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Movie Review: Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is a comedy horror film directed by Anees Bazmee, written by Aakash Kaushik and Farhad Samji, and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under the banner T-Series Films and Murad Khetani and Anjum Khetani under the banner Cine1 Studios. A standalone sequel to Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), the film stars Tabu, Kartik Aaryan, and Kiara Advani.

The plot follows Ruhaan Randhawa (Aaryan), who has to pretend to be a fraud psychic to deal with the return of Manjulika (Tabu), a malevolent spirit hell-bent on revenge against the Thakur family.

The movie received positive reviews from critics. A critic for Bollywood Hungama gave the film four and a half stars out of five and wrote, "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is a complete entertainer and works due to the splendid combo of horror and comedy." Tushar Joshi of India Today similarly gave the film three stars out of five and wrote, "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has all the masala and makings to satiate the taste buds. It’s funny in places, tries to be scary most of the time, but like its title, its efforts get somewhere lost in a maze."

Audience responded by saying that the movie is a full time entertainment though a one-time watch. The highlight of the movie was assumed to be the protagonist, Kartik Aaryan but Taboo has definitely stolen the show. The way she carried her character throughout the movie is outstanding.

Although the storyline did not match the level of the first part of the movie which starred Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja, Ameesha Patel, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Asrani and Vikram Gokhale. The sequel lacked psychological elements as it had in the first movie. The horror effects and impacts in the first part was definitely breath-taking but the sequel showed fictionated-technical effects. The horror-comedy timing in both parts were amazingly managed.

All in all, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is a nice addition in Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise. It's a clean family entertainer that is much better than your recent Bollywood movies. No wonder it has emerged a big hit after a series of flops. Worth a watch!

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Destruction Of Nature

“The evidence is incontestable. Our destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem services has reached levels that threaten our well-being at least as much as human-induced climate change.” With these words chair Robert Watson launched a meeting in Paris to agree the final text of a major UN report on the state of nature around the world – the biggest and most thorough assessment to date, put together by 150 scientists from 50 countries.

We humans have already significantly altered three-quarters of all land and two-thirds of the oceans. More than a third of land and three-quarters of freshwater resources are devoted to crops or livestock.

Around 700 vertebrates have gone extinct in the past few centuries. Forty per cent of amphibians and a third of coral species, sharks and marine mammals look set to follow.

Less room for wildlife

Preventing this is vital to save ourselves, the report says. “Ecosystems, species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking, deteriorating or vanishing,” says one of the the report’s authors, Josef Settele. “This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.”

The main reason is simple. Our expanding farms and cities are leaving less room for wildlife. The other major causes are the direct exploitation of wildlife such as hunting, climate change, pollution and the spread of invasive species. Climate change is set to become ever more destructive.

But we can still turn things around, the report says. “Nature can be conserved, restored and used sustainably while simultaneously meeting other global societal goals through urgent and concerted efforts fostering transformative change,” it states. It also says that where land is owned or managed by indigenous peoples and local communities, there has been less destruction and sometimes none at all.

Bioenergy threat

The problem isn’t just our focus on economic growth regardless of the impact on the natural world. Current plans for reducing carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero to limit climate change rely heavily on bioenergy, which requires a lot of land. This will accelerate species loss as well as threatening food and water security, says the report. In fact, the bioenergy push is already causing harm. For instance, rainforests are being cut down in Indonesia and Malaysia to grow palm oil to make biodiesel for cars in Europe.

Transforming our civilisation to make it more sustainable will require more connected thinking. For instance, there are ways of tackling climate change that will help biodiversity too, such as persuading people to eat less meat and planting more trees. But the devil is in the detail – artificial plantations would benefit wildlife far less than restoring natural forests.

Some of the solutions set out in the report may not be welcome to all. In particular, it effectively calls for wealthy people to consume less, suggesting that changing the habits of the affluent may be central to sustainable development worldwide.

Deforestation

Forests cover about 30 percent of the planet's land mass, but humans are cutting them down, clearing these essential habitats on a massive scale. Forests cover about 30 percent of the planet's land mass, but humans are cutting them down, clearing these essential habitats on a massive scale. 

But forests around the world are under threat, jeopardizing these benefits. The threats manifest themselves in the form of deforestation and forest degradation. The main cause of deforestation is agriculture (poorly planned infrastructure is emerging as a big threat too) and the main cause of forest degradation is illegal logging. In 2019, the tropics lost close to 30 soccer fields' worth of trees every single minute.

Deforestation is a particular concern in tropical rain forests because these forests are home to much of the world’s biodiversity. For example, in the Amazon around 17% of the forest has been lost in the last 50 years, mostly due to forest conversion for cattle ranching. Deforestation in this region is particularly rampant near more populated areas, roads and rivers, but even remote areas have been encroached upon when valuable mahogany, gold, and oil are discovered.

 

 

 

15 Daily Habits of Human Beings That are Destroying the Environment

1. Driving

Driving is one of the chief means people prefer to go about their daily activities. However, with as many as 273.6 million motor vehicles in the United States alone, the environment pays the price in the cost of fumes produced by cars when burning gasoline.

With so many people owning cars in other parts of the world, the effect on the environment is gigantic. People should opt for car-pooling or be more willing to use public transportation as a means of travel to reduce the carbon footprint.

2. Improper disposal of batteries and ink

Household batteries contain traces of mercury and other toxic chemicals that damage wildlife and sea life when they accumulate and leak into ecosystems around the world due to improper disposal. Ink cartridges, on the other hand, have a more toxic effect on the environment when not disposed of correctly.

Each year millions of cartridges end up in landfills every single year which poisons the soil and further degrades the environment. These chemicals have the added ability to accumulate within the animals (termed as biomagnification) – meaning that they are passed along the animal life cycle and food chains harming even more and more animals.

3. Excessive use of plastic

Items on sale in shops are mostly packaged in plastic containers. On top of this, most carrying bags offered at the cashier’s register are also plastic in nature. Statistically, the food packaging accounts for nearly 70% of all household trash and waste that eventually end up in landfills.

The problem is that plastics are a major pollutant to the environment due to their inability to degrade naturally having a life cycle that can extend to millennia. This means that as more and more plastics end up being dumped in landfills, decomposition does not take place thus adding any value on earth.

4. Throwing food as waste

Many people think that it is a formal courtesy not to completely empty a plate during a meal. But, throwing food is bad in the sense that it is a basic necessity which more unfortunate people can’t access. Throwing food is even worse for the environment because forests are cleared and emissions are made in the process of cultivation, transportation, and processing.

Besides, if the waste food is not disposed of properly, it can lead to an increase in the organic matter in waterways and other aquatic environments that can augment the growth of algal blooms.

5. Using paper

Paper is used on a daily basis by human beings in different forms. Examples include the use of paper towels in the kitchen, tissues in the toilet, and in the print media for our daily reads. Regardless of our daily use of paper, what we as humans overlook, is that it is made from trees.

Since it has a steady increase in demand due to our lifestyle and the altered definition of hygiene, we are constantly cutting down trees to fulfill market demands. It has therefore increased the number of trees to cut down every year persistently contributing to deforestation.

6. Boiling water using electricity

Boiling water for use in the shower or kitchen for your morning cup of coffee is extremely inefficient. The amount of energy used to boil water using electricity makes it one of the most expensive methods as compared to gas.

The large amounts of energy required to translate into problems on the production end of things. As a lot of electricity is generated via coal and diesel engines, increasing the power load by using the boiler or coffee maker has a big toll on the environment.

7. Washing one’s face

People are using face washes that mostly contain plastic exfoliating micro-beads, which are being termed by researchers as a serious environmental problem. The beads are not filtered during sewage treatment due to their small size.

When released into water bodies, they are swallowed by fish and other marine animals that harm their health and could poison their organs or damage their gills. The beads also destroy the animal’s internal systems as they are made with the purpose of scrubbing during use by humans. It is the bead’s abrasive nature that is damaging to aquatic animals.

8. Eating meat

One of the most widely produced greenhouse gases in the world is methane. This gas traps heat within the atmosphere. As research postulates, the biggest producer of methane gas is farmed livestock. In this sense, the production of animal products is a large contributor of methane, a greenhouse gas mostly from animal manure and enteric fermentation.

By continuing to demand meat products, the farmers continue to increase the supply of the goods by keeping more animals and in turn leading to more greenhouse gases. This cycle breeds more problems for the environment. Alternative protein sources should be pursued to provide food for people without the environmental cost that farmed food entails.

9. Flushing the toilet

Flushing the toilet uses a bucket of water for every cycle. What’s even more devastating is that once you flush the toilet, the water immediately turns into the black water and will serve no other purpose until it is processed at the sewage plant. Accordingly, the use of water in this manner is very inefficient as it only uses water singly after which it will require fresh processing.

The better alternative would be to use compost toilets. The use of this option instead of water is a good alternative since the waste can be used for projects such as the manufacture of manure.

However, this leap can be too large for some and may not be feasible in some regions. So, the alternative could be to reduce the number of times one flushes the toilet or the installation of low-flush toilets.

10. Brushing teeth

Brushing teeth is another bad human habit because it contributes to water wastage. Brushing techniques are especially inefficient at conserving water due to people letting the water run as they brush their teeth. This can use up a lot of water in the long run.

While closing the tap during the brush is one option, the other is to use brushing techniques that do not require one to use water. Several herb shoots and leaves have been used over the centuries to offset the stale breathe of individuals and provide dental hygiene and protection against germs that cause cavities.

A prime example is among the Maasai of Tanzania and Kenya. They use a shrub colloquially known as the toothbrush tree (Salvadorapersica). The stem of the shrub is used to clean the teeth and also serves to provide additional health benefits as it is associated with remedies from complications borne from rheumatism and coughs.

11. Spending time in front of a screen (TV, mobile, computer)

Spending most of our time in front of the TV or any other screen for that matter is a daily human habit that drains the energy out of the device or requires the use of electricity. With almost 11 hours of the day spent before some sort of screen, it increases electricity load.

The remedy for this is to reduce the amount of time spent using electronic devices in order to reduce the electricity load that is placed on the power grid.

12. Habitual spending

Consumerism is the constant and excessive purchase of consumer goods. It comes after basic needs have been met allowing individuals to buy items for leisure or some other purpose. This habit increases the demand for consumer products thus making the market produce more by constantly running production factories.

As a result, there is constant energy consumption that takes its toll on the environment as it involves the burning of fossil fuels and the production of associated greenhouse gases thereafter.

In a bid to avoid habitual spending, we should reduce the number of goods we purchase for us to reduce the demand and therefore the supply and production of those goods. Ultimately, it will reduce industrial processing and conserve the environment.

13. Not recycling

The last of the habits that devastate the environment is not recycling. By not recycling, we send too many resources to the landfills such as plastics and glass. Recycling conserves energy and resources by repurposing already produced goods.

This means that the energy that should have gone into the production of wholly new goods can be repurposed or conserved.

14. Keeping Electronic Gadgets On

Probably you’d have heard of it thousands of times before but turning off the electronic gadgets when they are not in use does make a difference to the environment. Not only it would help you to reduce your monthly electricity bill but also helps reduce your carbon footprint on the environment.

15. Online Shopping

With eCommerce companies expanding their reach every year and technology available on the hand to order items online as and when required, today online shopping has become terrible for the environment in many ways.

Emissions from the trucks carrying items and the plastic wrapping of the items that go to the landfill sites are creating some serious issues that need to be looked into.

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How to prepare current affairs for UPSC

INTRODUCTION

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts a countrywide competitive examination in India, called the Civil Services Examination (CSE) for enlistment to higher Civil Services of the Government of India which includes the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, and India Foreign Service.

The UPSC examination is conducted in three stages-

Preliminary Exam i.e., Objective-based (facts)

Main Exam i.e., Written (interpretation and analysis, reviews and opinions, etc)

Interview i.e., Verbal (personality test)

Preparation Of Current Affairs for UPSC

The UPSC syllabus for prelims emphasis on events occurring nationally and internationally in recent or ‘current’ state and this part of the syllabus is called ‘current affairs’. The exam requires awareness of current happenings both on national and international levels. Candidates must keep themselves updated with all recent events in the news and keep a consistent effort of reading, revising, and executing. One of the most important topics the examination includes in the syllabus is the schemes and policies implemented by the Government.  

Limiting the sources 

The material for current affairs on both national and international grounds is a deluge, therefore, the principal strategy for any candidate is, to choose quality over quantity, meaning to limit their sources of current affairs. Too much material and sources to read are counter-productive. 

Here are some of the best sources to prepare for current affairs in UPSC:

Newspapers- The Hindu, Business Standard, The Indian Express, British Broadcasting Corporation

Monthly Current Affairs Magazine- Pratiyogita Darpan, Economic and Political Weekly, World Focus here- end issue only 

All India Radio- Spotlight/discussion 

Internet 

When we talk about the internet being a helpful source for current affairs, we face a dilemma deciding which site to refer from. https://thethoughttree.com/ is the No. 1 skill development platform where the aspirant can succeed. T3 provides you with Individual Mentorship and Guidance, Scholarship for EWS, Guaranteed Internships, Multi-courses Multi-Domain One-Roof, Certifications, and Open Library. Over 500 students have been trained in our institution.

Concentrate on the issues, not news

Issues discuss ideas, give birth to curiosity and questions. News talks about incidents. 

Following a set of a framework that benefits us to dig deep into non-rhetorical questions helps us understand the issue properly. This happens when the framework we decide to understand the issues raise questions, for instance:

Reason— Why is it in the news? Why is it highlighted? (This is delineated in the newspapers)

Background Knowledge— (Data, facts, analysed and authentic reports)

Current Status— Steps taken and not taken by the Government

Both sides of the issue— Pros and Cons/ Contingencies and summons

Reviews and opinions— What can we do about it?

Note-making

Making notes online or offline is a very important aspect especially when the material to study is vast. Research says that writing while reading helps us remember the part with more clarity and lesser doubts in the knowledge we’ve gained. 

Making notes online benefits us, as more time is invested in the learning part and not in just writing them on pen and paper.

Learning and Unlearning

When we talk about current affairs, we talk about the whole issues revolving around the world which also means that it is a continuous subject that keeps updating and stacking up by solar days. Therefore, one of the best ways to prepare for current affairs is through constant revision and by executing them in the answers you write during daily practice or test series. 

Mentioning relevant issues in a sentence or two will add prodigious value to your answers. Just after reading the concentrated and uniform part of the news will avail more in the revision. 

“A wealth of information leads to a poverty of attention” — Herbert Simon

Time management

Newspapers and current affairs hold a lot of importance, but not so much that the time invested in them is redundant. Reading newspapers for more than 2 to 3 hours is amplifying its importance. 

An Ideal everyday preparation from a Rank-1 CSE:

Newspaper reading (30-45 min, no note-making)— daily

Reading daily news compilation, especially online — every day for maximum 45 minutes, highlighting the source of information

A quick catch-up of last week’s issues, spotlight and discussions in All India Radio, and internet research on scrupulous issues — weekends.

In conclusion, you, as an aspirant, should be tremendously self-confident and should trust your instincts. An unshakable self-belief leads to beating your expectations. Write the best answer you can think of in less amount of time. Practicing mock tests and test series every week will indeed benefit you to perform much better. Give your best and watch your efforts worth investing in.

Best of luck!