Mr. Simon Hughes of International Banker travels to Belgium to interview Mr. Johan Thijs, Chief Executive Officer, KBC Group, on the banks ongoing digital transformation, the innovation that drives that transformation and KBCs wider role in society.

Today, International Banker is in Belgium and joined by Johan Thijs, CEO of KBC Group, to discuss the banks ongoing digital transformation, the innovation which drives that transformation and KBCs wider role in society. Really good to be here. Nice to see you.

Pleasure to meet you as well.

Now, youve previously described KBCs digital transformation as an offering which combines human-to-human advice with digital methods and artificial intelligence. What does that actually mean in practice? And do you have any examples to support this statement?

Yes, indeed. Actually, something very, very particular, and its driven by, the starting point of everything is the change of customer behavior. What we do see in the outside world is that customers are massively changing their behavior. Which means, they are inspired by what they experience by the Googles and the Facebooks of this world. And they, I mean, they all tend to evolve in the same direction. They expect from financial institutions, like amongst others, KBC, to do exactly the same thing. Now, traditionally, we were organized by bank branches or insurance agencies, but that shift now is happening to service the customer more proactively, and, you know, we prefer also to have digital, a digital approach, as well. Digital applications, like mobile apps and so on and so forth. And thats what we currently are doing. Now, what is extremely important is that we do see a massive shift in our customers by using the mobile applications. But on the proactive approach, a lot of financial institutions still have to do a lot of work. And now comes the interaction between human, human-human and the machine. Lets call it AI. Human is obviously the servicing of customers via bank branches or call centers. And machine is, Lets try to proactively anticipate what the customer really needs so that we can offer him as of the moment that we approach him, or as of the moment he or she approaches us, the solution which is tailored to his needs. And in order to do so, the machine will start to interfere with the human being. And then, ultimately, its the customer going to decide who is she going to use? The digital channel, or the human channel? Or both? Why not?

But that choice is an important element of that.

I mean, this is the driver. At KBC, we have explicitly chosen to follow the change of customer behavior. So, not the other way around. We are not intending to push our opinion on what the customer should use in terms of our distribution channels. So, in this perspective, its indeed the customer who is going to decide.

OK, well, given this kind of increasingly rapid rate of development of banking products and services, how challenging is it to ensure that KBC remains consistently at the forefront of that kind of innovation?

You know, I mean, in terms of offering it to the client and definitely what the customer sees as such, thats not the challenge. You know, we can launch apps every month if we need to. But that is not the real importance. The real importance is that we as an institution, which is there already for 75 or more years, we have obviously a huge legacy system. And we have to take into account also other elements, like, for instance, regulatory requests and so on and so forth. So, servicing the customer on his, on the front end, on what he or she sees on his device, is the starting point. And the real challenge is not launching the app, but the real challenge is to make that app go straight through our processes in order to create convenience for the ultimate customer. And that is, given the fact that we all have legacy systems, the real, I mean, thereal, real challenge for us as a financial institution. Thats also where we spend the most money, and that is: How are we going to make the experience of the customer super convenient? But at the same time, also take care of the fact that in our processes, we can go straight throughback to back, end to endto the customer.

And, now, I understand also that KBCs digital transformation extends to covering its risk-management capabilities. What are the most innovative solutions being devised or already operating in this area?

Where do you want me to start, because we have been doing a lot of stuff? Let me take you, perhaps, also, and what we see today is quite important in the markets, let me take one of the examples, which is quite new. We do it in a very particular way, and it has some great results. And Im talking about the compliance area. So, the financial industry, obviously, has to take care of a lot of regulation and definitely on the terms of, in terms of, the anti-money-laundering requests, things the bar has been constantly raised. So, also KBC has been investing quite a lot of money into that, not only in the recent past but also in the last 10, 15 years. What we now are doing is to invest more in that domain but no longer via purely human beingsmaking an analysis of transactions of customers or making analysis on the know-your-customer part. But we are investing massively in artificial intelligence. So, innovative technologies. And in this respect, we have been completely changing the approach, where it was in the past a rule-based approach, into a more holistic view, where we use internal/external data and hereby new technology. And Im definitely referring to artificial intelligence; it is extremely helpful and extremely powerful. If I look at the results, at the output, of those systems built, then what we can see is that the output delivered by the machine compared to the previous approach is times seven better than what it used to be.

So, a powerful tool in your arsenal.

Thats an understatement.

Now, earlier, you mentioned KBC Mobile. And it has a vast array of services available that enable customers to go beyond banking, including those related to mobility, access-to-service checks, meal and eco checks. Which particular non-banking service in this area do customers seem to value the most?

You know, when we launched that a couple of years ago, we thought, lets introduce all those elements which go beyond banking or beyond insurance, which have what I call a high-frequency rate. If a customer is using stuff in the outside world on a regular basis, for which he needs to pay, lets introduce it into our app as an additional service. Andyou already mentioned a couple of them in your questionthe one they prefer most and which they use most today is anything which is related to public transport. Its massively used. It goes beyond our expectations. And its because of convenience. Its because of safetiness. I mean, when they pay via the KBC app, they are sure about the transaction. And to give you an example, we have about 150,000 customers who are using this almost every day, which is more than 10 percent of our mobile-banking customers. Now, thats after three-months launch. So, we are in the early stage of the process, and it has massively paid off. And on top of that, we get a lot of sympathy from our customers because of the public systems, which are doing exactly the same thing. If you go to the train station, you have to buy a ticket on the public machines, which most of the time dont work. But, you know, theres an alternative, and when the alternative is created, they choose the easiest one and the most convenient one. And that appears to be the KBC app. Now, this is for our customers, but we recently launched, actually a week ago, the same possibility for non-customers. Now, its really going to pick up.

Now, you mentioned earlier not forcing things on your customers. And part of your digital transformation places a really heavy focus on developing an omnichannel strategy, which allows the customers themselves to decide how they contact you. Which particular channel are you seeing the greatest levels of kind of increasing customer contact?

You know, mobile has been picking up tremendously. I mean, if you would have asked me five years ago, how much customers and percentage-wise would pick for the mobile channel, probably I would have given you a number which is today completely wrong. Underestimated, at that time. And in this respect, this continues to grow. What is true is that mobile is the preferred channel by customers. But at the same time, and it all depends on the product which they want to be serviced in, they make a switch between all mobile or mobile and human. And with human, you have the different interfaces. You can go to a bank branch. But also you can go to a call center, which we call in our case KBC Live. So, what we see today is that, actually, its most of the time for a lot of customers a combination, depending, so a combination of different channels, depending on what type of product or service. For straightforward payments, its mobile, clear. For other, more complex products, they prefer to have the mobile transaction guided by, for instance, a call to the call center, KBC Live. So, if you ask me which is the preferred one, I would say its mobile, but its also mobile and the call center.

Now, weve talked about innovation quite a lot. Does it mean something different, then, when applied to KBCs banking business strategy, vis--vis its insurance business strategy?

No, intrinsically, its the same. We have the same approach, the same starting position, so its about customer servicing, and its about paying attention to what the customer wants in a proactive manner. That is for both entities exactly the same, purely 100 percent identical. But the business type is a little bit different. Whereas on the banking side, I call it the aftermath, the after-sale. Its quasi non-existent, you know. On the insurance side, definitely on the non-life part, the P and C {property and casualty} part, its fundamental. So from that perspective, we have a starting position which is the same, but the implicit and the explicit implementation of that is a little bit different on the banking and the insurance side.

Now, during KBCs digital-transformation journey, which attributes of your digital offerings have you found clients consider the most important? For example, is it speed or simplicity? And if what they consider to be the most important is consistently changing over time, how do you ensure KBC remains sufficiently adaptable to meet those changing needs?

Its an interesting question. Also, a very difficult one to answer, because I think that its evolving over time. I mean, if you were to ask me, you have only one possible answer, I would say, convenience. Now, perhaps thats, I mean, its an easy answer, because its actually an umbrella which I have given you as an answer. Because convenience is triggered by what? It can be triggered by speed. It can be triggered by the easiness of your process. It can be triggered by dah dah dah. So, honestly, its about convenience. Your customer is triggered sometimes by speed. If he wants to have a mortgage instantly, he needs to get an answer as soon as possible. But sometimes for the same mortgage, it doesnt matter how fast the answer comes, but the process itself, the hassle which is normally involved in the mortgage process, he doesnt want to be bothered with that. So, let me be straightforward. What is triggering the customers most is convenience, and I think that answer will be valid for the next coming years as well. And thats a real challenge for us as a company because we constantly need to balance between what the customer needs, and that need can depend on the type of product he wants to be serviced with. And thats the ultimate challenge for us.

Now, if Im not mistaken, for the third year running, you have been voted into the top 10 in the Harvard Business Review top 100 CEOs in the world list. So, I want to say, immediately, many congratulations for that. Secondly, what do you consider to be the most important personal trait in order to be a successful CEO?

You know, first of all, being in that ranking is, indeed, quite an honor, and its obviously not my merit. I have 42,000 people which are servicing our customers in a perfect manner. And the output of that, the end result of that, is appreciated, indeed, by the HBR, Harvard Business Review, to be quite good. And in that perspective, Im ultimately, as the CEO, the one who is featured in the ranking. But not to play it down entirelyobviously, I have a role to play as well. And, you know, for us its quite important. The starting position which we have defined as the ultimate strategy of KBC is very simple in its concept. We only, our strategy is only five words. We have introduced simplicity in this perspective into the company, get a clear vision, this is what were doing. This is your role as our employee, which we try to give as much empowerment as possible. And this is what we are heading for. And I have to admit, this is particularly my role. I have to admit that our people picked it up quite well. And the end result is that, you know, were doing not too badly. So, we have been nominated a couple of times, amongst others, by your magazine as being, as doing well, in certain domains. And the most, and the prize which I liked most was Best Customer Service in Western Europe. Which is the ultimate goal. Obviously, the end results for our shareholders as well in the return they receive, but everything starts with great customer experience. So, in this perspective, yes, its the success of KBC Group. Its triggered by a lot of people. And Ive played a role in that as well.

And thinking about that kind of empowerment that youre giving people, back in May 2019, KBC announced the executive committee had started a group-wide internal exercise to further optimize and simplify the governance model at management level and the decision-making processes. For what reason has this been undertaken? And hows it going?

For us, and definitely also from a personal perspective, I think we have 42,000 people in this group. We have a lot of smart people. A lot of people who know a lot of stuff. They know the markets, they know the needs of the customers, and so on and so forth. To release that potential, in order to release that, you empower your people. Hierarchy could be the killer game. Hierarchy could be indeed bringing down that creativity, too, because the boss decides, First you have to pacify me before you can launch that idea. And, you know, in a certain perspective, I came, together with my management committee, to the conclusion that we have just too much management layers, which is delaying the process. As such, thats also something which you dont like. But anyway, whats far more important is, it also hampers the usage of the creativity and the innovation and then of the spirit of our people and our staff. And in order to get that, to bring that more to the forefront, we said, Lets take out another management layer. Which enables more empowerment. Groups become bigger, which enables more, I mean, streaming through ideas, which enables us to be more effective in servicing customers better. And for that reason, we introduced it in May. Now, the next step was immediately set in September, because we are now driving that through the whole organization. So, its not only stopping at management layers; its stopping actually at all leadership levels across the group.

And also in September, along with several other leading banks, KBC signed the Collective Commitment to Climate Action, an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. What impact is this initiative expected to have? And looking forward, what do you consider to be the single most important action that KBC and the banking industry in general can take to reduce the impact of climate change?

You know, when we talk about the disruption ongoing in the financial industry, most of the time, people speak about the digital impact, you know, and then also obviously they refer to the fintechs, or they refer to the big techs, which is all true. I would add one particular element next to those as well, and that is, indeed, disruption created by what you just described in your question. Amongst others, the environmental impact and the role we have to play into that. I think this is the next big thing. And with next, I mean today. Its already happening. If I look at what is currently in the pipeline of a lot of regulatory institutions, amongst others the European Commission, then, indeed, we as banks have a role to play. I think that most of the time, they also look at the banks to actually help implementregulators, supervisorsthat kind of solutions to the issue, for instance, climate change as well. Thats one side. The other side, I think that we as financial institutions have indeed a role to play. We have a role to play in society. We have a role to play in all those elements that influence that society. And one of them is the environmental impact. As a financial institution, granting a lot of loans and billions of billions of loans, we can indeed influence that impact by considering whom we are granting a loan to. And, you know, I consider this to be a societal role for an institution like ours. And for that reason, KBC has not only signed those agreements but also is implementing them already for many, many years in our institution. And we will be, you know, indeed on the forefront of the implementation of all those, all those new ways of thinking.

Now, weve talked about KBCs wider role in society and, in particular, climate change, for example. Also, beyond banking. But the group states its involved through initiatives relating to entrepreneurship as well. Which initiatives are these specifically?

You know, when the group was founded, lets say, 100 years ago, the, actually, the people who did that were entrepreneurs. And, so, those elements, these are the real roots of our group. And when we started to think 10 years ago, or, what, eight, nine years ago, about how can we play an important role in our society, we actually just went back to our roots. That is, lets foster and lets stimulate that entrepreneurship in all the countries where we are present. We started in Flanders, but were now obviously building that in all the countries where we currently are present. And in concreto, what it means is, we started up an initiative, and we use the name in every country where we are active, which is called Start it @ KBC. Which means that KBC facilitates youngsters, entrepreneurs, people with a bright idea on a product, on a service which they want to develop. But, I mean, theyre bothered with all of the hassle around it: the accounting part, the IT part, the, you name it, administrative part. And that particular part we take out of their hands. So, they can keep themselves, with all of their energy, busy in developing their ideas around the new product which they want to bring to the market. Now, with those facilities created, we take into account not only financially but also organization-wide. And thats what we have established group-wide. Next to that, we have, meanwhile, facilitated all the other elements which are necessary to make the next step. Ill give you two examples. We have created KBC Vendor, which is a kind of Tinder of KBC, where entrepreneurs with bright ideas which could help other entrepreneurs can actually come to a platform and say, Listen, I have a solution for you. Who is interested? Let me know. I will share my ideas on how you as an entrepreneur can make the next step. And then the last one, I call it, its called KBC Match. They call it the dating site of KBC, where we bring together entrepreneurs who have a current activity, who want for one or another reasonfor instance, they have no successorsto sell that company but dont have the immediate partner in the near environment. We created a platform where they can bring that proposal on the table. We will assess all our entrepreneurs of the entrepreneur community to see if they are interested. And we bring them together, and then they can potentially do a deal. So, this is all facilitating from the origination till the very end, and everything in between, things which are related to entrepreneurship.

So, its very people-focused. And thinking about the kind of skills and training, how do you ensure that the training you offer your folks remains up to date, especially so they can deal competently with the kind of ever-changing technology that theyre facing?

Thats a huge challenge. And thats, I mean, its a very, very, very difficult one as well. I think intrinsically, we have plenty of skills in our community, but not necessarily the same skills which you need to be future-proven in the area that you are currently working in within the company. So, we have a double challenge. The first one is with the people which we have, with the skills which we need to have tomorrow, how can we match them? And if they are not matching, how can we train those people in order to make them indeed future-proof with their skills? And if theyre not available in the company, where can we find them out there, outside the company? Now, what we currently are doing is, indeed, to create what I just said into kind of a platform where you bring into account all the skills people have. Also, the skills we dont know. So, you have the possibility of entering their own skills into the system. We knew, or we know better, what we are going to need in the near future, what kind of skills you need to have to do Job X in, let me say something, five years. And then we have a fully AI-driven platform, which brings the two together. People with skills, which need a little bit more training, will be triggered by the system in order to follow trainings, which we then provide to them. Either ourselves, either by universities or whatever it takes. And then last but not least, if we then indeed come to the conclusion, we dont find them, the same application is able to go via our external systems to look on the outside market. But, this, everything combined, is a huge challenge. And not only for financial institutions. I think for the market as a whole. For the next five to ten years.

Now, with more and more forecasts of a continued economic slowdown, or even perhaps a recession, here in the eurozone, how much of a concern is this to you? And would you say that KBC is adequately prepared for such a scenario?

Yeah, you know, we have a lot of challenges. We have, indeed, been talking so far amongst others about digitization and the impact of customers on our business model. But I think, indeed, the intrinsic underlying drivers which are crucial for a financial institutionamongst others, the interest rates, the financial markets as a wholehave a big impact. And, last but not least, economic growth is in that perspective, indeed, a very important parameter. So far, and I think also going forward and as I said in the nearby future, up so far, we have been doing great, and that is something which we can continue to do. But it goes without saying that the current interest-rate environment is indeed having an impact on and putting pressure on our results. KBC has been always performing in the high teens, ROEs, but given the circumstances, that is today a real challenge. On top of that, I would add also that obviously because of the, I mean, further evolution of the ECB and the further evolution of regulationthat in itself, Im not saying not for good reason on the contrary, is having an impact on financial institutions as well. But if, if all of that is combined, personally, and I can speak for KBC but will not speak about financial institutions in general, we are very well prepared to face the challenges of the future. And, obviously, I hope also that supervisors continue to do what they have been doing in a very balanced way, taking into account you have supervision, you have regulation, but you have also to build your future as well.

And, finally, what do you consider to be KBCs biggest priority in 2020?

The major priorityI would put forward that it is to constantly anticipate changing customer behavior. Now, it is easy said, but it is a huge challenge because it entails all the different elements which we are confronted with. It means, indeed, what does a customer need, how do you anticipate that? Others are dealing with that as well, and others do not necessarily need to be the incumbents. I am talking about now the fintechs. But Im definitely talking about the big techs, which are doing exactly the same thing and which are looking more and more to what we in the financial industry are doing. For instance, payment services. That eat part of our profit there. And so on and so forth. So, thats part of that as well. But the change in customer behavior has an immediate impact on the way we are organized. As such it has nothing to do with pure, I mean, pure profit generation in sales. It has to do with the way we are organized. Straight-through processing in that perspective is something which is of utmost importance, and that is a challenge for all the incumbents in the financial industry. And if you put it all together, I would say, Listen. Anticipating the change of customer behavior going forward is the big impact, is the most important part. And it entails a lot of things which you do not see at the surface.

Well, thank you very much for your time today.

Its a great pleasure.

Original post:

Interview with Mr. Johan Thijs, Chief Executive Officer of KBC Group - International Banker

BRECKENRIDGE Cameron Kerr and the staff at the Breckenridge Nordic Center had to get creative this week when the former U.S. Army officer trained for his upcoming expedition to the South Pole.

While visiting Breckenridge for the Disabled Sports USA Ski Spectacular adaptive snow sports event, Kerr traded in his snowboard for a pair of Nordic skis. Then, to simulate the conditions hell encounter on his trek to the South Pole, Kerr loaded 10 industrial-sized cans of vegetables for 60 pounds of dead weight. The trip will take him a week and a half over 60 nautical miles from the 89th parallel south.

Massachusetts-native Kerr, 32, returned to the Disabled Sports USA Ski Spectacular adaptive winter sports event for the second time this week in part to prep at altitude for his second trip to Antarctica. After touring a portion of the land and sea surrounding the Antarctic peninsula in 2012, Kerr will descend further, this time to the exact bottom of the planet as part of Antarctic explorer Robert Swans Last 300 expedition.

Swan, the first person to ever reach the North and South poles in one lifetime, was 14 days and 100 nautical miles into his 300-mile journey as of Sunday afternoon. Sponsored by Swan and Disabled Sports USA, Kerr will join Swans expedition group for the final stretch through variable summer Southern Hemisphere conditions including temperatures as cold as minus 30 degrees Celsius and winds as gusty as 60 knots.

The experience will serve two purposes for Kerr. For one, its a way for him to take part in Swans vision of cultivating what Swan hopes will be the next generation of climate leaders, as much of Swans work has been specific to climate change at Antarctica.

More personally, Kerr wants to continue to show that wounded veterans like him can live lives void of common post-military issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder and complete with activity and adventure.

Its the personal challenge, Kerr said at the Ski Spectacular at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge on Saturday morning. Its about saying, Hey, whats next? Which is kind of what we (military veterans) are all about. Good job on that, whats next? Weve got to kind of keep upping it, but also being a part of the small conversation to pivot away form prevailing narratives about veterans, helping to be a little part of that pivot to showcase, Look, wounds are just the beginning. Disability isnt what you think it is.

Afghanistan war veteran and below-the-knee single amputee, Cameron Kerr stands on the slopes outside Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge on Dec. 14. He holds the flag he will be carrying on his journey to the South Pole. The Disabled Sports U.S.A. Ski Spectacular from Dec. 9-15, has brought together a variety of adaptive sport athletes, disabled veterans, instructors and professionals who focus on empowerment and the latest technology and resources in adaptive snow sports.Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com

Cameron Kerr has a chat with friend Tony Drees on the ski slopes at Breckenridges Disabled Sports U.S.A. Ski Spectacular on Saturday, Dec. 14.Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com

Cameron Kerr stands inside the National Disabled Veterans trailer filled with adaptive snow sport gear during Disabled Sports U.S.A. Ski Spectacular at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge. Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com

Show CaptionsHide Captions

This week at Ski Spectacular, Kerr snowboarded again for the first time since he first came to Breckenridges Disabled Sports USA event in 2011. Kerr said he personally doesnt have that intricate of a snowboard setup as he is a below-the-knee amputee, strapping in much the same as any other ride on the mountain. As such, when Kerr dropped in this week, he picked up the nature of carving turns on a board much like riding a bike again.

Kerr had the lower part of his leg amputated in 2011 during his first deployment to Afghanistan. Kerr said much of his duties during his time in Afghanistan consisted of foot patrols. It was on a normal patrol pushing south into a Taliban stronghold when Kerr had his accident.

The area he and his service mates were trekking over was familiar to them. But the day changed when all of a sudden Kerr heard a pop 150 yards from him. It was the sound of the Afghan lieutenant counterpart he was working with stepping on an IED or improvised explosive device on a nearby trail.

While the Afghan lieutenant was being attended to, Kerr decided it was a professional courtesy to walk over to him, say goodbye and thank him for working with him. Kerr stepped on an auxiliary IED while walking over.

He remained conscious despite the force of the blast. After being loaded onto the same medivac as his counterpart, Kerr arrived at the hospita and realized he had massive bone destruction, tissue damage and a missing heel bone. The only choice was to amputate.

Yet when Kerr reflects on his injury and current situation, he has a positive mindset. He regards himself and his injury as a paper cut, or an injury that is not as bad as many other injuries. His below-the-knee amputation allows him to use his knee to normally do many of the active and adventurous things he has grown to love, such as participating in the Boston Marathon twice and Tough Mudders.

As to why Kerr was inspired to join the military in the first place, it goes back to the same mantra that he carries with him today during the preparation and execution of such adventurous activity as his expedition to the South Pole. The child of an immigrant from Northern Ireland who worked for years to become an American citizen, Kerr grew up valuing the situation he was born into as an American.

Later in his childhood, when his father and family helped some of the Lost Boys of Sudan settle into American life after fleeing the struggle of the Second Sudanese Civil War, the experience reinforced Kerrs appreciation for his American life.

With that in mind, he felt he had to merit the life he was born into, hence his enrollment in ROTC at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and the inspiration for his latest expedition to Antarctica.

It made me realize, Kerr said, I need to do something to earn this. Thats what Im kind of getting at is, I need to earn mine.

Continue reading here:

Olivero: Disabled Sports USA Ski Spectacular participant trains in Breckenridge for expedition to South Pole - Summit Daily News

Whether you seek endorphins in the great outdoors or prefer after-work Pilates, there are few feelings more satisfying than getting in a stellar sweat.

And whatever your go-to modality, everyone leans into fitness for different purposes. For some, its an opportunity to socialize and connect with friends. For others, its a necessary way to destress after a tedious, meeting-filled afternoon.

So, yeah, fitness is way more than just a tool to change your appearance. Its a source of empowerment, allowing space for people to soak in the feel-good vibes however they might manifest. We connected with three leaders in fitness about their workout routineswhich celebrate their bodies, true strength, and indomitable spiritas well as why theyve chosen to share their love for fitness with a greater community. Ahead, their stories told firsthand.

From chasing around three older brothers in rural Missouri to traveling the country as the director of education for The Megaformer-based SLT, movement has shaped Meyers as a personone who is gender non-conforming and continually exploring their identity.

Our brains are running around 24/7 thinking about a lot of different things, Meyers tells Womens Health. The reason I love movement is because I get out of my head and into my body. How special is that?

In 2018, Meyers became their own boss and founded the be.come project, a fitness app that's all about moving with intention. Every Monday, Meyers releases a 25-minute routine thats meant to be done multiple times throughout the week. Followers can chime in with questions, and on Wednesday, Meyers answers them in a tutorial.

The more I opened up about the things I was struggling with, the more accountable I held myself.

Its no wonder why their come-as-you-are positive attitude is contagious, garnering more than 32K followers to the apps Instagram page and over 91K on their personal account.

I found that the more I opened up about the things I was struggling with, the more accountable I held myself, Meyers says, noting that movement helped to heal them after years of struggling with an eating disorder. I wanted to approach [fitness] with the be.come project in a way that didn't have to do with weight loss or before-and-after pictures or [the belief that] something is wrong with yourself. We have to fix that.

When it comes to their own fitness routine, Meyers mostly enjoys at-home workouts in their Manhattan apartment building. Lately, its been a mix of at-home spinning intertwined with the be.come projectwhich never takes more than an hour total (the sweet spot is 30 to 45 minutes). Some days, it goes great. Others, it may not. Thats OK, they say.

I use the words body neutrality a lot, Meyers says. I'm going to have all kinds of ups and downs, but I can be okay with those and take them at face value. After every single workout, you dont have to be like: I feel great all the time and life is good.

Mirna Valerio remembers sitting in the cardiologists office like it was yesterday. At 33 years old, she listened to the doctor in disbelief. He said, You could very well die if you dont make a change, she tells Womens Health. She was working a draining job on top of being a mother, and there was no time for self-care. She felt physically, mentally, and spiritually unwell. It was hard to hear, but deep down it was something that was welcomed, she recalls.

When someone looks at me with doubt, Im like: Think again.

The next day, she started running and never stopped. What started as a single mile every day on a home treadmill eventually led to half marathons. She conquered her first full in 2011, with the song Ive Got a Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas playing in her headphones as she crossed the finish line.

I knew it was a message from the universe that I need to be doing more of this, she says. That was only the beginning.

As the distances increased, so did her desire to share her journey with the world on social media and her personal website, TheMirnavator.com. Now, with 14 ultramarathons under her belt, shes relocated to Vermont and teaches others about the joy that comes from running and getting outdoors.

I know my body can carry me over 120 miles in the mountains, she says, adding that her favorite race to date is the TransRockies, a multi-day point-to-point Colorado trail run. Not everyone can do that. I can do amazing things. When someone looks at me with doubt, Im like: Think again.

Valerio is proud of the progress that shes made since those treadmill days. Now, when she looks in the mirror, she sees an adventurer who loves running.I see a strong, confident, and capable black woman. That's very important to me.

Jenny Bruso wore a Spandex leopard print dress, purple tights, and cowboy boots on her first-ever hike in Portland, Oregon. Her makeup was perfect. She reasoned that if she was out in the world, she had to be done up.

I felt really self-conscious of my breathing and sweating, she tells Womens Health. But soon, I realized I was having an experience of joyfulness in my body and also a sense of mystery with nature over the course of the three or four hours. I felt an inspiration that I had never felt before.

A lot of the time, the stories we tell ourselves about how our bodies work aren't reality.

We are capable of so much more.

She found herself devoting significantly more time to the great outdoors, spending three days each week hunting down elevation gains.

I realized that hiking makes me feel really confident in the way my body works." she says. I like knowing that I'm stronger and more capable than I ever thought that I was. A lot of the time, the stories we tell ourselves about how our bodies work aren't reality. We are capable of so much more.

Still, the more she laced up her boots, the more she began to realize that there werent other people who looked like her sharing their hiking stores.

I was very aware of the fact that outdoor culture was marketed toward a certain kind of person," she says: young, thin, white, and affluent. "That didnt resonate with me and I wanted to connect with other people whose outdoor lives didnt look like the status quo.

So, in 2016, she started Unlikely Hikersan inclusive Instagram community that celebrates individuals typically underrepresented in social media depictions of the great outdoors. Soon, she had people of all different backgrounds and body types from across the globe sharing their stories with her.

I used to associate exercise with being alone in the gym and hating myself and the atmosphere and the vibes, she says. It doesnt have to be that way. Now, it brings me happiness and helps me connect with others.

Up next on her trails bucket list? The Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail, she says. I do hikes now that I never thought I would be able to. I love a good challenge and surprising myself.

Read more from the original source:

The People Using Exercise As An Empowerment Tool - Women's Health

On December 15 and December 16, I am chairing ASEM, the Asia-Europe Meeting. What might seem to be a rather bureaucratic acronym, actually is a highly relevant event for our continents. I had offered to host this meeting in Madrid when I was still Foreign Minister of Spain and now I will be chairing it as European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. It underlines my personal interest in the fast-moving continent that is Asia today.

ASEM brings together 53 partners made up of the 28 EU member states, Norway, Switzerland and the EU, and on the Asia side, 21 countries and the ASEAN secretariat. Together we represent 55% of global trade, 60% of global GDP, 60% of the global population and 75% of global tourism.

Simply bringing countries together does not, of course, guarantee any results. But it creates opportunities. In recent years, ASEM has become increasingly relevant and strategic. This ASEM meeting will be an important opportunity to further strengthen cooperation between Europe and Asia.

There is a clear willingness from ASEM countries to engage on global issues and to take on more responsibility from supporting sustainable development, to rules-based global trade, to information sharing on cross-border threats, to the prevention or peaceful resolution of conflicts. ASEM has acquired a new rationale and momentum as a key platform to uphold and promote rules-based, multilateral approaches. In the challenging world of today, this kind of cooperation and leadership is imperative.

In recent years, sustainable connectivity has been a key theme of our discussions and will continue to be so. The same goes for combating climate change. We adopted last week the EU Green Deal and made the ground-breaking commitment to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. But our ambition must be global and we need collective action. To safeguard our planet and to promote sustainable development, cooperation with our Asian partners is key.

In addition, we cooperate on the most pressing issues on the international agenda: the situation on the Korean peninsula and in Rakhine State, the West Asia peace process, Iran and the wider region, and efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan to name just a few. We also work on the need to uphold multilateralism, address security challenges, as well as promote gender equality and womens empowerment.

During my mandate as High Representative, I will conduct EU foreign policy with realism and a strong sense of partnership. And I want to work closer with our Asian partners on key priorities such as our partnership with Africa, the Western Balkans, finding a solution to the situation in Libya, or a peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, on Iran and many more.

All of these issues will be discussed at our political meeting. But the real Asia-Europe meeting happens every day: when students from our respective continents swap Europe for Asia, or vice-versa, to study at university; when business transactions take place between European and Asian companies big or small; when we visit each others continents, either as tourists or as friends, to take in the best that Asia and Europe have to offer; and when researchers from our two continents put their minds together to work towards ground-breaking innovation.

At meetings like ASEM we create the environment and the conditions to enhance the connections we have between our societies and our citizens. This is the real goal of frameworks such as ASEM. I look forward to doing this with Europes Asian partners and friends, during ASEM in Madrid, and in the years to come. Its time to translate Europe and Asias power into a real partnership.

Josep Borrell is the present High Representative of the European Union

You have reached your limit for free articles this month.

Register to The Hindu for free and get unlimited access for 30 days.

Find mobile-friendly version of articles from the day's newspaper in one easy-to-read list.

Enjoy reading as many articles as you wish without any limitations.

A select list of articles that match your interests and tastes.

Move smoothly between articles as our pages load instantly.

A one-stop-shop for seeing the latest updates, and managing your preferences.

We brief you on the latest and most important developments, three times a day.

Not convinced? Know why you should pay for news.

*Our Digital Subscription plans do not currently include the e-paper ,crossword, iPhone, iPad mobile applications and print. Our plans enhance your reading experience.

See the original post:

Strengthening the Asia-Europe partnership - The Hindu

Rapper-singer Nanciadropped amusic video with help from some of Bostons brightest femcees last week. "She Is Boston comes stacked with a blistering beat, uplifting lyrics and a catchy hook sung by Nancia.Emergency sirens echoin the background.

Dorchester, Roxbury, talking Mattapan. Jamaica Plains, even talking South End, Nancia sings.

Red Shaydez, Brandie Blaze and Lord Ju jump infor versesdeclaringtheir love for Boston. They toss in lyrics aboutgetting money, keeping the haters at bay and playing dudes left and right.

Watch it here:

The song comes from Nancias August-released project "Heir to the Throne" andyou could seethe royalty concept running through the music video. She says the project is all about queens, empowering each other and lifting each other up.Before shooting, she presented each of her collaborators with a crown the ones you see them wearing in the video.

In a city that has been historically unwelcoming to hip-hop, we're seeing a tight knit group of musicians make a scene for themselves.Brandie Blaze says that collaborations like this are particularly important as Boston's femcees create an environment in a male-dominated genre where they could all thrive.Were trying to build a community. Were trying to build a scene, she says. Thats why you see so many female rappers from Boston getting a lot of shine right now because we have a genuine spirit of friendly competition, but genuine love for each other and each others talents.

Pushing back against old industry concepts that women can't work together or that there's only room for one woman in hip-hop female MCs today are doing some of the most interesting work in the country's most consumed genre.Between Megan Thee Stallion getting Nicki Minaj to hop on "Hot Girl Summer" and Rico Nasty on Doja Cat's "Tia Tamera," (which Red Shaydez and Brandie Blaze have remixed together) rap queens are making it known that the power of collaboration between femcees is a force too strong to mess with.

Nancia, who lives in Cambridge, saysit'spart of her personalmission to work withand support other women.

Assembling the crew, she chose Red Shaydez, Brandie Blaze and Lord Ju, each with their own personal connection to her andto each other. Thecamaraderie between them was evident in my conversations with the four artists, each of them emphasizing the importance of female empowerment through collaboration and hyping each other up.

Another major contributor isJay Hunt, Nancias manager and the director of the video. Hunt also shot music videos for Brandie Blaze and Red Shaydez.

Roxbury-raised Red Shaydez has the first verse on the song and was the first in the boothwithNancia. Its putting you back in the day with like, Queen Latifah and 'Ladies First' and Lil Kim with 'Ladies Night,' " she says of the rap alliance. Theyve performed together before, so putting in her eight bars was an easy yes, said Red Shaydez. Brandie Blaze and Nancia met while performingatTRC Fest together. Nancia remembers seeing Lord Ju, whose flow reminded me of the Southern rappers I grew up listening to, rapping in videos on her newsfeed.

We can all support each other and I feel like thats a beacon of light for this season, Nancia says. Four girls did this and that means more girls can make it happen.

Female-driven rap music hasbeen bubbling under the surface with few ladies getting their shine, despite immense talent. This videois proof theres a lot to look forward to regarding women in hip-hop, Boston's own rap scene and the heights than can be reached through local collaboration.

More here:

'She Is Boston' Is The New Girl Power Anthem You Need - WBUR

Written by Komal RJ Panchal | Mumbai | Published: December 15, 2019 4:12:36 pm Mardaani 2, where Rani Mukerji reprises the role of cop Shivani Roy, was released on December 13.

Rani Mukerjis Mardaani 2 has hit the theatres and has received some great reviews. Here, in this conversation with indianexpress.com, the versatile actor talks about the importance of portraying empowering women roles, how she channelized her anger through this film and artistes responsibility while choosing roles.

Excerpts from the interview:

How did you manage to showcase so much anger in a film like this, and where does it take you on a personal level?

I think the way, we as Bengalis, are brought up, we are grown up in the imagery of Durga, a goddess with ten hands killing Mahisasura. So, I think we have that thing in our minds, subconsciously or consciously, that women are very very strong.

I think the Nirbhaya case changed a lot of things for all of us in the country, we were angered, we were shocked, we were in extreme disbelief that something like this has actually happened to a girl whos probably living in a city which is full of people, where you cant even imagine something like this happening, but it actually happened. It was a real incident. I think Mardaani was born through that because somewhere we were all were trying to do something, and Mardaani was my way, as an actor, to be able to express my anger and feel the feeling of demolishing the man who was evil, and that was probably my way of venting out what I had inside me.

Also, as an actor, I wanted to give back to the society. With the kind of love I have received in the last two decades, I wondered what have I done for the women, have I played powerful women roles in my career? I think Mardaani and Mardaani 2 stand for women empowerment in the true sense.

Do you think actors should have a moral responsibility in choosing the roles they portray? You have chosen some very responsible roles in your career as an actor, even now as Shivangi Roy. What has this responsibility meant to you over the years?

I have portrayed content driven films from the very beginning, my film was Raja Ki Aayegi Baarat, then I have done Black and then Yuva, No One Killed Jessica. I have never shied away from doing content based cinema, with a balance of doing other kind of cinemas as well. So, it is a balance, and I have done that throughout my career, so being responsible while choosing films or roles is not something new to me.

Today when I see my baby grow, she is four, and I see her dance and sing, so seeing her, I do feel like doing something lighter. I want to do films which have songs and dance, films that I can make her watch. She loves to see me dance on screen, and I am also getting a feeling that I want to now take a break from content based cinema and do something, just as an actor, in a more entertainment space, and then come back again to this space.

I also feel the need to restart my journey in the romantic space, because I dont think romance has an age, and I need to do something in that genre. I want to explore that as well.

Since you mentioned your daughter, has she seen any of your films? What kind of films would you like her to grow up watching?

I wouldnt say films, because I think she is still too young to see my films. She is too attached to be able to detach the person on screen from me. For her, the woman on screen is her mum, and she is not able to see her mum as a character as yet. There is still time for her to be able to do that. But what she enjoys is watching me sing and dance on screen.

You are one female actor who has broken the taboo of age when it comes to female actors getting work after a certain age/marriage/having a baby

I have not broken that taboo, it is the audience who have broken the taboo, if they were not interested in me, I dont I would be able to do it.

How important are age appropriate roles for you? What is that one thing you just wouldnt do on screen, that you did, maybe even five years ago?

I think it is very important to look a certain way to be in films. Whatever character I play, I try to be as true and as close to the characters demands. So, thats been a conscious decision on my part as an actor, right from the first film I ever did.

I think people like us, who are the frontrunners in building concept or being a part of cinema, should keep trying to work on breaking the myths and stereotypes that are already ruling peoples minds.

For all the latest Entertainment News, download Indian Express App

IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd

Follow this link:

Rani Mukerji: Mardaani 2 stands for women empowerment in the true sense - The Indian Express

The Loudoun Literacy Council is beginning its 40th Anniversary celebration a little early by unveiling a new 40th-year logo and special pricing for adult English for Speakers of Other Languages classes.

The organization began its operations as the only non-denominational literacy provider in Loudoun County in 1980, and in 2020 marks its official 40th Anniversary. Beginning with the January registration for five levels of adult classes throughout the county, Loudoun Literacy Council will charge $40 per 12-week session (two instructional hours per week.)

Loudoun Literacy Council has been changing lives and promoting personal growth and empowerment since 1980 and has always been flexible in pricing, because we believe so strongly in helping those who want to strengthen their English-language skills so they can become more active members of Loudoun County, said Chairwoman Margaret Brown. Over the past few years, thanks to our Executive Director Nikki Daruwala and our amazing staff, Loudoun Literacy Council has expanded programs and classes, as well as strengthened relationships throughout the county.

It is from the standpoint of this strengthened foundation and these relationships that that we worked with Nikki and Karen Feldman, who leads our adult programs, to create this special pricing. We hope that it will help propel the incredible momentum and expansion they have already begun, Brown concluded.

New pricing will go into effect immediately, and students interested in attending adult ESOL classes can find more information about times and locations at loudounliteracy.org/english-class.Scholarships are available and no one is turned away because of a lack of financial resources.

The new 40th anniversary logo was designed by Leesburg-based AlphaGraphics.

Here is the original post:

Loudoun Literacy Council Kicks Off 40th Year with New Pricing, Logo - Loudoun Now

Unrestrained by time or artistic discipline, yet never really accepted as one of the cool kids, Cher carved out a career all her own. Hit songs across multiple decades and genres, Academy Award-worthy movie roles, a refined sense of comedic timing, a brash public persona coupled with a colorful and far more vulnerable personal life she celebrated all of it in a flashy show at a full Smoothie King Center on Friday.

Whats YOUR grandmother doing tonight? she asked, a well-rehearsed punch line that simultaneously acknowledged and defied her 73 years.

If anything, Cher's show needed more Cher. For much of its 95-minute span, she was backstage changing costumes and wigs. Wardrobe revelations are requisite at a Cher concert, but her eight disappearances, coupled with a scant 15-song set list, made the show seem shorter, and more slight, than it really was.

Following an opening set by guitarist Nile Rodgers and disco-funk band Chic, Cher descended from the rafters to Womans World, her 2013 dance-club empowerment anthem. As her nine dancers romped as especially glamorous gladiators, she was resplendent in blue hair. Its natural, she joked.

Cher performs at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019.

Following the second song, Strong Enough, she instructed the audience to sit down. Im going to tell you a fabulous story and its all true.

The ensuing tale involved going to a club for her 40th birthday with a friend. We looked like hookers, Cher said, before clarifying that the friend looked like a hooker. I looked like Cher.

The story touched on Nicolas Cage, tax evasion, David Letterman, being told she was too old for a movie part, and writing in script, a thing we used to do.

She recalled the residency she and Sonny Bono logged at the Blue Room, the supper club in what was then the Fairmont Hotel (which now operates once again under its original name, the Roosevelt). I think it was September, because it never stopped raining, she said.

The moral of the story, in a roundabout way? Don't let your age get in your way. For you older women.wheres your blue hair? Its time to act up, act out, picket, march, get into trouble.

Or, if you're Cher, get atop a mechanized elephant for the Indian-themed set of the disco-pulsed All Or Nothing. She disappeared again to time-travel back to the early 1970s, when Sonny & Cher were pop culture darlings thanks to their hit CBS variety show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.

The nightclub act they honed at the Blue Room cast them as a 60s version of 1950s Las Vegas sensations Keely Smith and Louis Prima. Like the New Orleans-born trumpeter and bandleader Prima, Sonny was the older, goofier male whose antics were routinely dismissed by his younger, unimpressed wife's deadpan wit.

The audience awaits the start of Cher's performance at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019.

Their divorce was big news, as were their professional reconciliations. When then-Congressman Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998, Cher delivered a tearful eulogy.

At the arena, clips from The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour prefaced the chestnut The Beat Goes On, for which Cher donned a glitzy, sequined version of her mid-60s style: striped bell-bottoms, broad belt, short, faux-fur vest. (It's a style that contemporary country star Kacey Musgraves seems to appreciate.)

Cher cracked that she thought about saving I Got You Babe, Sonny & Cher's breakthrough No. 1 duet from 1965, for my next farewell tour.

But this tour needed it. I Got You Babe was the shows emotional center. As she did in the early days to quell stage fright, Cher looked directly at Sonny even though he's now just a video and sang directly to him.

It was a sweet tribute in a sweet song, the original recording of which was arranged by New Orleans producer and saxophonist Harold Battiste, Sonny & Chers longtime musical director.

Another costume change prefaced three Abba covers from her most recent album, Dancing Queen, which built on her role in the movie sequel Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again (which in turn inspired her current tours name).

SOS and Fernando, especially, demonstrated that Chers rich contralto, several registers removed from more contemporary divas high-flying if sometimes hollow excursions, remains intact. So, too, did her hearty cover of Marc Cohns Walking In Memphis.

Cher performs at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019.

Five musicians and two backing vocalists pumped up arrangements. A guitarist delivered a squalling hard rock solo during the costume change that preceded I Found Someone and the 1989 power ballad If I Could Turn Back Time.

Cher strutted out in a slightly more modest version of the sheer, dental floss-like leotard she rocked in the If I Could Turn Back Time video, shot aboard a battleship stocked with cheering sailors.

For the finale, she fast-forwarded to a club remix of her 1998 hit Believe. As dancers cavorted, two aerialists twirled overhead, the band bashed away and lights flashed, she presided serenely, an especially cool grandmother perfectly comfortable in stylish jeans, sensible silver jacket and deep red hair.

The red, like blue, blonde and other hues before it, wasnt natural. But it was naturally Cher.

Continue reading here:

Review: If you're Cher, being 73 is no reason to stop wearing a leotard onstage - NOLA.com

Photo Credit: Apple Music

Its been five years since Nicki Minaj delivered her double-Platinum-certified third studio album, The Pinkprint, a blend of raw sexuality, theatricality and female empowerment that has since redefined the template for women in hip-hop.

On Feeling Myself, featuring pop-culture queen Beyonc, Nicki brazenly tells the world she switched flows four times on the same track; its a moment wherein the superstar entrenches herself as an icon. A host of other brilliant women including hitmaker Ester Dean, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Skylar Grey and Jessie Ware join her as collaborators throughout The Pinkprint.

Nicki openly highlights her icon status on Truffle Butter, a bonus track that became an album single and features Drake and Lil Wayne. Man, this a 65 million single sold, she raps. I aint gotta compete with a single soul/Im good with the ballpoint game, finger roll.

The Pinkprint is responsible for several of Nickis greatest hits, Anaconda and Pills and Potions among them, but the rapper born Onika Tanya Maraj has always been greater than the sum of her biggest records and most fruitful collaborations. Dig deeper and youll find brave reflections like All Things Go, a Pinkprint standout on which Nicki opens up about having an abortion as a teenager, along with other personal narratives.

In the wake of The Pinkprint, the music industry wholesale embraced a diverse cadre of women rappers and replicated Nickis success while underscoring these new artists individual greatness. Had Nicki not been feeling herself, does Lizzo earn eight Grammy nominations? Does Megan Thee Stallion trademark #HotGirlSummer? The list goes on.

Read the full version of this piece on TIDAL, no subscription required.

Visit link:

When Nicki Minaj Ruled The World: 5 Years of The Pinkprint - DJBooth

By Grant H. Brenner

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." Albert Einstein

Rates of anxiety and depression are on the rise, the future of the planet (or at least our species) is uncertain, and Millennialsand Gen Zers increasingly get a bad rap in the workplace. The classic formula of blaming the victim doesnt help us understand what is happening with our young people and how they can best cope with the current world circumstances.

A group of seasoned clinician-researchers in Norway, including Per-Einar Binder and esteemed colleagues, has been studying how age-old wisdom, delivered in modern, digestible bites, can help college students adapt more effectively to the fluid, frightening and uncertain environment which characterizes the world of 2020.

Their team developed a series of three 90 minutes workshops based on Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), with manageable personal practices to transform ones relationship with oneself and result in measurable improvements in both self-image and functional outcomes.

Self-compassion and loving kindness practices, related approaches from Hindu, Buddhist and other traditions have been shown to have great benefit, and even re-wire the brain and reset the bodys autonomic nervous system to a state of greater balance and poise.

Dr. Binder describes an overview of the three sessionsthey developed via email interview:

The first session introduced participants to mindfulness and self-compassion using 15 minute lectures, short mindfulness and self-compassion exercises (affectionate breathing, loving-kindness for ourselves, self-compassion break) group discussions and experiential practicese.g. participants were asked to reflect on, and then write down, what they would say to themselves to improve something they disliked about themselves. Then they were asked to reflect upon and write down what they would say to a friend under similar circumstances. Participants were then encouraged to discuss the differences between how they tended to treat themselves vs. others, and the influence this had on themselves.

The second session dealt with mindfulness (with a classical mindfulness meditation and a compassion-based meditation), common physical stress reactions, shame reactions, dealing with destructive self-criticism, how self-compassionate behavior might influence the body and mind, and activating and soothing affect systems within an evolutionary and attachment framework (Gilbert & Procter).

The third and final session comprised of an experiential practice and discussions and on positive feelings, a reflections on how one wants to live,further discussions about compassion for oneself and others, and the meditations that we introduced in the second session.

Participants were provided with audio guides to mindfulness and self-compassion exercises for daily use between sessions, as well as copies of the PowerPoint presentations given in each session.

Between the first and second sessions, participants were encouraged to use the 15-minute audio guides to practice affectionate breathing and loving kindness for ourselves on a daily basis, adapted from the MSC program.

Between the second and third sessions, participants were expected to use the audio guides to practice two new 15-minute exercises: mindfulness of breathing, body, and emotions, adapted from the MBSR [Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction]program and giving and receiving compassion, adapted from the MSC program.

Their work has spanned many years. In an earlier study(Dundas et al, 2017), students completed the workshops above and researchers measured the objective impact. They found measurable and significant changes in self-efficacy, personal growth, improved impulse control, reduced self-critical thinking, and less negative self-directed thoughts. Theyfound increased self-compassion and reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, changes which were sustained at 6 month follow-up.

How did the research findings compare with students subjective reports? To look at this question, the research team recruited a final group of almost 100 students who completed the three part mindful self-compassion intervention. All of the participants completed a questionnaire designed to rate how useful the workshops were for them personally. They were also asked what was the most important thing they got out of the course.

Twelveof the study participants were contacted at random for a detailed, live interview. They were asked a general question about what was most important, followed by more targeted questions to explore specific aspects, such as change in how participants treated themselves, with specific examples; whether they approached academic differently as a result of the course; and about how self-compassion work may have affected relationships. The narrative responses were carefully refined using qualitative research techniques to distill out the strongest themes, which clustered into 5 categories:

Students reported gradually doing better as they persisted. Small stepsbuildup to big differences if we let them. Students accepted temporary set-backs, and were thereby able to move past failure with self-compassion and support from others. Puttingtheir problems in perspective made it easier to move forward, even for big problems.

Self-compassion allows people who reject help to recognize the need for help, overcome barriers to asking for help, develop help-seeking skills, and use them. Students reported, however, that it was easier said than done. On one hand, the concepts from mindful self-compassion were straightforward to grasp, but putting them into practice was at first effortful.

Students were stunned when they realized how rough they were being with themselves, leading for many to immediate change. Many noted that imagining how they would treat a friend, versus how they dealt with themselves, made a big difference for buffering harshness.

At first, awareness is hard to handle, leading to swings which ultimately leveledout intogreater self-mastery and optimism. Identifying the inner critic and setting it up as an external concept made it easier to re-calibrate self-relationshipto becomegentler and more self-accepting.

Suffering is a natural part of the human condition, mindful self-compassion teaches. While difficultand undesirable, suffering is normal and shared. Students reported great relief, freed from the sense of isolation, alone-ness, and the idea of being uniquely burdenedeven while recognizing that people suffer differently, and for many different reasons.

Recognizing the commonality of suffering allowed participants to self-sooth more effectively, feeling safer and less ashamed. A sense of group belonging increased, and students felt calmer.

The self-compassion pause was described as particularly useful. Students were taught to say to themselves What do I need when I feel pain like this?, a question which becomes second-nature.

Some students were on the fence about talking openly about suffering around other people, as it made them anxious and distressed. People with strong fears of compassion often have personal trauma, and may need individualized care.

Rather than spiral downward, participants learned to accept how they were feeling even when feelings were strongly negative, disorienting.

They noted an increased capacity forself-help. Each time they were able to chose a better path increased their sense of self-efficacy, faith in their ability to provision themselves, and a greater sense of safety and security.

They reported becoming more competent to deal with difficult feelings. Being friendly and gentle toward oneself allowed students to decouple from maladaptive thought habits and sub them with more effective, self-compassionate approaches. This in turn increased their sense of autonomy and agency, leading to greater empowerment.

Students reported that stress management organically improved with practice of loving kindness and self-compassion. They emphasized the crucial role of being friendlytoward oneself as an over-arching construct, one to come back to gently and firmly.

In addition to emotional benefits, students reported more positive body attitudesandself-care in areas likeeating, sleep and exercise. They said the recommendedmeditation practice kept them grounded. Emotional stabilization resultedin greater inner peace. Listening to the body, paying attention to heart and breath,was a game-changer.

This research is remarkable because it gives a glimpse inside the hearts and minds of contemporary college students. Showing that complex ideas and practices can be broken down into a user-friendly package which works in this groupis an important proof of concept. Interventions similar to this one can be adapted for other groups, and translated into digital tools to complement in-person and personal work.

It seems obvious that a broader adoption of compassionfor oneself and othershas the power to transform not just individual lives but the whole of the human condition. Making these practices accessible to more groups by translating it into relatable and practical formats has the potential to contribute to the greater good. The process is slow, slower on a collective level than for individuals, but has great positive impact in the longer-term.

Dr. Binder generously shared his observations fromworking closely with self-compassion for many years:

I think that the most important thing that I have learned from my work with self-compassion is how powerful it is to become aware of how one is treating oneself... And then to become curious about oneself, and start to experiment with different ways of treating oneself. The group format is ideal for this. It is a type of exploration thatis very useful to do together with others that are also facing some ofthe same challenges.

For me, originally trained within long-term psychotherapy, it is surprising to see the deep impact that also a short-term intervention can have. It seems to have a health promoting function in itself for many participants. It may also be an intervention that can augment the effect of psychotherapy.

Another counterintuitive thing: One thing that I did not expect, was that the participants would find our brief lectures so useful. We had some brief (5-10 minutes) lectures about compassion/self-compassion, shame, the inner critic, etc.

I think some of the greatest challenges for people seeking to cultivate self-compassion is un-learning non-productive ways of treating oneself. The habits of threatening or shaming oneself is hard to change. The destructive inner critic often goes under our radars. When we become aware, it also is often painful when we realize how much harm we have caused ourselves through destructive self-criticism.

Another great challenge for many, is what Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff describe as backdraft. When we start treating ourselves in a more accepting and compassionate way, fresh air come often come into rooms and spaces of sorrow, frustration or other painful emotions that we have kept locked for many years.

Emotional flames can often roar.

More:

5 Researched Ways Self-Compassion Training Is Transformative - Psychology Today

The Body Shop Activist Makers Workshop in London

For the last several years L Brands Bath & Body Works division, with just over 1,700 North American stores, has been its shining star. While its flagship, Victorias Secret has experienced steep declines, with revenues down 6.5% year-to-date, Bath and Body Works is up 11.8%.

Still small compared with Victorias Secret$3 billion in year-to-date sales compared with $4.5 billion for VS (excluding its international division)Bath & Body Works is on track to reach upwards of $5 billion for fiscal year 2019 and bring in over 35% of total corporate revenue. The Trefis Team reports that virtually all of L Brands incremental revenue growth since 2015 is owing to Bath & Body Works.

At a time when L Brands doesnt need any more competition in the highly contested personal care market, its chief competitor from back in the day, The Body Shop, has found its second wind under its new owner, Brazil-based Natura & Co.

As its name implies, Natura is a natural personal care company founded on principles of sustainability and clean beauty. It hits the sweet spot in personal care today, estimated to be a $13.3 billion global market in 2018 with projections it will achieve 9.4% CAGR from 2019-2025 to reach $25 billion.

For many years Bath & Body Works didnt have to worry about The Body Shop, which lost its footing under LOreals ownership after it bought the brand in 2006 only to sell it off to Natura in 2017. But in Bath & Body Worksearly days, The Body Shop was its chief rival.

Rumor has it that Bath & Body Works was started in 1990 as a knockoff of The Body Shop with look-alike logo and packaging. The Body Shop followed with a lawsuit, which it won, so Bath & Body Works adopted its gingham-themed Heartland Era branding that lasted through 2002 when it updated again.

Though Bath & Body Works copied The Body Shops style, it didnt copy its spirit, which was based on sustainability, natural, and ethically sourced ingredients. Founded in 1976 by the late environmental and human rights activist Dame Anita Roddick, The Body Shop was early to natural beauty. It was one of the first beauty companies to ban animal testing and it led in Fair Trade practices in the beauty business.

Recently, Bath & Body Works adopted The Body Shops animal cruelty position, but not much else. A search on its website yields no hits on the term Organic and Natural yields a handful of products containing essential oils. Bath & Body Works did not respond to my request for comment.

For The Body Shop, the period from 2006-2017 under LOreal were its dark ages. Roddick passed away only a year after LOreal took over and The Body Shop didnt fit nicely under the corporate umbrella. U.K.-based retail analyst Richard Hyman was quoted by the BBC saying, Frankly its a bit of mystery them [LOreal] buying it in the first place. What they bought is a retailer, and what theyre good at is brands.

Now under Natura, The Body Shop has an owner that understands the brands DNA and can capitalize on it. With Natura we are bringing back the spirit of Anita Roddick and the whole reason she created The Body Shop. It feels like a coming-home party, but we should never have left that home because its always who we were and are, shared Andrea Blieden, The Body Shops U.S. general manager who came over from LOreal after working as vice president of marketing for Kiehls.

The brand is going back to its roots, after veering off course. We are going back to our brilliant founders vision that we should never have departed from, she continues.

Now customers can experience the reincarnated spirit of the brand in a new concept store on Oxford Street in London, soon to be followed by similar prototype stores in eight cities across the globe over the next 12 to 18 months, including two planned for the U.S.

A prototype store in Los Angeles is slated for second quarter of 2020 and a store in New York will open in late second quarter or early third quarter of 2020. Blieden and team are still working on the details.

Described as an Activist Makers Workshop, the new prototype store is designed to reflect the zeitgeist of todays environmental-activist culture. A key component of our workshop is to give space in the stores to be activists and to educate customers in the community what we stand for and how we support what they stand for too, Blieden says.

For example, we are employing plastic waste pickers in India who previously struggled to get a fair wage for their work. We are buying that plastic for a premium price and reusing it in all of our shampoo and conditioner bottles, she continues.

The Body Shop was just awarded a B Corp certification, which means, We are a business recognized for putting people and the planet first, not just profit, she explains.

All the components of Roddicks activism, which was rare in the 1980s and 1990s, comes to life in our workshop where we are reusing and repurposing materials that would have been thrown out or wasted, Blieden continues, explaining that the stores fixtures are made from such materials, including recycled zinc and reclaimed wood.

Taking center stage in the store is a craftsmans bench where customers can mix their own shea body butter concoction using spatulas and bowls provided with the resulting product ready to take home in wrapped paper.

The craftsman idea is important to us because it goes back to The Body Shop roots, where Anita made her lotions and potions in her kitchen, she says, adding that this hands-on experience allows deeper engagement with the brand, the store staff and among the customers as well. It gives people a space to experience and test out the product. It is a place to play.

The Body Shop Shea Butter workstation

Next to the craftsmans bench is an activism zone, where customers can sign up and promote their favorite causes and take selfies to share with their friends. For example, the London store has a collection bin for donations to Bloody Good Period, which sends sanitary products to women in need. Female empowerment is really important to the company, Blieden adds.

Returning to prominence in the new prototype store is the refill station where customers can personally fill a reusable metal container with the most popular shower gels and creams, with the offerings changing seasonally. This concept was first introduced in 1993, but it was before its time. And besides the refill station, there is also a TerraCycle bin to collect plastic bottles for recycling.

The Body Shop refill station

Long term, the plan is to convert more of the 1,000 company-owned stores throughout 69 countries to the new model. Or if a full-scale remodel isnt called for, the company will bring essential elements of the prototype stores into them, like the refilling and plastic recycling station.

We are trying to build a more sustainable shop for the future, she says. We still want customers to get the essence of The Body Shop experience no matter what store they go to.

With only about 100 The Body Shop stores in the U.S. compared with 1,600 Bath & Body Works stores, L Brands is probably not too worried right now about The Body Shop cutting into its business. But The Body Shop is leaning aggressively into the future by returning to its past, which was ahead of its time in the 1980s and 1990s, but perfect for today.

Bath & Body Works, like its corporate sister Victorias Secret, seems to be stuck in the past. And if L Brands past behavior is a predictor of its future behavior, it will be slow to pick up the clues that its gravy train is running out of steam.

Read more from the original source:

Natural Beauty Pioneer The Body Shop Is Making A Comeback By Going Back To Its Roots - Forbes

By Steve Hunt:

Thriving was the word First Lady of Virginia Pam Northam used to describe the young children she visited with at a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the expansion of United Communitys Early Learning Center on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019.

With the expansion of the infant suite, the Early Learning Center now has the capacity to serve up to 96 children, with 16 slots dedicated to the largest gap United Communitys low-income clients encounter affordable infant care.

Northam was the special guest and keynote speaker at the ceremony. She described the expansion of the Early Learning Center as an incredible victory for this community, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

In stressing the importance of early childhood education in ensuring that a child gets off to a good start, Northam quoted a friend saying: What happens in early childhood doesnt stay in early childhood.

As a a former pediatric occupational therapist who is married to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist, she noted that her husband ran his campaign to make early childhood education a top priority, and he is doing just that.

She cited among his accomplishments regarding improving access to early childhood education his creation of the position of a chief readiness officer tasked with helping to prepare all Virginia children for kindergarten by supporting birth to five-year-old programming.

At present, 43 percent of children enter kindergarten without the skills they need to succeed, according to Northam, adding that the number is even higher among low-income children.

Those with the greatest need are left behind, she said.

Northam also told the crowd gathered at the Early Learning Center, located in Bryant Alternative High School, to stay tuned for Governor Northams announcement regarding a historic investment in early childhood education.

In closing, Northam commended United Community and the educators and caregivers at the Early Learning Center for seeing the need for early childhood education, and responding.

I consider these people my heroes, she said.

Among the dignitaries in attendance were state Dels. Paul Krizek (D-44th) and Mark Sickles (D-43rd); Assistant Superintendent for the Fairfax County Public Schools Nardos King, a former chairman of the board of United Community Ministries, now United Community; and Fairfax County School Board Mount Vernon Representative and Board Chairman Karen Corbett Sanders.

Speaking from personal experience, Krizek noted that his daughter Khloe, now a freshman at Ithaca College, got her start there when it was known as UCMs Bryant Early Learning (BEL) Center.

It all started here, commented Krizek, speaking of his daughters educational journey from preschool to college.

Krizek commended United Community on its 50 years of service to the community.

Its been a big year for United Community, he said. It seems like every single week theres another new exciting announcement.

In her remarks, United Community Executive Director Alison DeCourcey noted that as the leading human services agency in the area, the organization serves between 8,000 and 9,000 disadvantaged residents living along the Richmond Highway corridor each year, with 40 percent of those being children.

About 85 percent of United Communitys clients earn incomes below the federal poverty line thats a family of four struggling to get by on about $26,000 a year, DeCourcey said.

With a mission to empower our neighbors in need to transform their lives, we work with a laser focus to answer the many pressing needs of our community from emergency food aid to eviction assistance, from youth empowerment to ESL (English as a Second Language) and immigration services, from job readiness to child abuse prevention services, and more, she said.

DeCourcey told the audience that right now, you are sitting in a childcare desert. Simply put, a neighborhood where so few options for early childcare exist that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots.

She noted that in this desert, many child care providers offer half-day preschool for toddlers to pre-K, which is a problem for many of the working parents served by United Community.

For many of them, their reality is that after just 6-12 weeks of maternity leave, family economics require a new mom return to work, she said.

The expanded ELC can serve up to 96 children ranging in age from six weeks to five years old, and specifically increases its most in-demand classroom, the Infant Suite, from eight to 14 beds.

ELC Director Torria Baker noted that the United Community has operated the ELC for 36 years, priding itself on providing curriculum-based childhood education that promotes the social and emotional development of every child.

We recognize that many of our parents face difficult challenges, said Baker.

Thats why we give our kids every resource they need including free vision, dental, and auditory screenings to help them grow and achieve their maximum potential.

From her admittedly biased opinion, Baker said that truly serving our United Community cannot be achieved without the early childcare provided by this Early Learning Center. Thats because a good start in life is so vital for the future success of children.

Numerous studies have found that early childhood learning programs can change the trajectory of their life to include increasing educational attainment, decreasing thinned for remedial education services, expanding their earning potential into adulthood, and even lowering rates of substance abuse.

So we celebrate our expansion of these critical new beds and we dedicate ourselves to providing the best care available, said Baker.

Because we know that the babies, toddlers and young students napping, playing and learning here may be future presidents, first ladies or teachers, and we need them to be at their best.

DeCourcey noted that the expansion was made possible by the contributions of the generous supporters of United Community, particularly the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust.

United Community (formerly United Community Ministries) is the only agency in southeastern Fairfax County offering a comprehensive suite of integrated, multi-generational and evidence-based approaches focused on eradicating poverty. Its mission is to empower our neighbors in need to transform their lives.

To learn more about the Early Learning Center or the United Community and its programs or volunteer opportunities, or to make a contribution, contact info@unitedcommunity.org or visit unitedcommunity.org.

Featured photo: Pam Northam spent several minutes visiting with staff and children at the ELC following the ribbon cutting ceremony (Credit: Steve Hunt).

Go here to read the rest:

Virginia's First Lady attends ribbon cutting of expanded United Community Early Learning Center - Fort Hunt Herald

Students and teachers are experiencing stress as they prepare for final exams and benchmark tests nationwide, but there are simple tools schools can use to reduce that anxiety.

While eliminating recess, cutting back on electives, focusing on core content areas, increasing expectations and decreasing resources all increase teachers and students stress, a focus on mindfulness can help restore some much-needed balance.

This is the first in a series on the schools role in design and implementation of healthy school initiatives in the communities, towns and large cities across America written by Dr. WiSH William S. Hesse and co-authors Cindy Boyum, Shannon Woodruff, Mark Kesler, Jen Guerrette, Ryan Backstrom, Dr. Ann Davis, Lora Potter, Kylene Bogden, Dr. Chris Lineberry of The Ultimate Guide to Healthy School Design available from Amazon.

Students come to school with a variety of issuesand stress from what is going on at home and at school that affects theirability to learn. Teachers work in a high-stress profession, and chronicexposure to work-related stress is associated with increased risk of obesity,which affects how a person feels, their energy levels, and puts them at agreater risk for disease.

In modern-day society, we can hardly go anywhere, listen to orread anything without bumping into the word anxiety. Over the last decade, thisword has become a household description of what was once described as stress.

The feeling of anxiousness or dealing with anxiety as a mentalhealth issue has permeated our society and has especially affected school-age childrenand teens. You can readily find articles or social media posts discussing anxiety,ranging from personal opinion to research on symptoms, behaviors, andtreatments. Research has found that children as young as two years old aredisplaying symptoms and behaviors that are diagnosable as anxiety. As parents,we try to create a better and healthier world for the next generation, but ithas become more challenging with the introduction of anxiety in youngergenerations.

As a professional that specializes in youth and teen mentalhealth, I hear about youth anxiety on a daily basis from teachers, coaches andschool administrators. Teens are unsure how they can handle this chargedfeeling that is chronically active in their growing brains and bodies.

Youthexpress feelings of being unworthy, despite how perfect they try to be. They alsoexpress frustration trying to keep up with their peers as well as what they seeonline. Student can be stressed by poor relationshipswith parents, a lack of instructional support, the pressure to perform well atschool and so much more.

The stress surrounding anxiety can be harmful to childrens andteens malleable minds. We adults need to help better understand and supportyouth in improving their mental health through useful tools and skill sets.

Student-teacher relationships are extremelyimportant to students success. It has been said that kids dont care what theteacher knows, unless they know that the teacher cares.

Stress has a major impact on teachers healthand the effectiveness of their instruction. Stressors such as disengagedstudents, discipline problems, dealing with difficult administrators and feelingunsafe in the school environment can make a good teacher feel tired,unmotivated, inadequate and ineffective.

Principals can help reduce both students and teachers stress by providing support and using research-based methods that incorporate mindfulness, exercise and nutrition. The Ultimate Guide to Healthy School Design and Implementation can help with that.

How do we help support children and teens as they navigate, live,deal with and heal from anxiety? We start by practicing and teachingself-awareness.

Self-awareness is imperative, because it lets us be responsiblefor our own behavior, reactions, and responses to situations. With thispractice, we are able to live with a stronger understanding of both ourselvesand the world around us. Practicing self-awareness allows us to see and acceptourselves for who we are, preparing us to begin the self-love aspect of theskill; self-awareness is key to a healthy mindset.

Self-care, self-awareness, self-love, and mindfulness are oftentrivialized by society as think positive or stay away from drama anddramatic people, but these practices are more than shifting your mindset fromnegative to positive it is about the ability to look inward to manage yourbasic needs for inner peace.

When we become self-aware in life, we are able to manage ourinternal dialogue, which, in turn, shifts the dynamic in our ability to respondappropriately to the external situation.

Imagine a classroom where the teacher asked a personal opinionquestion. Now imagine each student begins in quiet self-reflection, followed byself-regulation leading to the ability to respond with their opinions. This letsstudents develop skills to express themselves, interact with their peers andresolve conflicts on differing opinions without creating drama amongst groups.

When people are self-aware, they can manage themselves at a higherlevel through self-regulation and self-empowerment. Students are able topractice self-regulation by effectively communicating their thoughts while experiencingself-empowerment by trusting that they are responsible for their own opinionsand outcomes of conversations.

There are amazing skills and techniques that offer youth help with their anxiety through practicing self-awareness. Studies have found that self-awarenesss effect on mental health allows youth to feel free from their anxiety and speak boldly about how mindfulness techniques have made a massive impact on their lives and helped them manage stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness is important when it comes to diffusinganxious feelings, dealing with and healing from anxiety.Mindfulness is a practice of begin present in the moment. It is aperiod of time in which students are quiet and reflective, and it yields powerful,positive results.

Some children or adults have difficulty settling their busy minds, but Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) techniques can help their peace of mind and improve their mental health. These techniques are described briefly below and in greater detail in The Ultimate Guide to Healthy School Design and Implementation.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reductiontechniques are accessible to anyone of any age, and they can be as simple as payingattention to your breath.

Check the breath. We always come home to the breath. Even small, mindfulactions will help students. Students can focus on the feeling of their nostrilsas air flows through them and fills their lungs. Or they might notice thefeeling of their lungs expanding with each breath. They can become aware of theswell of their shoulders as they inhale and exhale. When students feel anxious,tying movement of the body to their breath gives them an anchor point.Something to focus on to bring awareness back to the present moment. Payingattention to the breath stimulates the parasympathetic rest and digest,calming part of the autonomic nervous system and bringing the body into a stateof equilibrium. When we exhale or sigh, we are actually signaling to the bodyto let go of tension and go into rest and recovery mode.

Testing is a difficult time for students, families and teachers.Withharried deadlines, pressured situations, and the need to perform, both studentsand teachers feel the stress that accompanies testing season. Bringingattention to the body and its actions while breathing is just one way to combatthese elevated stress levels. Another is to consciously check in with ouremotions.

Emotional check-in. Simply ceasing all exterior activities and checking in with our physical body is a form of mindful self-awareness. It can be as simple as placing our hands on our heart and asking without judgment: How am I feeling? What is stressing me? Now how can I come to this present moment?

As the education world begins to integrate Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction techniques into curriculum and initiatives nationwide, it empowers all people to monitor our emotional health, enabling us to respond instead of react to stressors. Mindfulness can relieve stress, increase enjoyment, increase productivity, reduce anxiety, and help to build a more accurate view of the world.

The next step after helping students and teachers develop their self-awareness and mindfulness is to develop a plan for success for your school.

Your journey forward has to deal with putting your perspective into action and making decisions that will impact the entire school and community. Determine how you will be a champion for change in your school classroom and community. Think about what a school educator, parent, or teacher can do in order to begin to move in a positive direction regarding becoming healthier and more active.

Then its time to improve your schools culture.Have you considered creating a mindfulness room for staff and students oncampus? Teachers stress and anxiety continues to grow, and it has led toteacher burnout concerns.

Is Americas education system a culture ofstress? Teachers can become sick by teaching in a classroom or schoolenvironment that is stressful. But that doesnt have to happen, if you create ahealthy school culture on your campus.

The importance of staff and student wellness, an overall healthy school design and implementation process, with support and resources for wellness champions and teachers will lead to less stress and a more productive teachers and students.

To do this:

Other publications by Dr. WiSH William S. Hesse, Ph.D. include:

See the rest here:

Increased anxiety during testing and how to fight back - Arizona Education News Service

ON December 6, 2019, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind while addressing the National Convention on Empowerment of Women for Social Transformation, stated that Rape convicts under (the) POCSO Act (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) should not have the right to file (a) mercy petition. In all probability, this statement came in the backdrop of the public outrage against the recent cases of rape and murder that have again shaken the collective conscience of the country and re-awakened the wound of the Nirbhaya rape. India witnessed two grave atrocities against women within a period of one week the Hyderabad and the Unnao rape cases, where both brutalities ended with the victims being charred to death by the alleged culprits.

At a time when the whole nation is engrossed in deliberating a possible solution to such atrocities, the role of national leaders becomes very crucial: it is their duty to guide popular opinion in the right direction. Running high on emotions, the spirit of vengeance is likely to blindside the public of the possible consequences that would prevail if proper due process of the law is not followed to seek justice. Therefore, in such critical times, the Presidents assertion that a plausible solution to this deep-rooted problem lies in deviating from the fundamental principles of criminal justice and depriving a category of culprits of their fundamental rights is quite simply regressive.

Along with other powers, Article 72 of the Indian Constitution allows the President, the power to grant pardon, reprieve etc. to any person convicted of any offence where the sentence is a sentence of the death penalty. It is an executive function where the President acts upon a mercy petition submitted by an accused or by anyone known to them. The President is required to act upon the advice of the Council of Ministers which is conveyed to the President through the Ministry of Home Affairs. There are no formal guidelines or grounds upon which the pardon is required to be granted, however, the philosophy underlying the power of pardon was well illustrated by the American Judge William Howard Taft in Ex Parte Grossman where he stated that Executive clemency exists to afford relief under harshness and evident mistake in the operation or enforcement of the criminal law. The administration of justice by the courts is not necessarily always wise or certainly considerate of circumstances which may properly mitigate the guilt. Accordingly, the factors that are generally taken into consideration while deciding on a mercy petition are mental fitness, a long delay in investigation and trial, an inadvertent error by the court etc.

The significance of a mercy petition in criminal jurisprudence was well asserted by the apex court in Shatrugan Chauhan v Union of India where it stated that mercy jurisprudence is the evolving standard of decency, which is the hallmark of society. Also, the pardoning power of the President is a constitutional obligation, not a mere prerogative and the right to seek mercyis a constitutional right and not at the discretion or whims of the executive. This case provides enough protection to the accused under the POCSO Act from the changes that the President is recommending.

Besides this, the principle that seeking mercy is a right, not a privilege can also be found well ingrained in our fundamental rights. Under Art 14 of the Constitution, the State shall not deny any person equality before the law and equal protection of the law. The bare text of this article makes it amply clear that the right to seek mercy cannot be made offence-specific. Such categorization will not withstand the test of intelligible differentia. It would be extremely irrational to argue that if a person is given the death sentence for murder then there is a possibility of error in judgment and hence the right to seek mercy shall be granted, however, the same possibility and right shall be ignored when the accused is given the death sentence under the POCSO Act.

Furthermore, under Article 21 of the Constitution, no person shall be deprived of their life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. Although by giving a wide ambit to life and personal liberty, the apex court has made Article 21 an inexhaustible source of many rights, the right to seek mercy is again, of such a kind that it is directly attributable to the bare text of the article. The death penalty is a direct contravention of Article 21; hence, its final execution has to take place without any degree of deviation from the procedure established. Currently, the procedure established by law grants the right to seek mercy to every individual and deprivation of this right to the accused under the POCSO Act would cause a complete deviation from the prescribed procedure. Moreover, the Maneka Gandhi Case has extended the application of the principle of reasonableness under Article 14 to the nature and requirement of procedure under Art 21, hence, every procedure has to be right, just and fair. Therefore, if the legislation was to try and create an exception to Article 72(1)(c) for the accused under the POCSO Act, such separate procedure would not pass the test of reasonableness because there are no substantial grounds available to justify the classification and deprive a specific category of accused their right to live by cutting short their remedies.

Article 39A imposes the responsibility on the state to provide equal justice and free legal aid to the accused persons and it is read in conjunction with Article 21 because the right to free legal aid is also a part of a fair, just and reasonable procedure. Accordingly, in the case of Shatrugan Chauhan v Union of India, the court has reiterated that the responsibility of the state to provide free legal aid to convicts on death row must also be extended to cover their cases of mercy before the President. Any attempt of the state to deprive certain convicts on death row of their right to seek mercy would, therefore, be incomplete contravention of its duty enshrined under Article 39A.

There was no doubt in the minds of the Constitution-makers about whether the President should have the pardoning power or not. During a discussion in the Constituent Assembly on this aspect, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar said unequivocally, we are setting up a Head of the Federation and calling him the President, one of the powers that should almost automatically be vested in him is the power of pardon. The intent was to repose the power of the people in the highest dignitary; however, with great power comes great responsibility. It is not a matter of grace or privilege but an important constitutional responsibility which needs to be exercised in the aid of justice and not in defiance of it.

President Kovinds statement is not only in defiance of his constitutional duty but it also shows a total disregard of the principles of justice that are enshrined in the Constitution of India. The President of India has the power to mould public opinion, but he also has the responsibility to use his influence wisely. If under sensitive circumstances, he makes statements that are devoid of constitutional understanding and are aligned with the public emotions, the repercussions will be dire. Such statements will only solidify laypersons belief that criminals do not have fundamental rights, retribution is the ultimate goal of a criminal justice system and the right to seek mercy is a privilege which can be taken away at will. Indirectly, the President will end up portraying a false picture of our Constitutional framework.

Facebook Twitter Google+EmailLinkedInPrintWhatsApp

Read more:

President's suggestion to make right to seek mercy subjective is a constitutional betrayal - The Leaflet

Published: Dec 11, 2019 06:45:40 PM IST

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, needs no introduction. We have all come across it in some form or the other, either in real life or at least in pop culture. But AI has now broken the fourth wall and is a part of our everyday lives in ways we never thought possible before. It is no longer the dystopian future that science fiction movies and books of the past had us believe in. It is a reality, and it is here, and it is here now. It has the potential to drive meaningful innovation and empower people, but the key ingredient to achieve this utopia is the responsible use of AI and adequate regulations around this evolving technology.

Across the world, there is a relentless race to harness the power of AI. Businesses, researchers, and innovators are continually assessing practical applications and economic potentials of AI. In fact, if we look at current use cases of AI in the real world, it becomes clear that AI has massive potential in improving human life. Take for instance the Banking and Financial Services Industry. AI is now used to enhance the efficiency of anti-money laundering programs with considerable success. AI has also proved its effectiveness as a risk management tool for banks, analysing and flagging credit and fraud risk, as well as customer churn prediction which is an incredibly valuable datapoint. An excellent case in point is Yes Banks chatbot, YES ROBOT. It is the first of its kind, AI-enabled chatbot that leverages advanced NLP engine LUIS (Language Understanding Intelligent Service) and other cognitive services. Yes Bank envisions that the chatbot will evolve and operate as a full-fledged banking assistant in future.

The healthcare industry too has seen considerable adoption of AI. There is a massive amount of data that the industry collects, and uses for driving scientific discovery. AI is increasingly being used to make sense of this complex data, and deliver inferences and insights that can inform the development of medicines, equipment, disease analysis, and treatment optimization to cure ailments. Besides, AI can also be helpful in medical image processing and improve diagnostics by better analysing CT scan, MRI, and other images.

Take for instance Bengaluru-based Narayana Health group of multi-specialty hospitals. The group has implemented real-time data analytics and predictive insights across their operations, to provide affordable, high-quality healthcare.

In the Insurance industry too, AI is revolutionizing the landscape, with use cases at different stages of the insurance lifecycle. From identifying leads, automating the rather tedious underwriting process, claims acceptance, and price optimization, AI is increasingly being introduced to streamline processes and reduce turnaround times, in effect, improving profitability. For instance, ICICI Lombard has already partnered with Microsoft to develop Indias first AI-enabled car inspection feature in its mobile app titled Insure.

Even on a personal, individual level, AI is creating waves. Perhaps the first use case that comes to mind is that of virtual assistants. From Alexa, Watson, Cortana, to Siri, digital voice assistants are now the norm. They are so entrenched in our everyday lives that children growing up in assistant-enabled homes are learning to speak in assistant-friendly phrases; this is something that has never been observed before. We have mobile phone camera that are AI-enabled so as to click better pictures, virtual reality and augmented reality in video games, wrist watches that can monitor your vital statistics and call an ambulance if there is something amiss, cars that drive themselves, drones that pick the best spots for photography, robots that deliver pizza or make your gourmet meal in a restaurant these are all everyday uses of AI that we increasingly think of as normal. These small AI adoption-steps have warmed us up to the idea of embracing AI in our worlds, and will only open up more avenues for use cases in the future.

As legacy organisations shift to the digital world, and as we humans become more and more engulfed in the virtual world, AI presents itself as an ideal tool for meaningful innovation and empowerment. It has now become a viable tool for businesses, and perhaps, for some, a friend.

View post:

The rise of AI - Forbes India

On the fifth anniversary of one of the most painful and the most brutal terror attack in the history of Pakistan, the Army Public School attack of December 16, 2014, I spoke to Ahmad Nawaz. Ahmad, 18, is an APS survivor, currently a resident of the United Kingdom, is studying for his entrance exam for the Oxford University, and doing so much else that his story would be best told in his own words.

On the day of 16 December 2014, on the day of the attack, I was only 14 years old. My brother, Haris Nawaz was 13 years old. On the day of the attack, I was in the auditorium at APS where most of the students were killed. My friends and I were in the auditorium for [a session of] first-aid training, which was quite unusual. Before that day we had never had first-aid training.

On that first day of training, during the third lesson [period], a group of men with guns and bombs in their hands entered our school. They started shooting children. I was shot after a while [when they started shooting children]. I saw my friends being killed right in front of my eyes. An hour, perhaps an hour and a half later, I saw my teacher being burnt alive right in front of my eyes. I had to see all those horrible things on that day in my school.

I was brought to a hospital. I was in the school for about three hours after I was shot. I had lost a lot of blood. I was in [such] a condition that the doctors thought they wouldnt be able to save my arm. The moment I was brought to the hospital I was taken into surgery. I dont remember anything after that.

I didnt know about my brothers death at that point. I found out about it in the hospital fifteen days after the attack. No one told me. When I finally knew about my brothers death I was heartbroken. I dont even remember how I felt at that point. Just that I was totally heartbroken. I couldnt have imagined [anything like that] ever before. One cannot imagine ones brother or a family member being killed in such a horrible incident.

When I realised that that attack had happened, I couldnt believe it for a very longtime. For weeks, I couldnt believe what had happened. It was an extended dream, an extended nightmare. I had a lot of nightmares in the days after the attack .I used to start shaking. My parents would sit with me to comfort me. It was a very horrible time. I dont think Ill ever be able to erase the memories of the attack.

After the APS attack, we were brought to the UK because of the incredible support of the people of Pakistan. The [then] government wasnt willing to send us abroad but it was the people of Pakistan who pushed the government. They came out in the streets to force the government to send us abroad for treatment. The doctors said that if I stayed in Pakistan they would have to amputate my arm.

When we came here the Pakistani community, in general, gave us a great deal of love and welcomed us into this country. That made the transition from one country to another very easy. It [support of people] was very helpful.

I used to think a lot about why the attack happened. A lot of the times I would think about what I could do [in my personal capacity] to make sure that it doesnt happen ever again.

The main thing that gave me strength after the attack was the death of my brother, and my friends who were killed in that attack. It was something that gave me strength to make sure that it doesnt happen to anyone ever again. I started a campaign to make sure that I could [do my bit] to stop such attacks from happening. Initially, it started with an anti-radicalisation campaign. Later on, I moved onto providing educational opportunities for young people in different parts of the world.

I believe that the effect on my parents was very big. They not only lost a son but also had a son injured. That was very, very painful for them. I could see the pain in every family members eyes, and I think that was also one of the factors that led me to starting this campaign.

To be really honest, when I started this campaign the satisfaction and the pride that I got from it, and the love that I received from people are things that have given me strength to continue [my work]. Since [the initiation of] this campaign, a lot of people have shown [me] love and given me encouragement. I think that is something that has really stimulated me to do more, and more of the work that Ive been doing.

After the APS attack, as I said, I thought a lot about why it happened, and what I could do to make sure that it doesnt happen ever again. I think I made a pledge to myself from that day that one day I would start a campaign and lead a campaign so big that it would make an incredible impact in the sense that no child would ever have to go through the things that me, my brother and my friends at the Army Public School did. I believe the conditions and the situation in Pakistan have become much better, and I hope they stay that way. I hope things get even better.

One thing that I always feel sad about and something that upsets me is that the young people of Pakistan have a lot of potential, and that we have so many talented people in different fields of life, but the shame is that we dont have opportunities. Politicians are busy mocking each other and making fun of each other and doing childish things, while they are overlooking the real potential in the country, the real future of the country. I think this is a failure of Pakistans political system that they [politicians]are more focused on criticising each other rather than looking at what it is that can make the future of our country better.

I think the future of our country is in the hands of the young people. But no one would give them the opportunity, and that really makes me sad. I wish and I hope that one day politicians would come to their senses and they would start supporting the young people in achieving their potential, in reaching the heights they deserve to reach. To come into leading roles on global platforms, on the national scale, young people have lost their confidence. They dont have anyone to look up to, someone that can provide them with opportunities, provide them with the paths to go forward. I think we just need to get that hope back in the young people of Pakistan. They have lost the hope.

I know there has been a very long period of terrorism, a very long period of disparity. Young people have just been left alone as if they are useless, as if they are of no use to Pakistan, as if they are of no use to society. I think that is something that we need and that I am determined to do: to make sure that young people have that hope again. And they feel valued again. And they feel confident that they are the future of the country. They should come forward not just for the future of Pakistan but also for the future of this world. They should start coming forward. Im hoping to do that along side my campaign for providing educational opportunities that will also focus on the impoverished parts of Pakistan.

I would love it if more young people started to come forward, do these kinds of activities and be involved. I will certainly help any young person who wants help from me. Because that is what I am doing it all for, that all my fellow young people in Pakistan feel that they have someone who can talk for them. That they have someone who can speak for them on a global platform. That they know that they are not alone.

Ahmad Nawaz is an 18-year-old activist and public speaker who survived the 2014 Taliban attack on his school, Army Public School, Peshawar, Pakistan in which he tragically lost his younger brother, friends and school fellows. He campaigns globally for peace and education for young people and has spoken about these issues at the UN World Merit360 summit, the House of Lords, and over one hundred schools, colleges, and universities in the UK, including Eton, Cambridge and Oxford. He works with the UK Home Office and Mayor Office of London. He is the first Pakistani to be a member of the Counter Extremism Board of UK against radicalisation to empower young people and to encourage people to speak out against radicalisation.

Ahmad is now running a campaign globally for youth empowerment. He was the first-ever young person to be invited by the president of Portugal to speak at the Global Estoril Conference in May 2019. Only heads of states and Nobel Peace laureates were invited to that conference. Ahmad met with leaders and Nobel Laureates to have their attention focused to youths role in society.

At 18, some of Ahmads achievements:

Recently launched a school, the Salam School

A school has been set up for 300 children in Chaheim Lebanon, approximately one hour from Beirut

Setting up schools (under process) in Malawi and Uganda

Some projects for Pakistan are under process

Ahmads Awards:

n Young Person of The Year (UK and Europe Award) 2015

n Points of Light Award by UK Prime Minister Theresa May 2019

n British Citizen Award 2019

n Pride of Birmingham Award by Pride of Britain 2019

n Asian Inspiration Award 2018

n Award of Bravery and resilience by UK Govt, in Birmingham City Council in 2016

n Officially Medal by Government of Pakistan in 2015

n Special Recognition award by Mayor Office of London 2018

n Awarded by Anne Frank Trust for his continuous work against radicalisation

n No2H8Crimes award, sponsored by Google

n The Diana Award, 2019, in House of Lords, London

n Legacy Award 2019 by the British Royal family

Read this article:

Ahmad Nawaz: the hero Pakistan needs - Daily Times

Last November, 400,000 writers from around the world agreed to spend a month with their friends writing novels. They met in libraries and cafs, cheered on by 1,000 volunteers. One writer, a 20-year-old college student, recently signed a two-book publishing deal. Previous novelists have had their books turned into Hollywood movies. And it wasnt just adults communing; one in four writers was 18 or younger.

Creativity has long been a path to personal expression. But in todays culture it is also an avenue for self-empowerment. To be human is to be creative, says Grant Faulkner, the executive director of National Novel Writing Month. Everyone has a story to tell.

In Hollywood, too, creative communitiesare as vibrant as theyve ever been. The 2019 Sundance Film Festival received more than 14,200 submissions, one of its best years ever. Visionaries like Shonda Rhimes and Tyler Perry have built artistic havens of like-minded peers. And there are any number of books out now that extol the virtue of creative connection, including Face to Face, written by the Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer.

Its no surprise that creative communities are thriving given the fractured state of political and social discourse. We are more interconnected and more disconnected than weve ever been, says Michelle Satter, founding director of the Sundance Institutes Feature Film Program. But storytellers can imagine the future they want to live in.

I know this firsthand. A few years ago, I started a salon with friends. A longtime writer, I wanted to test the boundaries of my comfort zone. I took photographs and tap-danced (badly). My friends painted and volunteered. Our lives shifted as we mastered new skills and bolstered our creative confidence.

I was inspired to create an arts and ideas gathering called The Box Sessions, which will be held near Santa Cruz, Calif., from Feb. 28 to March 1. Filmmakers and acclaimed artists even a magician will share their wisdom on creativity and community. As important, guests can flex their creative muscle in workshops that explore music, storytelling and fear.

Why fear? Jon M. Chu, the director of Crazy Rich Asians and the upcoming In theHeights, says he went through a cultural identity crisis before making the former film. Born in Silicon Valley, he tiptoed around his Chinese roots. He worried his parents, who owned a restaurant, would be offended.

Then, Chu says, I found a community on YouTube that didnt have those fears. They were very confident. I wished Id had that confidence. In making the movie, he faced his insecurities. It was a life-changing thing to go there, he says.

Communities reflect the values of the people who create them. At this months IFP Gotham Awards, Vera Farmiga gave a speech about working with the filmmaker Ava DuVernay. The actor said of the cast and crew: Its the only time, in my 25-year career, my workplace looked like the real world.

Jimmie Fails and Joe Talbot are childhood friends who made this summers The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Fails says they hung out as teens in the citys PrecitaPark, a two-acre patch of grass in a working-class neighborhood not far from the 101 freeway. Over time, they watched San Francisco morph into an almost dystopian enclave of wealth and inequality. We didnt see that story being told, he says. So we thought wed tell it ourselves. Its refreshing to see something get made thats so personal. There is room for other stories.

His is a familiar lament in Hollywood, where women and people of color are still underrepresented and superhero movies reign at the box office. Martin Scorsese earned the scorn of some peers last month when he compared Marvel Universe movies to theme parks and admonished fans for being tethered to their computer screens. (Never mind that The Irishman, his latest movie, was financed by Netflix.)

But changes are afoot. Last month, Sundance officially launched Sundance Collab, a global digital platform for storytellers who want to learn to write and direct, get feedback and connect with others. Some videos and webinars are free, with study groups and live events available with a paid membership. Already 20,000 people have signed up.

You dont have to consider yourself a screenwriter or an artist to participate, Satter says.

In that way, it sounds a lot like National Novel Writing Month. And maybe thats not such a bad thing. As Faulkner liked to say, People are empowered when they believe in themselves.

Laura M. Holson is an award-winning feature and news writer at The New York Times and the founder of The Box Sessions.

Excerpt from:

Want a Career in the Arts? Build a Community (Guest Column) - Variety

In an era of technological advancement, where the growth of the digital economy has meant the use of data as a critical means of communication, the Personal Data Protection Bill is proposed to ensure the informational privacy of individuals, and ensuring empowerment, progress and innovation

The Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, and referred to a Joint Select Committee (JSC) following a voice vote.

Well, according to parliamentary procedure, the Bill could also have been referred to the departmental committee, which in this case, would be the parlimentary standing committee on information technology, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

However, it didnt happen that way and Tharoor objected to the proposal of sending the Bill to the JSC and also wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to register "strong concerns" with Prasad's proposal. He said the Committee on IT has a mandate and a parliamentary responsibility to examine all matters related to information technology, electronics, telecommunications, postal services, and allied services.

As a matter of fact, the draft was not circulated well in advance of its presentation in Parliament and comments and submissions made during the drafting process were not made public.

Besides, the government has taken extraordinary measures to reduce public scrutiny, and even Parliamentary examination of the Personal Data Protection Bill. This lack of scrutiny makes it more likely that multiple areas of concern will not be addressed. Some of them include:

The independence of the proposed Data Protection Authority (DPA), which has been weakened as all members must be from the executive arm of government. This contrasts with the Srikrishna Committees suggestion that the DPA induct individuals with executive, judicial, and external expertise.

Besides, if social media platforms are forced to provide processes for voluntary user-verification, this would chill freedom of expression, and impinge on the privacy of those who chose to be verified.

Any user who does not submit voluntary verification and remains anonymous could also be specifically targeted by government agencies. Moreover, it would increase the risk of profiling, and data breaches as more data would flow to social media platforms.

The mandate for enforced transfer of non-personal data to government could also lead to abuse and misuse.

This means even anonymised information about e-commerce sales patterns can, for example, be used to infer personal details like caste, religion, medical conditions, sexuality, reading habits and so on.

Tying non-personal data to personal data, such as electoral rolls, income tax records, mobile call and internet-usage patterns and social media usage is possible since government has access to such data and a free hand with surveillance.

Critics argue that it is a pity that Indias first privacy legislation has so many holes.

However, looking at the positive front, the bill ensures...

To know more, listen to the podcast

Originally posted here:

Data Protection Bill: Raising more concerns than satisfying thems - Business Standard

In my first year of graduate school, my Ph.D. adviser gave me a stamp to mark my books The Library of Emily M. Grossnickle. She had a practice of giving a personalized stamp to all of her students in their first year so we wouldnt confuse our books with each others. Along with the gift came her playful quip, Dont you dare change it.

At the time, I didnt really think about it -- I had no intention of changing my name. Little did I know how it would foretell an important personal decision I would soon face.

In 2014, I earned my Ph.D. By 2015, I was a postdoctoral researcher, engaged to be married and considering whether or not to change from my birth name to my husbands name. As a scholar, that sparked feelings of shame and an uncomfortable, deep-seated fear of potential long-lasting repercussions to the new career I was intent on building. In the months leading up to my marriage, I initiated conversations with peers about the topic, read any news articles or essays I could get my hands on, and sought the support of my husband.

All the while, the image of the stamp was etched in my mind. It became clear to me that the academy holds a narrow view of acceptable conditions for a scholar to change her name, and marriage is not one of them. I discerned a palpable discomfort and sense of shame around just discussing the topic. The women I consulted spoke either indirectly or in coded terms, much like the gift from my professor.

When I asked colleagues to point out academic women who had taken a new name, they could only identify three conditions where scholars changed their names and went on to have a successful career. The first was in the early years of graduate school. For graduate students with only a few publications or presentations, the decision is often less frowned upon and might even go unnoticed by those looking over ones curriculum vitae. The second acceptable condition is following a divorce posttenure. The idea here is that a woman is reclaiming her identity and thus its viewed as empowering, or at least respectable, due to the circumstances. The third acceptable condition is to hyphenate, joining ones birth and married names.

As I continued to seek out colleagues views on the matter, a respected female colleague openly acknowledged that if she were on a hiring committee for a position, she would negatively judge a candidate for making such a change. I imagine she felt that she was providing me with valuable advice by being candid. Instead, I found her honesty unsettling. Her candid acknowledgment, spoken amid feminist values and her expressed desire for me to achieve in academe at the highest levels, wasnt universal. At the same time, she was not the only colleague to express that sentiment.

In some ways, I could see where they were coming from. As someone who initially resisted any thoughts of changing my own name, my biases were not so different. But that was then. To be sure, people have different feelings about names and their importance. For me, I realized that my marriage and the name-changing question gave me an opportunity for empowerment: to reclaim my identity with a name of a family I chose rather than the one into which I was born.

Yet as a woman in academe with a Ph.D., senior and tenured faculty members repeatedly told me that the only acceptable, feminist choice was to keep my name or hyphenate. While hyphenating works for many women, that suggestion fell flat. I spelled out what would be an unwieldy six-syllable, 20-character monstrosity that I was convinced would be removed from article citation lists by authors over their word limit.

The perceived weight of this decision preoccupied my thoughts. I felt judged for a decision that supposedly reflected a lack of commitment to my scholarship. Although I was a postdoctoral researcher still early in my career, I had 10 publications under my original name. I was relying on those publications to secure an academic position. For someone putting together tenure-track applications, the idea of changing my name -- and subsequently having publications under a different name than those first 10 in my application materials -- was terrifying.

When I shared my dilemma with people outside higher education, they were surprised. Some questioned why I couldnt make whatever decision was right for me. Others, such as those from the small town where I grew up, questioned why it wasnt the other way around: Shouldnt I only need to justify to others if I wanted to keep my name? Isnt it normal for women to change their names once theyre married? Some argue that changing ones surname after marriage perpetuates socio-historical traditions of men owning their wives. But research shows that a majority of women in the United States change their names following marriage.

In fact, I found that academic women did change their names legally but retained their former name for publications and teaching. Yet that forces women to bear the weight of coordinating two identities and requires complex logistics when legal documents such as passports dont match the name one is always called. That approach is not a solution, either.

In the end, I took my husbands name, and my birth name became my middle name. That decision has afforded me the opportunity to forge a more complete scholarly and personal identity. I will never know what might have happened if I had dropped my original name entirely.

But I have come to realize that the academy can, and should, make certain structural changes to ease the process and concerns of those who desire to change their name at pivotal career points. Efforts such as training to alleviate biases when evaluating job applicants, tenure cases and awards would be a step in the right direction. In addition to postpublication name changes and having identification numbers to link publications, the option to autopopulate former names, so that readers can see the links more clearly, is needed. Authors can take steps to make such connections clearer for readers, by summarizing work under a scholars current name and putting the former name that the cited work was published under in parentheses (Eccles [Parsons] et al. (1983)). That said, this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Different reasons for name changes require different considerations, and providing former names can be disrespectful in certain situations.

Ultimately, those of us in academe should feel that changing our name is a choice we can make free from shame and fear of repercussions. We should not have to weigh the possibility that taking a new name equates to being taken less seriously as a scholar. We face many challenges and tough decisions in our careers. The decision about changing ones name shouldnt be one of them.

Read more:

Is it acceptable for an academic to change their name when they marry? (opinion) - Inside Higher Ed

Arjun Kapoor has turned co-investor for a home food delivery company Foodcloud.in. Arjun gave the statement that My aim at investing in Foodcloud.in is to contribute towards a larger societal purpose of empowering the women.

The unique start-up has been introduced by actor Arjun Kapoor, that will employ all such women who cannot leave their homes and go out to work. Through this startup, Arjun Kapoor has campaigned to bring together all women across the country on a platform that can deliver home-like food to those working in offices and other business organizations. This startup of Arjun Kapoor has so far connected more than four thousand women of the country and a large number of them are from North India. The actor said that the purpose of this step is to boosts household income leading to a better lifestyle which will also drive gender partiality for the woman at home or in her neighborhood. Arjun added, To me, thats a tiny step towards partiality, and towards empowerment in society at large,.

- Advertisement -

Talking about Foodcloud.in the actor said Foodcloud.in is a platform where women can convert their valuable skill set into an economic asset for themselves and their families. Led by CEO Vedant Kanoi and co-founder Sanjhi Rajgarhia, the food delivery platform runs on the premise of home cooks delivering hygienic and home-cooked food to customers from their kitchens.

- Advertisement -

Before leaving for Chandigarh for the shooting of his next film, Arjun Kapoor said that as part of the effort, he aims to make domestic women more self-reliant and empowered. More than four thousand women joined hands with this startup named Food Cloud to realize their personal dreams and aspirations. Says Arjun, This venture which is bringing a positive social change towards gender equality in the society is very close to my heart and for the last few months, I have been trying my best to raise awareness about this platform. I think this unique and influential platform will serve a greater social purpose and contribute to empowering housewives and domestic women.

Also read: Ranbir Singh to Play Nagraj- A Comic Book Super Hero

Read the original:

Arjun Kapoor Invests In Food Delivery Company That Will Empower Women - PagalParrot