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MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

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IN BLACK LIVES MATTER

Until we educatethe entire humanrace, racism willnot stop: Holding

FACTOID

■ Price of the Chinese encyclopedia vol-umes that was sold at an auction recent-ly. Dating back to the 15th century, theencyclopedia, known as the YongleDadian, was commissioned by a ruler ofthe Ming Dynasty, who reigned from 1402to 1424. The Yongle Dadian consisted of22,877 chapters originally. It was thelargest encyclopedia in the world■ The original was used to make two copies.Unfortunately, the first draft was lost due towars, theft and fires, which occurred underthe Ming Dynasty. It measures 20 inches by12 inches, and was written in red and blackink on paper, at a time when printing tech-nology was already developed in China

` 67.4 CRORE($8MN)

History is written by the conquerornot by those who are conquered,

history is written by people who do theharm, not by those who get harmed... Weare being brainwashed; not just black peo-ple, white people are being brainwashed indifferent ways. Everything should be taught.I was never taught anything good about theblack people; you cannot have a society thatis brought up teaching what is convenientfor themMICHAEL HOLDING, commentator and former cricketer

CBSE REDUCES CLASS IX-XII SYLLABUS FOR 2020-21 ACADEMIC SESSION

IS IT AGOODMOVE?T

he Central Board of Secondary Ed-ucation (CBSE) has rationalisedthe syllabus for classes IX to XIIfor the academic year 2020-21 by upto 30 per cent to make up for

the academic loss caused due to Covid-19, Union HRD minister RameshPokhriyal said recently. In theprocess, the Board has droppedchapters on democracy, demon-etisation, nationalism, secularism,among others, as per the updatedsyllabus. What does it mean for thestudents and how will it impact them?

The Council for the Indian SchoolCertificate Examinations (CISCE)has also announced a reduction ofup to 25 per cent in syllabus forclasses X and XII Board exams in2021

As online classes arenew to all of us, it

would havebeen tough tocover theentire syllabus. It is

a good decision; now, all thestudents will be able to prepare

this limited syllabus thoroughly.Moreover, it will reduce the pressure ofthe students. Besides, it will also help thegovernment school students in catchingup with the private schools, as theyjoined virtual classes concept late.BHAVYA GULATI, class XII, BhavanVidyalaya, Panchkula

This is a good move by theCBSE. Instead of rushing tocomplete an extended syl-labus and feeling unneces-sary pressure, students willnow have more bandwidth tofocus and learn on what they are being taught. MRIDULA GOEL, class XII, DPS R K Puram,New Delhi

STUDENTS REACT

TheBIG

DEBATE

It's a welcome move, but willthis reduced syllabus extendto the entrance examinationsfor admission into the col-leges next academic year?The Board should clarify.ARMAAN ABRAHAM JETTI, class XII,Meridian School, Hyderabad

➤ In physics, both Newton's 'laws of motion' and Kepler's'laws of planetary motion' will be chucked out of thecourse; in biology, topics, such as ‘living world’ and ‘plantkingdom’ have been deleted for class XI, while for classXII,‘reproduction in organism have been excluded ➤ Someof the cuts have generated a political controversy, such asdemonetisation, nationalism, citizenship and democraticrights ➤ Even the number of classes have been reduced

HOW DOES A 30% CUT IN CBSE'S SYLLABUS LOOK LIKE?

Be a part of this debate; share your views attoinie175@gmail.com/timesnie175@gmail.com

EDUCATORS ONDELETED CHAPTERS

HOW SCHOOLS PLAN TO COVERTHE DELETED PORTIONS

➤ Topics like secularism canbe taught while teachingRight to Freedom of ReligionKANAK SHANKARMUKHERJEE, teacher, Psc ,LS A, Kolkata

If the lesson that has alreadybeen taught is deleted, thenit is not an issue, as everycontext has its own specificand general objectives N MSHALIKA BANU, teacher,Fathima CSSC, Chennai

➤ The portions have beenremoved in such a way that itdoes not affect the flow oflearning, when children arepromoted to the next class.VALSALA S, PGT, Toc H PublicSchool, Vyttila, Ernakulam

➤ The reduced syllabuswill give more time toensure that childrenunderstand the concept,as now we use videosand PowerPoint presen-tations to facilitatelearning. BIJOYA MITRA,educator, DPS, Ahmd

➤The deleted chapters,which contain conceptsthat teachers feel areessential for the stu-dents to learn, can betaught, but they will notbe included for internalevaluation or BoardsMANJU SHARMA, prin-cipal, DPS, South,Bengaluru

Former cricketer, Michael Holding,didn't hold back as he delivered a pow-erful message against racism recently,

asserting that the black race has been dehu-manised and its accomplishments wiped offfrom a history, "written by people, who do theharm."Holding, who will retire from com-mentary at the end of next year, talked aboutracism at the global level.

Share your views at toinie175@gmail.com You can also post your comments at toistudent.com

Q

VIEWPOINT

Union sports minister Kiren Ri-jiju has said that the govern-ment has asked every state to adopt onesport each and focus on its development,

in a bid to achieve more medals at theOlympics.Rijiju, who was speaking at a webinaron the 'Role of Coporate India for Fit India' or-ganised by Assocham, said the corporate sectorwill also be told to do the same.

Is it a good move? Will it usher in a bright future forsports in our country?

1 "We have written to the states to choose(a sport). For example, if Manipur choos-es boxing and sepak takraw, it also can

do football or archery, but it has to focus onthe discipline it has selected, Rijijiu said

2 "We have made certain policychanges, like each corporate will beadvised to adopt a certain disci-

pline and focus on it. It won't stop youfrom supporting other sports," he added

3 "A country the size of India won't be play-ing just one or two disciplines. We haveidentified 14 disciplines as priority sports,

like archery, wrestling, boxing, hockey, shootingetc. I have kept the option open for more as well,"he announced

4 Rijiju said 14 sports have been iden-tified as priority disciplines, whichwill be developed as medal

prospects for the Olympics

T H E P R O P O S A L

INSTAGRAMINTRODUCES'REELS' IN INDIA

A little over aweek afterByteDance-

owned short videoapp TikTok was banned in India, Face-book's photo sharing app Instagram hasannounced the extension of testing of itsshort video format Reels in India. Reelshas already been tested in Brazil, Germanyand France, before India.

G oogle has announced a new feature thatwill make it easy to find quick facts aboutwhat people see on Google images in the

form of a Knowledge Graph. The feature wouldinclude people, places or things related to the im-age from the Knowledge Graph's database of bil-lions of facts, helping users explore the topic more."To generate these links to relevant KnowledgeGraph entities, we take what we understand aboutthe image through learning, which evaluates animage's visual and text signals, and combine itwith Google's understanding of the text on theimage's web page," the company said.

The company said Reels will enablepeople to record and edit 15 secondsmulti-clip videos with audio effects,and users could share Reels content

on their feed, or through a new spaceon the explore section

We have askedevery state toadopt onesport: Rijiju

Land degradation,wildlife exploitation,intensive farming, andclimate change aredriving the rise indiseases, which like

the coronavirus arepassed on fromanimals to humans, theUN experts havewarned...

➤ The UN EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP) andInternational Livestock ResearchInstitute (ILRI) have jointly identi-fied seven trends responsible forsuch diseases, calling on govern-ments to take steps to stop futurepandemics ➤ Known as zoonotic,these trends, include demand for ani-mal protein, extraction of naturalresources and urbanisation, intensiveand unsustainable farming, exploita-tion of wildlife, increased travel and

transportation, food supply changes,and climate change ➤“The science isclear; if we keep on exploiting wildlifeand our ecosystems, then we canexpect to see a steady stream of dis-eases, jumping from animals tohumans in the future,” said UNEPexecutive director Inger Andersen

CURB CLIMATE CHANGE, PROTECT ENVIRONMENT TO PREVENTFUTURE PANDEMICS, COUNTRIES TOLD

ENVIRONMENT

SATYARTH NAYAK'S NEXT BOOKIS ON INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

A fter penning a thrillerand then a biographyabout late Bol-

lywood actress Sride-vi, author-screenwriterSatyarth Nayak willnow write a book on Indianmythology. Titled, ‘100 Talesfrom the Puranas’ the bookhas been inspired from the Pu-ranas. It is expected to be re-leased in 2021.

U-17 WOMEN'S WC PROBABLESAI SANKHE SCORES 96.2%IN CLASS X ICSE EXAMS

I ndia's SAFF Un-der-15 Women'sChampionship-

winning player SaiSankhe has set an ex-ample for others asshe scored 96.2 percent in her ICSE classX examinations.

The Puranas of Hinduism are an ancient source ofwisdom, which are relevant even today. Out of the18 Puranas, Nayak will select 100 greatest storiesfor his upcoming book, which will not only enter-tain but also enlighten the new age readers

BOOK

W O R D

A new book bywriter Ruskin Bondwill shed light onhis lesser knownlife before hebecame a success-ful author, publish-ers Puffin Bookshas announced.

N E W L A U N C H

BROMIDE:means a binary compound ofbromine with another element ora radical including some (such aspotassium bromide) used assedatives; a commonplace ortiresome person;bore

A SHORTHISTORY ofNEARLYEVERYTHINGby Bill Bryson

This book covers some of the mostcomplex and mind- boggling theoriesin science, written in Bryson’s trade-mark humour and wit. From the tiny,yet powerful protons, which con-tributed to the creation of ourmighty universe, to the currentworld scenario, where human civili-sation has made huge strides in allspheres of life, the book packs atremendous amount of information.Science had never been one of myinterests, until I encountered thisauthor. This book will spark yourcuriosity, and inspire you to delveinto the theoretical and practicalaspects of science. URMILA JITHESH, class XI, Bhavan's

Vidya Mandir, Elamakkara, Ernakulam

W A T C H

GOOGLE TO PROVIDE QUICKFACTS ABOUT IMAGES YOUSEARCH

TECH BUZZ

ON THE PRESSURE TO PERFORM: "Thepressure was there, as I really wanted to dovery well in my boards and ace them. Withthe result I secured, I am very happy. If youlove football and consider education to be asimportant, you can do both together — handsdown. After the evening training, I wouldstudy again. Basically, whatever time I couldget, I used it to study and prepare, Sai said.

Ruskin Bond’s 'ASong of India’

The illustrated book, 'A Song ofIndia', scheduled to hit the standson July 20, will mark the 70th yearof Bond's literary career

I RECOMMEND

It’s not just a place where you get to learn Einstein’s Theoryof Relativity. It’s also a place where you can think beyond theclassroom. Hence we say, SCHOOL IS COOL!02

GREEN MISSION GOES DIGITALGREEN MISSION GOES DIGITALGREEN MISSION GOES DIGITALGREEN MISSION GOES DIGITALGREEN MISSION GOES DIGITALGREEN MISSION GOES DIGITAL

Rainbow Groupof Schoolsc o n d u c t e d'Haritha -

Haram,' a plantationprogramme on theschool premises by main-taining all the Covid-19precautions like sanitiz-ing, masking and socialdistancing.

The coronavirus pan-demic has not only im-pacted our lives but hasalso introduced newnorms to our lifestyle ofwhich 'going digital' has

taken a major dominance.Around the world,

schools in over 100 coun-tries are closed to protectchildren from the virus,which has been affectingthe education of nearlyone billion children. Forthe lucky ones, homeschooling and onlineclasses by teachers have

become the new normal.Every weekend we engagethe children with activi-ties and this time we con-ducted Haritha - Haramby asking every parentand employees of theschool to plant a saplingin their respective placesand become a green warrior.

To protect our nature is anessential responsibility. Cel-ebrating the state govern-

ment's green initiative HarithaHaram, an informative VirtualEnvironmental Awareness pro-gramme was held from June 29 toJuly 7, organised by Mahavir Ha-rina Vanasthali National Park.The webinars were conducted bya panel of guests on engrossingtopics for each day like the forestlandscapes of Telangana, impor-

tance of national parks and sanc-tuaries with emphasis on HarinaVanasthali national park, greenstrides for a social movement,forests for human survival, thebiodiversity of Telangana, im-portance of birds and insects inthe ecosystem, etc. The address bythe Animal Warriors team on thelast day motivated the students toparticipate in nature conservationactivities and help in the rescueof wildlife. The school lauded RM Dobriyal, IFS and the guests,the team of Animal warriors, Ma-havir Harina Vanasthali Nation-al Park, who strived to enlightenthe participants on the crucial top-ic of environment protection.

Army Public School, Golcondacelebrated Van Mahotsav weekwith great zeal to bring aware-

ness about the importance of greencover around us. The school deviseda novel idea of making the studentsand entire teachers' fraternity cometogether for a virtual celebration ofthe Trees Festival.

The event commenced with 'Walkthe Talk' where Basha, PGT (Bio) wasin conversation with Vidya Muralid-haran, principal of APS Golcondathrough Google meet and FB Live. Theevent showcased the green cover ad-dition to the school over the past

decade. She planted a sapling whichwas dedicated to teachers and stu-dents. Despite restrictions, the eventpresented an opportunity for children

to visit the school environmentthrough a digital platform after manymonths. A virtual tour of the schoolherbal garden emphasising the need

to plant medicinal varieties was pre-sented. The principal exhorted thestudents by stating, "Research hasshown the presence of trees in a com-munity can encourage people to bemore physically active. The urban for-est is increasingly being recognisedfor its benefits to public health andwellbeing, in addition to affectingtheir attitudes and behaviours."

This was followed by an interac-tive session by the students of classXII. The theme of the session was im-portant steps taken by the governmentto save forests. Students from differ-ent classes participated in Tree Talksand other virtual activities related toVan Mahotsav.

Children also planted sapling attheir homes and shared pictures withtheir classmates digitally.

15, 5, 2, 1 and… 0”."Humans are eradi-cated from Earth". I

opened my eyes and start-ed hovering in the air. I wasin a sort of weightlessvapourous form. A few mo-ments later I heard a kindof robotic voice which said,"Humans have been eradi-cated from Earth".

"No way!", I told thevoice. I was perplexed.

That's when a bolt oflightning hit my face. It wasa portal, something like atime machine. I was stand-ing at the same spot in thesame city.

But unlike before, thestreet in which I was stand-ing was bustling with peo-ple. Children were happily

playing in parks and hav-ing the time of their lives.Then suddenly, the same ro-botic and metallic voicesaid, "The city that you seeis the same. But we are herethree years before the hu-mans were eradicated".

I tried to hold on to atree due to shock but Icouldn't as I wasn't in my

physical form. I asked,"What happened in threeyears?" The voice replied,"Don't you know about theplague called…." And beforeit could finish the sentence,I uttered "Coronavirus."

"Coronavirus was a mi-nor disease. But due to hu-man carelessness the dis-ease started spreading ex-ponentially. The virus wasgiven a lot of time to evolveuntil it grew into a strong

and lethal pathogen," the ro-bot said.

"The fate of mankindwas decided. They tried tofind the cure as fast as pos-sible. But like a last minuteturbulence, it all fell apart.The virus had taken over.The last few infected sur-vivors lied in beds watch-ing the world end," it added.

These words made myeyes wet. I asked grimly,"Why have you brought mehere?”

The voice replied, "Youare one of the few peoplewho love sharing knowl-edge. If you start spreadingyour knowledge, it could in-fect more people than thevirus".

Suddenly, a gleam oflight hit my face. I openedmy eyes, stunned and dazed.After my online classes andhomework, I sat alone withmy pen and paper. "Time towrite!", I told myself.

Pallavi Model School, Alwalhosted an e-extempore, 'Off-the- Cuff' competition in three

categories and languages. About 85participants from 14 schools cametogether on one e- platform on theoccasion of World Population Day,raising awareness about the healthand rights of women amid the coro-navirus pandemic.

The maximum number of par-ticipants were from Pallavi ModelSchool, Bowenpally, Niraj Interna-tional School and Sadhu Vaswani In-ternational School, who were hon-oured with certificates.

Other schools that joined thecompetition were Unicent School,Pallavi Model School, Boduppal,Pallavi International School,Gandipet, Suchitra Academy, Pear-son School, Kompally, Times School,Bandlaguda, Times School, Kand-lakoya, Pallavi International School,Saroornagar, Akshara Vagdevi In-ternational School and St Peters In-ternational School.

The jury had eminent educators,Surya Kala, Dr Pushpa Sharma, PVSheshu Babu and Dr Usha PrasadParuchuri, who impressed the gath-ering with their talk. Under the ableguidance and motivation of aca-demic director T Sudha and princi-pal Sunir Nagi, the competitionturned out to be a success.

M Shilpika,Principal, RainbowGroup of Schools

Beeramguda

Army Public School

Golconda

Pallavi Model School

Alwal, Hyderabad

Sai Sharanya, class IX B,Unicent School

Nagole, Hyderabad

Emmanuel Biju, class VIIC, Cornerstone School

Chandanagar, Hyderabad

Vaishnavi,class IX, Sree

NarayanaVidya Bhavan,

Hyderabad

Ananya Nema, class I, Sister Nivedita School, Ameerpet

Roshini, class V, Sree Narayana Vidya Bhavan, Hyderabad

Khyathi, class VII, Silver Oaks International

School, Hyderabad

Rekha, class VII D, Little Flower High School,

Abids, Hyderabad

'The End',Possibly

SujataBasumatary, class VIII C,Delhi Public

School,Nadergul,

Hyderabad

IS IT AGOOD MOVE?

EASING STRESSIt's a deserving advan-tage for board students.This has relieved thestress of coping with thesyllabus in this strangenew situation. There hasbeen a controversy overthe omission of key top-ics from the syllabus, butkeeping everything inview, the basic conceptof the deleted lessonswill be captured in therevised syllabus.

Sara Joshi, class X,Suprabhat

Model HighSchool,

Nacharam,Hyderabad

WEAK FOUNDATIONWhile reducing the por-tion by 30% may havebeen a good decision forones who need to writeboards for the year2020-2021, it has dealt amajor blow to the currentIX and XI graders. Severaltopics considered neces-sary to lay a good foun-dation for classes X andXI have been removedwhich will hinder inunderstanding of con-cepts going further.

Padmasritha M, class XI, P

Obul ReddyPublicSchool,

Hyderabad

KEY TOPICS MISSINGI must say that I did notsee this coming, it wasvery unexpected. But Ithink that it is a goodmove as the pandemichas taken a toll on all ofus. It has reduced thepressure on students aswell as teachers. But onthe other hand, thismight mean losing out onmany topics which mightform the basis of futureeducation.

Manjari Paruchuri, class IX, DelhiSchool ofExcellence,Attapur,Hyderabad

SENSIBLE STEPAll schools are closed asthe invisible enemy isstill lurking around.Although online school-ing is slowly catchingon, it has unfortunatelynot reached everybody.This has made it impossi-ble for teachers to com-plete the entire syllabusin time. Hence I believethat this is a sensibledecision. It will boost theconfidence of studentsand reduce their stress.

Yoshita Upadhyay, class X D, DelhiPublicSchool,Secunde-rabad

ENCOURAGINGIt's a major relief forCBSE students. In a wayit encourages studentsto give their best as thesyllabus has been mademuch easier. Theannouncement has givenus clarity on how hardwe should be studying aswell. But despite thehard work we may put in,we may be regarded asthe batch of 2020-2021,the batch who had iteasy because of the pan-demic!

Trisha Boorugu,class X A, Delhi PublicSchool,Secunderabad

BOOST FOR UNDERPRIVILEGEDDuring such unprecedentedtimes, reduction of theCBSE syllabus by 30 percent is a great initiative.Students who cannotafford online teaching willmiss a lot of school timeand have trouble giving theboard exams withouteffective learning. I believesuch an initiative will be amassive help for those stu-dents and for the rest ofus too.

ShreyaDhanania, class X A,Delhi PublicSchool,Secunderabad

UNCERTAINTIESREMAINThese are uncertaintimes. My worry isabout the pattern of thequestion paper. Will theboard change it? Will itbe only MCQs or will theboard retain the normalpattern? This maydepend upon the situa-tion by the end of theyear. Hope these andother uncertaintiesaround us end soon.

RachakondaJayadeepShankar, classX G, ArmyPublicSchool,Bolarum

CBSE REDUCES CLASS IX-XII

SYLLABUS FOR2020-21

ACADEMIC SESSION

E-EXTEMPORE KEEPSYOUNG MINDS TICKING

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