York, and will feature its renowned New York Deli. Together these two properties will bring 779 rooms to the New Delhi hospitality market, and 85,000 sq ft of premium meeting spaces. For the convenience of business and leisure travellers visiting and staying in New Delhi, the two properties are coming up quite near to Indira Gandhi International Airport. And it is not only expansion into such buzzing verticals that Prestige is handling currently. It is in the midst of doing what is historically its greatest expansion ever – a geographic expansion – into Mumbai, arguably the

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Prestige Jasdan Classic, Mumbai

hottest property market in the country for long. Traditionally, most non Mumbai based developers have however not fared well in the city which is home to stock market titans and Bollywood celebrities, due to multiple reasons. One factor has been the exorbitant cost of land, which has resulted in either super expensive apartments that few developers can market effectively, or the super small apartments for the masses which witness intense competition between almost all kinds of developers. Into such a scenario has Prestige entered boldly with some unique projects. Prestige’s very first project in Mumbai, Jasdan Classic in Central Mumbai speaks volumes about their strategy for the city. Even when some of the largest Mumbai based developers prefer far away suburbs for premium projects, Prestige has chosen an inside city land at Byculla West for this flagship project. Jasdan Classic consists of two skyscrapers with 233 ultra luxury homes. They are relatively large sized apartments with configurations of 2,3,4-BHK and priced between Rs. 3.69 crore and Rs. 9.44 crore. Jasdan Classic is spread over 2.2 acres of land, with each tower of 45 storeys. Nine levels of podium parking, three levels of clubhouse and plush amenities like an infinity swimming pool, gym, spa, squash court, & multi-purpose hall are available inside the sprawling project. All the apartments here are designed in spacious layouts with ultra-modern living areas, large windows for cross ventilation and balconies featuring breath-taking views of the South Mumbai cityscape. The Arabian Sea on the West and the Eastern Harbor on the East sets the perfect tone of style and class for the prospective homebuyers here. The message from Prestige is loud and clear – they are not compromising on location, or space offered or on ultrapremium amenities. While marketing such a project is a tough call for many developers, Prestige is confident of handling it comfortably, and besides that,

since there are only 233 homes to sell, this flagship project from Prestige is likely to be a sure and steady sell-out. The selection of a hot and expensive location like Byculla West in Central Mumbai for their flagship project, is not a one off strategy either. Upcoming residential projects from Prestige in Mumbai would be at similar hot locations like Pali Hill at Bandra and Marine Lines. Prestige has boldly entered such super premium micromarkets, with a keen insight that for a change many high net worth families would prefer luxury homes in such prime locations rather than in the outskirts or suburbs of the city. That is, if such projects were available. For long now, such homes from tier 1 branded developers were rare. In its

upcoming commercial developments in Mumbai too, Prestige wants to develop in the best addresses, like it has always done in Bengaluru. This has led to it choosing land parcels in prime locations like Mahalaxmi and Bandra Kurla Complex for its first two commercial projects in the city. However, this doesn’t mean that Prestige would be shying away from the other end of the housing spectrum in Mumbai, the relatively affordable segment. The listed developer has carefully chosen the buzzing suburb of Mulund for its foray into this segment. Interestingly, this is its largest land parcel so far in Mumbai, and given the intense competition there among most of the large players, expect Prestige to offer a significantly differentiated range of homes. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HEALTH

WHY YOU SHOULD SLEEP ON YOUR PROBLEM By Joanne Bower, Lecturer in Psychology, University of East Anglia

you feel better in the morning. Indeed, studies have shown that, over time, improving sleep can lead to less anxiety, depression, and stress, and increased life satisfaction. If you want to keep your emotions and mental health in check, here are the best ways to get a good night’s sleep: Maintain a consistent bedtime and wake time – even on your days off. This helps your body clock get into a routine, improving your sleep. Having a big shift in sleep time between your work and free days is known as “social jetlag”, which can be associated with increased anxiety.

nstead of lying awake worrying, we’re often told to “sleep on it” when making decisions both big and small. And there’s actually a scientific basis for this advice. Sleep can influence our response to emotional situations, and helps us to manage our mental health. To understand why sleep and emotions are so connected, it’s important to first understand what happens in the brain when we encounter something emotive. Two main brain regions interact to create emotional responses. The first is the limbic system, which is located deep in our brain. This acts as our emotion centre, quickly evaluating a situation and helping us to decide how to react. Historically, this region may have been important for humanity’s survival, as it helps us react quickly in certain situations – if we encounter a dangerous predator, for example. But most of the time we need to adjust our initial emotional response. This is where the second region – the prefrontal cortex – comes in. Located just behind our forehead, the prefrontal cortex helps us to increase or decrease our emotional responses as necessary. So if we see a predator (such as a bear) in the zoo, the prefrontal cortex tells us we don’t need to panic because it’s in an enclosure. These regions need to be well-connected in order to effectively generate and adjust our SEASONAL MAGAZINE

emotional responses. This is where sleep comes in. When we’re sleep deprived, the connections between these areas weaken, making the reaction in the limbic system stronger. Sleep loss not only increases our reaction to stressful events during the day, it also makes these reactions harder to change. This may be particularly pronounced if you lose REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Studies show that getting poor sleep makes us more likely to choose less effective ways of managing our emotions which could have a knock-on effect for our mental health. Imagine you’re experiencing a difficult work problem. If you’re well rested, you are more likely to be able to effectively problem solve, fixing the issue. But if you’re sleep deprived, you might avoid dealing with the problem. Over time, this could have a negative effect on wellbeing. A stressed woman screams at her computer in a busy office. Sleep is also crucial for processing and consolidating memories from our day. When we have emotional experiences, sleep both helps us remember these events and remove the associated feelings. This happens in REM sleep, when activity in most brain regions is similar to when we’re awake. By reactivating memories during REM sleep, the associated feelings can be removed from the content of the memory. This is why “sleeping on it” really can help

Seek out natural light in the morning and avoid blue light in the evening. Our body clock is strongly affected by light. It impacts a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which releases a sleep hormone called melatonin. Getting natural light in the morning helps us to suppress melatonin, which improves our mood and makes us feel more alert. The blue light found in electronic devices also minimises melatonin. This means that using electronics in the evening can result in it taking longer for us to feel sleepy. So we recommend that you turn them off or set them to “night time mode” an hour before you go to bed. Avoid certain substances – such as alcohol, caffeine and nicotine. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants, which can interfere with our body’s drive to sleep. It’s best to avoid these, particularly in the afternoon and evening as our body gets ready for sleep. Alcohol also changes the structure of our sleep, making us more likely to wake up during the night. Studies also show using alcohol daily can decrease sleep quality, especially for people with anxiety. Allow yourself time to wind down before bed. Make sure your bedroom is comfortable, cool, quiet and dark to minimise chances of being disturbed. Before bed, try using relaxation or mindfulness techniques, which have been linked with both better sleep quality and better overall mental health. Getting a good night’s sleep can work wonders for improving our mental health. But it doesn’t stop there. Sleeping well can also improve our memory, attention and other thought processes. It also benefits several aspects of our physical health, including our weight and heart, making sleep an important priority for all aspects of our wellbeing. (Credit: The Conversation)