Animals are the real victims on this earth. They didn’t declare war, they don’t have weapons, and they don’t want to destroy humans, or impose religion. Their only “crime” is that they exist.

-   Amina Tharwat Abaza

Animals feel pain, sorrow, and joy like we people but why are animals treated the way they are? As they cannot speak for themselves, it doesn’t mean they can’t feel. Their eyes speak up everything but we are so self-obsessed that we never try to look at them and understand what they’re feeling and going through. Talking about animal abuse and cruelty towards them, it is said that every 60 seconds, an animal gets abused. Animal abuse is pervasive and entrenched all over the world. Even though it is an inhumane act, we so-called human beings, don’t bother standing against it.

Just imagine if you were the animal being tested on, being kept in a cage given the little amount of food just enough to stay alive and being experimented. Does it feel right? Surely no. This is what animals in the testing center go through.

In the case of Nepal, there is no proper animal welfare legislation. Everywhere we go, we can find a large number of stray dogs roaming here and there. Pets that have become sick and shown some aggressive behaviors are easily discarded and later they are called ‘street dogs’. Moreover, cows, our national animals are regarded as holy but we can find many cattle abandoned in the busy streets of the city. There are thousands of horses, donkeys, and mules in the mountains and terai who are beaten, abused, overloaded, underfed, and made to work until death. It is all because of a lack of enforceable legislation and public awareness.

We all might have heard about Gadimai Mela in Bara district where pilgrims from India and Nepal assemble every five years to offer mass animal sacrifice in gratitude for their wishes being fulfilled. In 2019, the festival was held on November 28 and 29 where about 500,000 animals were brutally slaughtered in the name of a goddess. It was reported that the number of animals sacrificed in 2019 was less than in previous years. While many activists are against this practice and claim that it is not necessary to sacrifice animals rather they can offer fruits and sweets with full devotion to the goddess. It just can’t be understood how a genuine god or goddess can be appeased by inflicting pain and suffering in other living beings. This land is regarded as sacred and the birthplace of Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha, who regarded peace and non-violence as the cardinal virtues and taught the world the power of kindness, generosity, and non-violence. We take great pride in Gautam Buddha being born in Nepal but never bother to understand Buddhist principles and its teachings regarding cruelty and violence.

None of us is unaware of the fact that animals do possess animal rights and there are certain things that human beings should not do to animals but as usual, although being educated we like to remain ignorant. Let us not go up to rights also, what about morality? Abusing someone and causing pain is inherently wrong and unethical. There is one saying by a famous cat veterinarian Louis J. Camuti, ‘Never believe that animals suffer less than humans. Pain is the same for them that it is for us. Even worse, because they cannot help themselves.’

As we share common land, human beings and animals should be sharing a cordial relationship. Once we all stand against such inhumane acts, those who can’t speak for themselves would get a voice. If we do not fix animal abuse or animal cruelty soon we will have no more animals in the future. Governments should make sure that animals are not being abused and should make strict laws and enforce them against those who try to violate them. Animals should not be abused and the rights they deserve must be given to them.

My face burns. I can’t breathe. I feel like a tyre’s burning and it stinks. She cried for help. She was just a 14-year-old girl. She was thrown acid in her face. She hadn’t even begun her life. Her mistake was to ignore a man twice her age. Yes, you read it correctly “twice her age”. 

Today many cases of acid attack are reported in many parts of the world especially in developing countries. Out of all attacks, 80% are females and the remaining are male. The country like Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia has the highest number of cases.  The acid attack causes various health and mental issues. Some long term problems are blindness, burning of eyes, and some permanent scar on the face. Between 1999 and 2013, a total of 3,512 Bangladeshi people were acid attacked with the rate of cases declining by 15%-20% every year since 2002 based on strict legislation against perpetrators and regulation of acid sales In India, acid attacks are at an all-time high and increasing every year with 250-300 reported incidents every year while the "actual number could exceed 1,000, according to Acid Survivors' Trust International".The UK has one of the highest rates of acid attacks per capita in the world.

The most common reasons for attacks on women and girls is the refusal of marriage, the denial of sex, and the sexual rejection of men and boys. Some other causes include hate towards the opposing gender, some past revenge, etc. So, the most frequently asked question is “is there any treatment?”.The most important thing a person can do in the event of an acid attack is to douse the victim in running water, rather than use a wet cloth. The water dilutes the acid, and so it's important to keep refreshing with new, clean water, as quickly as possible. Victims should go through multiple surgeries as a part of the treatment. Some surgeries are not even affordable for the middle class and lower-class families.

On August 17, 2018, the government passed the bill for acid attackers. Section 193 of the bill states, “If a person throws acid at a person or uses any chemical substance to attack a person in a manner to cause serious harm or disfigure the victim, the perpetrator shall be awarded five to eight years in jail depending on the gravity of the offense and fined Rs 100,000 to Rs 300,000. The fine imposed on the perpetrator shall be provided to the survivor.” In case of the death of the victim in such an attack, the perpetrator will face murder charges.

Acid attacks can be prevented when there are strict laws made by the government on the sale of acid and fine charges for people buying and selling acids.

                                                                         (Reference: The Himalayan Times and Wikipedia)

Did you know in the USA, about 32 billion trees are cut down every year to manufacture books? In the past, there were no alternatives other than books to gain knowledge from and this narrowed down the learning process. However, the application of virtual and conceptual means like the internet and life-experiences respectively is a more productive way of acquiring knowledge; rather than, sticking to plain-old books. 

In contrast to books, the Internet is a far superior way of gathering credible information on a vast range of topics. A book has only the limited insight of the author; whereas, the internet is open to opinions and suggestions from a large crowd of individuals with different ideas. In addition to this, books are just compressed-textual embodiments of the human mind but experiencing reality first-hand is a more practical way of gaining an understanding. And in the end, no book can likely rival the knowledge acquired from real-life.

If we were to weigh the entire internet, its weight would come to be around 5gm. But the process of collecting books and maintaining them, with time will start to be a burden for most people. Similarly, things learned from exposure to real-life get stored in our brains that possess near to infinite holding-capacity. So, hoarding books and trying to learn whatever is feasible from them isn’t a productive thing to do. Especially, when there is an abundance of alternative ways of learning. For instance, in various parts of the world, we come across individuals who are highly skilled at doing something; even though they never had access to any books. This goes to show that the information limited within books doesn’t even hold a candle, in comparison, to the highly sophisticated knowledge of one’s imagination and experience. 

Books are written mostly in the mother-language of the author and generally translated in English as a means to appeal to an international audience, but what about the people who don’t have fluency in English. In regard to this problem, the widespread availability of the Internet is a big relief for such people all over the world. With the use of translation software available on the web, anyone with internet access can get their hands on any form of literature as well as books of all subjects that can be read with easy understanding. Hence, the internet introduces us to a variety of things to study and learn from. 

To sum it up, books as important as they may seem only to hold a fraction of what other far practical and technological sources of knowledge can offer. Therefore, one mustn’t only swim in the shallow pond of books but should try to dive deep in the abyss of real-life experience and the internet.

We all wonder if we could move from one point to another, as such sitting in some type of vessel or a vehicle. That would be more sort of fun and quite interesting for our present generations that always dreamed of going to the past or moving back to the future. Hold on, time travel is much more complicated than we think when we are ready to take a new adventure.

If we see the Relativity theory of the Late Scientist Albert Einstein, we get to know the connection between space and time. We all know light travels at the greatest speed but some scientist believes time does. Much research in the past also showed that the time clock on an airplane is behind the clock on the ground. This seems quite interesting to know that time travels at a different speed. Meanwhile, the absence of gravity above the earth causes the clock of the satellite to travel faster. Many of us even had heard the word dilation. It must have been the effect of time they travel back to earth younger than their twins. Were they in time travel?WhoKnows?

Cosmic Strings, Infinite cylinder, Black Hole, and Time Machines draw many conclusions and theories on time travel. While the cosmic string is believed to bend space-time between two parallel strings under such configuration that might make time travel real, an Infinite cylinder is said to roll masses 10 times bigger than the sun into the very long but very dense cylinder forming a spiral around it that might take us into time travel. Another black hole theory is most mysterious of all the time when we know it has been absorbing all lights and nobody knows where this light travels into. Can we travel into the future getting into a black hole? Well, nobody has tried this yet. Well, we all dream of making a Time Machine to go back and forth. Moving a time machine at different speeds might be possible but it's a long way for scientists and physicists to go around.

Taking a note on this, it might seem another big achievement for this generation but it might prove to be equally fatal for human civilization. For now, we can only end up with different assumptions and theories.

Two things are infinite: The Universe and Human Stupidity. And I’m not sure about the Universe.  -Albert Einstein

In our life, we go through one question “Which is the largest number?” We are introduced to the number system at the age of 5. With time, we learn to count to a hundred, thousand, million, billion, and trillion. But the question is “Do the numbers end?”  At the School level, we are introduced to the term “infinity” and you might have seen it in Maths and Physics. If I ask you what exactly is infinity you will rather give me a symbol or you might say it’s a number which can’t be counted and many wouldn’t want to hurt your brain. We often see infinity in Maths and subconsciously, we know numbers are taught in Mathematics. So we assume infinity as a number but it’s not exactly a number.

Infinity is a concept.  Infinity is an idea. Infinity is a thought. Infinity is endless. In Maths, Zero and infinity don’t have physical significance. Zero means it does not exist and infinity means the concept that is endless, unlimited, and unbound. We often imagine a train traveling on and on and we consider it as infinity but actually it is not infinity. Just imagine something endless or boundless which has no reason to stop. There is a common misconception that infinities are big only but they can be small too. For Eg: Numbers between 1 and 2. So, It’s not necessary that infinity should be big. 

Infinity has been a topic to discuss from Ancient Greek. Zeno of Elea who is known for the creation of paradoxes has a paradox named “Zeno paradox of Zeno dichotomy paradox” is one of the mind-bending paradoxes to understand infinity. In his paradox, he has told how a Greek famous Hercules cannot defeat a turtle in a race. It basically says that if there are two points A and B and the distance between them is 1m then you can never travel that distance. Infinite time is required to travel that 1m distance. This paradox has been useful to understand infinity and with the help of it, many people started giving their ideas.

Pythagoras believed in the sequence of whole numbers and later his own theory proved him wrong because when you take height and base 1 in a right-angled triangle its hypotenuse is root 2 which is irrational. Then come Aristotle and Plato who believed in potential infinity rather than actual infinity and in the modern age of Physics and Mathematics Georg Cantor has described infinity in his own way which is widely accepted. 

Infinities are used in Mathematics and Physics which are also classified into Mathematical Infinities and Physical Infinities and Metaphysical infinities. Mathematical infinities include irrational numbers whereas Physical infinities include thought like infinite space-time, etc. Infinities are divided into countable and uncountable infinity. The fun fact is countable infinity can’t be counted. They are the set in which elements could be theoretically counted though the end would never reach and uncountable infinities are like irrational numbers like the value of pi.

The challenge for modern physicists to understand this vast UNIVERSE is to discover the infinity-free equations which follow the true law of physics. In this search of GRAND UNIFIED THEORY, We need to first question infinity and figure it out to understand this Elegant Universe.

The T.V. blares loudly, remote’s two feet away,

I sit here lousily, unwilling to move away.

Clothes strewn on the floor, beard unkempt;

All have come to a standstill, nothing’s even to tempt.

“Mom, I’m hungry. Can you please bring something?”

To eat and sleep is to live; all else has fallen to nothing.

Books gather dust, clothes gather dust, the outdoors is tempting.

Still my eye fixates on screens, my limbs scream to move but my brain is haunting.

Thoughts now surround me now instead of people;

I laugh, rage, and argue with my own thoughts, they are my keypals.

Is it even worth laughing anymore? This feels heavy.

But hey, these are just the laments of a couch potato!

I lay here typing, wishing I could say ‘I gotta go’!

It is okay if you’re feeling bad

It is okay if you're sad 

It is okay if you are not okay

Because it is okay to not feel okay

You are doing great, just don’t forget 

To look back and see how far you have come  

And don't forget that you are awesome.

Pollution is one of the biggest burdens in today's world. It is a threat to the environment and affects all. It occurs when pollutants contaminate the surroundings. Pollution is a global problem. Pollution has now reached its peak due to all modern advancements and development. Pollution is a major cause of premature death .Also, it can be caused by natural events such as volcanoes, forest fires, etc.

There are many forms of pollution; Air pollution, water pollution, sound pollution, etc. Air pollution is the most dangerous form of pollution. This pollution is caused by both natural and artificial events. When volcanoes erupt, they emit ashes and cause pollution. Most air pollution is not natural. Mainly, Industries produce harmful gases like carbon monoxide, Sulphur dioxide, etc. which cause air pollution. Vehicles, deforestation, household and farming chemicals, etc. also cause it.

It can be controlled by improving industrial emission standards ,Maintenance of vehicles ,afforestation ,and the government can make strict laws against pollution, creating sustainable development strategies, promoting the use of electric vehicles, following the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. And so on. Use of pesticides must be discouraged. There are many ways to reduce pollution. We people should also be aware about pollution and its effects in order to prevent the worst from happening. The effects of pollution are alarming. Pollution causes global warming, acid rains, respiratory problems, etc. If the pollution is not controlled, the air will become so poisonous that it will be necessary to use an oxygen kit to breathe easily and can lead to respiratory disease, lung cancer and other diseases.

Pollution control is our responsibility .Let's protect our mother Earth.

It seems like the suffering has come to end,
All those meaningless days have come to end.
A little bird chirping with sorrow to get its freedom has finally got it,
Or it may seem like it.
 
There is freedom but there is no end to the sorrow
At the end freedom was nothing but a bluff.
The small cage door that lead to freedom has its own dark secrets
It looked like it was just the beginning.
 
It was a step to other deeper, darker and larger cages filled with sorrow and grief
The little bird afraid of this whole world has no other options than to sacrifice freedom like this.
The little bird is crying for help
But for what?
There is no end to this loop, there is no freedom.

"You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end." -Jessica Herrin, founder, and CEO of Stella & Dot

So now what is an Entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is a person who always craves innovation and drives us towards the future. The thing that you use daily which has helped u a lot in everyday life might be a child of someone's imagination. Everyone has an idea, in fact, every day a person can get up to 4 mind-boggling ideas but they are too scared about failing or they have too many excuses but an entrepreneur get an idea to solve a problem and evaluates it if it’s applicable in the real world or not and if it is they don’t waste another time thinking about what if they fail.  Barack Obama once said, “I think Ronald Reagan tapped into [the fact that people wanted] a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing”. This idea from him shows the impact of an entrepreneur in this world.

 In one way Entrepreneurs are inventors who introduce new technologies to the world and from which the world hasn’t been accustomed. An entrepreneur runs a firm, who focuses on capital and labor that helps him to produce goods or services for profit. Entrepreneurship stands itself as one of the important leaders in innovation leading to economic growth. Entrepreneurship is defined by high-risk, but also a high-rewarded one that serves to generate economy, boosting, and innovation. To be a successful entrepreneur, one needs to have a leading ability and be well known on managerial aspects.

 How do Entrepreneurs work?

The answer to this above-mentioned question is as important as the most difficult one to elaborate on. The way of working and leading the company towards success will make you an entrepreneur. So, mostly an entrepreneur conglomerates labor, time, and capital and focuses to manufacture goods or disseminate the services. They create a certain business plan that lasts for a certain time period and even renovate thoroughly, hire laborers, dedicate themselves towards obtaining resources and financing, and lastly take the leadership and management for the business. Entrepreneurs face many obstacles when building their empires. Among the lot here I have mentioned three that are more common as well as the most challenging one.

v  Overcoming problems at the initial finance and managerial

v  Hiring real talented people

v  Obtaining finance from parties

At last, this world needs more visionary entrepreneurs who are crazy enough to think that they can change this world and as Steve Jobs once said the ones crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones to become entrepreneurs. Now is the time to initiate and grind on that idea which you thought is cool and could help this world in a different and creative way.

I remember those lonely nights, broken homes full of strife,
Sleeping in abandoned houses,
Crashing on friends couches,
Walking around for hours at a time,
Restless nights with No peace of mind,
I tried to numb the pain, 
With alcohol and drugs, 
Trying to fill a void,
With artificial Love,
It only left me empty,
Still feeling the same, 
Putting on a fake smile, 
To cover the guilt and shame.

Manchester United is the boyhood club that I adore. The club’s history is one you cannot ignore if you’re a football fan. Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world but we aren’t one of the best right now. Our sworn rivals Liverpool won their sixth champion’s league trophy in the 2018/2019 season and now they are the premier league champions of the 2019/2020 season whereas we’ve been sacking managers and struggling for champion league spot. But now after the appointment of club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjær, there has been a new breeze in Old Trafford, a breeze rebuilding the club into its glory days. Since his appointment, Manchester United have signed players in a position we were lacking like Harry Maguire at Centre back, Aaron Wan-Bissaka at right-back, Daniel James at winger and Bruno Fernandes at Attacking midfielder. Although these signings have given Manchester United a huge boost, the club is still lacking depth and players in some positions. So as a football fan who loves ball possession and attacking football, I have decided to line up my Manchester United dream XI with new signings in a 4-3-3 attack formation.

Goalkeeper: Manchester United has some of the best keepers in the world. We have David De Gea, Sergio Romero, and Lee Grant. David has been our first choice keeper since his arrival back in 2011/2012 from Atletico Madrid. He has not been in his form for the past few seasons but I still believe he is a world-class keeper. So I choose David de Gea in my lineup.

Right-back: As simply as I can put it, I would keep Aaron wan bissaka as my right back all day long. He is the best defensive right back at the premier league for me. His tackling skills and defensive slides are top-notch. His attacking threat and assists are still improving since he is just 22 years of age.

Center back: Manchester United has several good defenders like Victor Lindelof, Eric bailey, Axel tuanzebe, Timothy fosu-Mensah, and Phil Jones. But only Harry Maguire among them is an exceptionally class defender. I would keep Harry Maguire as my Centre back since he has very good strength and defensive stats as well as he can set up Counterattack by his long passing ability. He also is good at set-pieces. 

Center back: Manchester United missed out on Matthias de ligt in the summer transfer window. The former Ajax captain is one of the most influential players as well as a complete defender as seen in the Ajax team of 2018/2019. I like him as a young captain who led the Ajax team in beating the biggest club in the world Real Madrid. He is still 20 years old and he would be one for the future.

Left-back: Manchester united have decent right-backs like Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams. For a stable possession-wise game I would prefer Luke Shaw given his current form due to competition from Brandon Williams.

Defensive Midfielder: Manchester united has good midfielders like Nemanja Matic, Scott Mctominay, and Fred but I would prefer Ngolo Kante from Chelsea. He is the complete defensive midfielder in the world. He always has an impact in the game defensively as well as offensive wise. His pace is unbelievable and he along with Paul Pogba can change the game as in the world cup 2018.

Midfielder: Manchester United’s world-class player, as well as my favorite player Paul Pogba, is a player that can go into any team’s starting XI. His vision of the game is unbelievable. His specialty is the long crosses and passes he finds for the attackers upfront. He is the kind of player that controls the game’s flow.

Midfielder: Manchester United’s signing of the season Bruno Fernandes is my next player in the lineup. He is an all-out midfielder who plays as the playmaker for Manchester united. He can find passes in short space as well as initiate counterattacks, score free kicks and he is also brilliant in set pieces. Since his arrival, the whole club has changed into a team that is worth watching. 

Left-winger: Manchester United’s own bred and born Marcus Rashford is one of the best players in his position. He is a lethal winger who likes to cut through defenders using his pace as well as his dribbling skills. He has a very good shooting at short range as well as long-range.so, I would put Marcus Rashford in my Starting XI.

Striker: Manchester united have a young striker whose ball control is very good as well as his shooting skills. Yet being played at the wrong position throughout his career until recently he moved up to his main position as the no 9 of Manchester united. He will be in my Starting XI because the way he finishes goals are absolute class, as well as his dribbling and I think he has the potential to be one of the best strikers in the world.

Right-winger: We need a player who has the creativity and attacking threat on the right-hand side and someone who can assist Marcus and Anthony.  Manchester United should sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. He fits the criteria perfectly. He is young, fast, creative and he can score and assist. His stats are very impressive as well as he used to play for local rivals Manchester City. This player is already reaching world-class status and he proves it by his stats.