by Ron Hjertstedt | Sep 29, 2022 | School News, Student Corner
The Indian rupee has been on a downward spiral, and today it hit a record low of 81.26 against the US dollar. The rupee is down nearly 6 per cent since January this year.
Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, recently said that the rupee is relatively better-placed than other global currencies against the greenback.
The value of the Indian rupee to the US Dollar works on a demand and supply basis. If there is a higher demand for the US Dollar, the value of the Indian rupee depreciates, and vice-versa. If a country’s import is more than it’s export then this kind of condition takes place. The rupee’s fall these days is mainly due to high crude oil prices, a strong dollar overseas, and foreign capital outflows. As money flows out of India, the rupee-dollar exchange rate gets impacted, depreciating the rupee.
How does a weak rupee impact you and the economy?
Since India mostly depends on imports (including crude oil, metals, electronics to name a few), the country makes payments in US dollars. Now if the rupee is weak, it has to pay more for the same quantity of items. In such cases, the cost of raw materials and production goes up which gets passed on to the consumers.The falling rupee’s biggest impact is on inflation. The global crude prices have sustained at over $100 a barrel since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February this year. High oil prices and a weaker rupee will only add to inflationary pressures in the economy.
Last week, RBI Deputy Governor, Michael D Patra, intervened and said, “We will stand for its stability and we are doing it. We are there in the market and we will not allow disorderly movement of the rupee. We have no level in mind, but we will not allow jerky movement. That is for certain.”
Depreciation in the rupee does not only affect your foreign travel. It can also pinch your pocket with higher fuel prices, higher interest rates on your loans, and so on. If the rupee continues to depreciate, then to cover the economy, the RBI increases its repo rate due to which a common man’s loan interest increases. It also results in increase in petrol prices. For example, if a taxi driver purchases petrol for ₹115 per litre one day, then after the rupee depreciates further,
he might get the same quantity of petrol for ₹120 per litre.
Article written by Shivansh Agrahari on behalf of the SNHS Student Website Team.
by Ron Hjertstedt | Sep 26, 2022 | News Flash!
An exciting new sport has been introduced to our area by Ron sir.
Ultimate Frisbee!
He is a certified trainer with UPAI (Ultimate Players Association of India) and is creating several teams in our area. Each team is comprised of 12 players, but only 7 are on the field at one time. And, importantly, this is a “mixed” sport, which means that girls and boys are on the field at the same time in a ratio of either 4:3 or 3:4.
The sport of Ultimate Frisbee focuses greatly on what is called “The Spirit of the Game”, which means that sportsmanship, self-control, fair play, encouraging attitude, and joy are very important factors. Also, there are no referees in this sport, so each player must know all the rules in order to play the game and be self-referring. In fact, each team must have 2 coaches (one male and one female), one of whom is mainly involved in strategy and the other is the “Spirit Coach” which means he/she keeps the team focused on sportsmanship and kindness.
Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of the bond of mutual respect between players (on the same or even opposing side).
Anyone who is interested in playing this sport competitively, please contact Ron sir or any of the current team members. We have official matches coming up with the pro team in Jabalpur, and even beyond that into other states in India.
by Ron Hjertstedt | Sep 5, 2022 | Community News, What’s Going On?
It was an exciting weekend on 3, 4 September. Ron sir created a relationship with UPAI (India’s exciting National Ultimate Frisbee Team), and we had impactful train-the-trainer sessions with one of their top international players and coaches.
VITS University did a great job of hosting the event, and we had several of our sports coaches be officially trained in the sport by UPAI, which enables us to properly train others in our area, and create more teams. Soon, starting this week, we will implement what we learned and start training our students.
One of the great aspects of Ultimate Frisbee is the called “The Spirit of the Game”. It is recognized internationally as a key aspect to the sport, which means that everyone who plays the game is also judged on rules knowledge, politeness, exemplifying honesty and self-refereeing, and always being joyful and excited and encouraging to those on your team as well as the opponents.
In India, the sport is breaking barriers between all sorts of man-made divides that tend to separate us. There is equality between the genders as India mainly plays “mixed games”, which means that a team is comprised of either 4 females and 3 males, or 3 females and 4 males. Each team has 7 players on the field, and more as substitutes off the bench.
India’s national team has won bronze at the Asia/Oceana Championship in France in 2017, and proudly has won 5 Gold Medals in “The Spirit of the Game” category. To win the “Spirit of the Game” category means that the opponents voted India’s team to be the most honest, joyful, energetic, encouraging, polite, and rule-wise team in the tournament.
So, be alert. We have officially trained Level One coaches now in Satna and Nagod. This is exciting. This sport is super fun (it is a cross between American Football, Basketball, and Soccer). Plus, it is a sport that teaches us to be kind and polite, and self-governing…able to work out disagreements on the field between players in a calm manner.
It was a true honor that Coach Abhinav from UPAI came all this way to train us. Let’s make UPAI proud and start to field players right here in our area that may eventually go on to play internationally for India’s National Ultimate Frisbee Team.
India plays all over the world. Coach Abhinav has played in Japan, Ireland, England, Italy, Australia, and so many other countries. It is a sport that is accessible for everyone, but it takes serious effort to get good at throwing the flying disc! Let’s do it.
by Ron Hjertstedt | Sep 5, 2022 | News Flash!, Student Corner
Teachers. They the light of the world.
A beacon in the dark, and the hope that gives us strength to survive. Teachers add value to our character and make us the ideal citizens to make a better country. Teachers are the building blocks of our lives. They are the ones who motivate the students to do better in every way. Teachers are the builders of a better future.
The bond between a teacher and student is like a potter and the clay. Teachers shape the life of the student by teaching them about brotherhood, kindness, and simplicity. And students are the clay, who eventually become a vessel through the artistic and caring hands of the potter.
In whose memory is Teacher’s Day celebrated, and why? On the auspicious occasion of Dr. Radhakrishnan’s birthday, his students requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, but in reply Dr. Radhakrishnan said that “The celebration should not only be for me; I would feel proud if it would be a celebration for all the teachers”.
Teacher’s Day was first celebrated in India on 5 September, 1962.
Once, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru said that he has served his country in many capacities, so he is considered as a great teacher.
How do we celebrate Teacher’s Day at our school? This day is one of the most memorable in the relationship between teacher and student. On this special occasion, we give chocolates, gifts, cards, and especially respect to our teachers. We also organize a party dedicated to teachers. That year’s Class 12 does all the planning. First, they go into every class and introduce their juniors to that year’s planned party, and they ask for funds from each student to help pay for the party.
Traditionally, the students organize games for the teachers to play, and there is dancing, and some great food — all organized by the Class 12 students. It is a party for the students as well as the teachers because of all the memories that are being created and shared from years of interactions. At the end of the party, the students give a “Thank You” speech, showing appreciation to the teachers for putting in years of effort into these balls of clay that will soon go off into the larger world.
Teachers are a precious gift who God has given to students. Their impact on our lives goes beyond cost.
We, the students of our school, want to thank our teachers for always guiding us and showing us the right path for our life. You always try your best, even in difficult
times and situations, and you have high hopes for us. We are blessed to have you in our lives, and we are grateful for you sharing your knowledge and life-wisdom and experience with us. We will forever remember our teachers because of the immensity of their contribution to our life.
In Sanskrit, there is an auspicious mantra dedicated to teachers: “Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Dev Maheshwara; Guru Sakshat, Param Brahma, Jasmai Shri, Gurney Mamah.”
Guru is truly representative of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shiva. Parambrahma means eternal lord whose world is never being destroyed, that lord who had no day or night. He creates, sustains knowledge, and destroys the weeds of ignorance.
The guru (the teacher) guides us and makes efforts to push us to the road of success. We salute all of you great teachers.
by Ron Hjertstedt | Aug 3, 2022 | Current News Topics, News Flash!, School News
We had the opportunity to have an hour-long live video chat with a man (a friend of Ron sir) who is on the front lines in Ukraine, helping innocent civilians by bringing them food and offering to take them to safety in shelters far from the danger of war zone.
This is a great way to educate our youth, by giving them these sorts of rare opportunities to understand other cultures, other concepts, world history, current events, applicable English language, and to sort through it all in order to formulate their own opinions and world-views.
We thank Brad for taking the time to give our students a rare look into the life of someone who has decided to risk his own life in order to help others.
And, we thank our students for formulating such poignant and relevant questions. The questions drove right to the heart of the matter:
- Why are you risking your life in order to help strangers in a different country?
- What brings you fulfillment? Doesn’t material possessions and living a nice life give you fulfillment? Does helping others bring you fulfillment?
- Why are you helping people when their own government and their own people aren’t doing what you are doing?
- Will this war remain as is, or will it gain momentum and become a major world war?
- Are people there afraid of you? Do they trust you? How do you gain their trust?
It was a very unique and educational opportunity for our students, and for Brad in Ukraine as well.
