KOTLI SATTIAN: 2020

Wednesday 25 November 2020

MAJOR GENERAL AKHTAR NAWAZ SATTI HAS BEEN PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL

Six Major Generals of Pakistan Army have been promoted to the Rank of Lieutenant General.

List of promoted officers

Major General Akhtar Nawaz Satti
Major General Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat
Major General Asif Ghafoor
Major General Salman Fayyaz Ghani
Major General Sarfraz Ali
Major General Muhammad Ali

Newly appointed Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz Satti has been posted as Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Islamabad.

Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz Satti, Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military), from Frontier Force Regiment, served as Vice Chief of General Staff (B) GHQ, Commandant Pakistan Military Academy Kakul and GOC 26 Mechanized Division Bahawalpur.

Sunday 4 October 2020

DR UZMA ANJUM SATTI

Dr. Uzma Anjum Satti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Air university, Islamabad. She obtained her PhD in Linguistics from National University of Modern Languages (NUML).

Her PhD research was on a dying language spoken in Bandi shungli area of Mansehra district, with 500 speakers. Dr Uzma’s study became instrumental for enlisting this language in the linguistic map of Pakistan by Ethnologue, which is a World Wide Web for languages and linguistics diversity. This study was brought forward by a US university and won a very prestigious funding from National Sciences foundation, USA. 

A nameless language spoken by a very limited population in a remote hilly terrain of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) gets international recognition after its enlistment in `Ethnologue Languages of the World’ in the name of `Mankiyali’.

According to BBC, the Mankiyali did not have any name and people used to recognize it with different titles like Tarawari, Tarawara and Apanpari (own language).

‘Mankiyali’ is spoken by around 500 people in a secluded hilltop village, Danna, in the Union Council Bandi Shungli, a remote mountainous area in Manshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

Dr Uzma’s latest research is on reduplication, lexical borrowing and structural ambiguity of Pahari/Pothohari language. Her students have defended these researches successfully, and currently she is working on publishing these researches.

Dr Uzma Anjum co-authored 10 publications. Her research interests are Sociolinguistics, Language and Gender, Language shift and Language Documentation. She hails from Lehtrar (Pallan), Rawalpindi district.

Monday 7 September 2020

BRIGADIER (R) AMJAD ALI SATTI AWARDED SITARA-E-IMTIAZ (MILITARY)

The COAS conferred the award of Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) to Brigadier Amjad Ali Satti for his contribution towards security and national interests of Pakistan. An award distribution ceremony was held on the occasion of Defence Day on 6th September 2020 at GHQ Rawalpindi. 

Brigadier Amjad Ali Satti, an infantry officer, served as Sector Commander of Frontier Corps Balochistan (East). He actively played a vital role in not only quelling the insurgency but also rehabilitated the ex-rebels and their families. He believed in winning the hearts and minds of locals and obliterating the hard core insurgents. 

He always led his troops from the front with valour and conviction. He fought against insurgents and personally led numerous operations. In one of such operations when he was encircled by insurgents, he with only 6 security personnels ensured victory over them. Due to his operations, 800 insurgents surrendered, who were embraced and rehabilitated by providing them respect, job and accommodation. He restored peace in Marri and Bugti areas of Balochistan. 

In recognition of his services, in 2017, Chief of Army Staff awarded him COAS Commendation card for his meritorious services in restoring peace and ensuring development of poor areas including construction of roads, education and health services for Baloch people.

A SHORT BIOGRAPHY 

Brigadier (R) Amjad Ali Satti was born on 9 june 1967 in Chajana, Kotli Sattian. He completed his matriculation from Military college Jhelum. He secured commission in 1989 in 15 Baloch Regiment, which is an infantry battalion. Besides regimental duties, he as a Captain served as ADC to a general and instructor school of infantry. As a Major he served as an instructor at Pakistan Military Academy Kakul and in Military operations  directorate. He commanded his unit at Mohmand Agency to fight insurgency and then against our arch rival on the Line Of Control in Kashmir. After commanding his unit, he represented Pakistan Army in NATO Forces in Afghanistan. He was then promoted as Brigadier and served as a Director in Chief of Army Staff secretariat at GHQ. 

Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) is awarded to those individuals who have made a meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of Pakistan, world peace, cultural or other significant public endeavours.

Sunday 30 August 2020

CHALLENGES TO WOMEN IN REMOTE WORKING AMID COVID-19

As a large number of individuals around the globe begin working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, women in Pakistan have reliably experienced bother. Social and serious fragments have decreased the quantity of women entering the development advance. Women are accomplishing more work at home, confronting more employment misfortunes and accomplishing a greater amount of basic work during this pandemic.

As of now, acknowledgment of working women is exceptionally low in Pakistan, and now in the hour of pandemic when women are working online, they are confronting numerous difficulties.

Work from home brings a lot of distractions. With more individuals working remotely at the present time, a significant number of us have encountered a video conference hindered by woofing dogs or hungry children requesting food, your household chores keep calling you, even constant notifications on your phone can distract you and affect your work from home productivity - we're living it, as well.

In any case, women feel burdened the most. Women in hetero double profession family units are multiple and are more likely than their spouse to have essential obligation regarding childcare, where single working moms bear a significantly greater amount of childcare load. In addition to this, women in Pakistan are more likely than men to take days off from work to care for a sick child, even though over half of them are not paid for that time.

Remote working presents extra difficulties for women who are regularly neglected, hindered or overlooked in meetings.

At the point when you work online, transparency is compromised. You no longer have the opportunity to proceed to check with your colleagues, discuss the projects over short tea breaks

Working from home is challenging for women. The office work environment gives confidence and acknowledgment to women, which is rewarding and motivating. When they work from home, they have to function on their intrinsic motivation.

Unemployment has hit women harder than men. Over a quarter of women have been terminated or suspended from their occupations in different sectors.

Despite the fact that more organizations are permitting employees to work online, it is difficult for parents to direct and screen the training of their kids while proceeding to be beneficial at their employments. What's more is that it's much additionally trying for parents who have employments that can't be performed remotely and who can't manage alternative care arrangements.

We need to consider how to create a blend of work and child rearing that works, since children matter too. Their psychological wellness matters and their need of help and action, planning and even just consideration is significant for their own wellbeing and improvement.

It is imperative to find out about different approaches to maintain a strategic distance from interruption when working at home since it makes an undeniably huger test than most office laborers accept.

These are extraordinary and testing times for everybody, and difficulties faced by organizations and people are overwhelming. School terminations will without a doubt hit lower-pay and industrial specialists the hardest, and we have to see solid activity from governments and organizations to facilitate the agony.

Saturday 22 August 2020

DR HUMAYOUN SHAFIQUE SATTI

Dr Humayoon Shafique Satti completed his PhD in Biochemistry in 2017. Then he advanced his career into academics and got appointed as Assistant Professor at National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) in August 2018. 

Prior to this he served as Scientific Officer at Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, Rawalpindi for 9 years, where he established a state of the art stem cell research laboratory capable of clinical scale expansion and storage of stem cells for therapeutic purposes. 

He worked at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) as visiting Academic, where he was engaged in two research domains. One was studying genetics of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (HEDS), using big data analytics and machine learning tools. This project was sponsored by international EDS society, based in USA. The other project was involved in use of CRISPR-cas9, a latest gene editing technology, to study neuronal developmental disorders.

Dr Humayoon Shafique Satti co-authored 18 publications in international journals and received a research grant of 7.7 million, as a co-investigator, from higher education commision (HEC) of Pakistan.

His research interests are Stem Cell Biology, Regenerative medicine and Molecular mechanisms of genetic disorders.

Dr Satti studied at University of Aberdeen, Scotland, Tubingen University, Germany and Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.

Saturday 25 July 2020

DR MUHAMMAD GULZAID SATTI ( 1953 - 2013 )

Dr Muhammad Gulzaid Satti was born in a hilly village of Kotli Sattian in Rawalpindi district, who came from a very modest background. He was a brilliant and an extremely motivated student, who also took part in extracurricular activities. He was an excellent player of volleyball. However this phase in his life was short lived as he had to leave his studies due to financial circumstances. Later he completed the required courses and joined the Education department as a teacher. His extremely motivated personality meant that he always persevered. Throughout his career he continued with higher studies.

He received his PhD in Human Resource Management (HRM) from Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, MPhil in Education, Masters in Education Planning and Management, Masters in Arabic, Masters in Islamic Studies, M.Ed and TEFL from University of Punjab, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, AIOU and NUML. 

He served as a Regional and Course Coordinator of AIOU for over 20 years, and conducted hundreds of teacher training workshops and events. He also served as a principal of Government Madrasa Millia Islamia High School, Rawalpindi. 

People describe him as “a born scholar and an influential personality. From academic to professional and social life he proved himself a leader.”

He passed away on 15th November 2013. May Allah grant him the highest rank in Jannah, Ameen.

Tuesday 21 July 2020

A DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION TO HIGHLIGHT THE TOURISM POTENTIAL OF KOTLI SATTIAN

An open competition will be held requiring the participants to submit documentaries on tourism potential of Kotli Sattian.

Sponsored by  ISLAMABAD TEA  

Under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner Kotli Sattian

■ The top three documentaries will be awarded following prizes.

 First Prize  Rs. 100,000
 Second Prize  Rs.  75,000
 Third Prize  Rs.  50,000

■ In addition to the three prizes, gift hampers will be given to next 25 documentaries 

■ Documentary should be about the beauty of Kotli Sattian to promote tourism. No irrelevant material should be included.

■ Last date for submission of documentary is 10 August 2020

■ Duration should be between 3 - 5 minutes 

■ Documentary should be submitted by USB or CD at MC office Kotli Sattian 

■ Must include your name & NIC 

■ For further information contact on 03144546456

Saturday 18 July 2020

Brigadier (R) Javed Ahmed Satti - (Recipient of Pride of Performance Award)

On 17th July 2020, during the prime minister’s visit to Panjar, Kahuta for tree plantation drive, prime minister Imran Khan praised Brigadier (R) Javed Ahmed Satti for his contribution towards education and environment protection. 

Brigadier (R) Javed Ahmed Satti received The Pride of Performance Award, on 23 March 2018. 

Brigadier Satti was born in a hilly village of Kahuta hills in Rawalpindi district, who came from a very modest background. He was assisted in his education by Lt. Commander Muhammad Azeem Satti, his cousin and an officer from Pakistan Navy, which enabled him to secure commission in the Army. He was a brilliant officer who, besides being talented, extremely motivated, such was the tenor with which he served till his retirement as a Brigadier. He was convinced that access to education made the difference to his life, he decided to repay the debt.

After his retirement, Brig Javed Satti established Al-Azeem Trust with the aim of imparting quality education to deprived children of backward areas so as to enable them to realise their talent, both for livelihood generation and for being socially responsible.

Brigadier Javed Satti, along with his wife, started the first school of Al-Azeem Trust in their village, Behand, Tehsil Kahuta, District Rawalpindi, in April 2002. The Programme aims at grooming talented children up to the time they are able to generate their livelihoods, whether it involves supporting their higher professional studies or exposing them to vocational training. The Children of parents who cannot afford the tuition fees are admitted. Yet, an excellent quality of education is maintained, for which teachers are trained. They display exceptional commitment, are well paid and the academic standards are strictly monitored.

The Al-Azeem School System is dedicated to quality education and brick and mortar figures out as the lesser priority. Education in the English medium is provided at the door steps and beneficiaries pay for the tuition consistent with their capacities. The marginalised access free education.

As part of its social responsibility, Al-Azeem School System has over the years concertedly contributed in restoring the local forests. These efforts range from community based awareness raising, provision of watch and ward services and re-plantation of trees during monsoons. There is evidence of the pine and tree cover gradually reviving in the region and near denial of space for the timber mafias. An effective communities’ driven model is created which may be studied for wider replication. Environmental awareness can be gauged by the fact that even the local streams are cleaner from our standards.

Volunteerism more than anything else reflects social mobility in a society and fosters a sentiment of self-reliance. It is evident from the wider communities’ support for the Al-Azeem School System which includes activities like maintaining the road access to the schools, providing watch and ward functions and diverse services. The School System is being aptly supported by so many voluntary contributions.

Much stress is laid on character building or ‘Tarbiyat’ and in developing leadership traits, while recognising that solid character base must underpin educational pursuits. Moreover, national leadership must have a fair share from deprived regions for introducing equity in nation building.

An unswerving commitment to the future of the younger generation through quality education has welded together a sustainable bond between the beneficiary communities and the Al-Azeem School System. A situation where everyone stands to gain.

The Azeem Public School System has set high standards for teachers and students. Competent teachers are hired and are paid competitive salaries. Students are exposed to challenging curricula that provides a strong foundation of math and science, and instills confidence in them.

Over the past decade, the dedicated educational service provided by the Al-Azeem Trust has raised the standard of primary education in the villages surrounding Kahuta. In future, Al-Azeem Trust plans to build institutions of higher learning to help their students pursue college education after they complete their secondary and higher secondary education.

The Al-Azeem School System is an outcome of labour of love of a son of the soil who rose in his professional pursuits and chose to pay back.

The model of Azeem Public School System needs to be emulated all over Pakistan to create level playing fields for the poor children. Kudos to Azeem Public School System for illuminating the lives of the poor children with the flames of educational discovery and curiosity.

Thursday 2 July 2020

AIR COMMODORE (R) TABARAK SATTI, (1954 - 2020), SITARA-E-IMTIAZ

Air Commodore (R) Tabarak Satti (Sitara-e-Imtiaz), passed away yesterday in Rawalpindi. May Allah elevate his ranks in Jannah. Ameen.

Sunday 21 June 2020

NAVEED AKHTAR SATTI - SHAHEED

Two security forces personnel identified as Captain Muhammad Sabih Abrar and Sepoy Naveed Akhtar Satti, embraced martyrdom as terrorists attacked a patrolling team near the South and North Waziristan boundary on Sunday (21 June 2020). Both soldiers hailed from Kahuta Tehsil of Rawalpindi district.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), terrorists fired at the security forces’s patrolling party five kilometres south east of Ghariom, near the North Waziristan district and South Waziristan district boundary.

The two soldiers were martyred in exchange of fire, whereas two other soldiers sustained injuries. A terrorist was also killed in the encounter, the ISPR stated.

The security forces later conducted an operation and cleared a terrorist compound.

Friday 12 June 2020

Waqar Ahmed Satti - (1972 - 2020)

Waqar Ahmed Satti, Assistant Director (Planning & Development), District Education Authority Rawalpindi, who had tested positive for Coronavirus, passed away today (Friday, 12 June 2020).

May Allah elevate his ranks in Jannah. Ameen

Friday 5 June 2020

Abid Mustafa Satti

The video clip, which has been viewed more than a million times on Twitter, shows driver Abid Mustafa Satti, from Birmingham, remaining calm while being racially abused by the man, who swears throughout.

‘The words do hurt us. But I chose the profession and I have to face these challenges – if I chose to be in the Army I would face battles, and this is the same.’ says Abid Mustafa Satti

Abid Mustafa is being made the first honorary ambassador of the West Midlands Taxi Drivers’ Association (WMTDA) for the way he handled the incident in Birmingham. The father-of-four had spent the last few weeks shuttling vital Covid-19 samples for the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation trust during the pandemic.

West Midlands police have arrested and charged a man in connection with this disgusting racist abuse. However, Abid Mustafa Satti announces to forgive the racist as per his religious teachings and requested to the police, not to take any further action.

Monday 20 April 2020

Kotli Sattian Police Station

Photo by : Abdullah Satti (Silent Clicks)

Saturday 18 April 2020

Revolution in the Making as Globe Turns to Online Education - Zeenia Satti

For the first time in history, the world is implementing an entirely new teaching model – online education. Necessity is the mother of this invention but unlike other adaptations to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, this one could last. It is a new pedagogical approach and when it develops fully, both teachers and students will find it indispensable.

In Pakistan, every educational institution should have a department dedicated to advances in learning and should conduct R&D for developing further expertise in using new technologies in education to make adaptation easier.

Though online education is called distant learning, it is actually a more intimate experience than class room learning, where a large number of students sit at a distance from their teacher. Online learning screens show a student’s close up, show facial expressions, display the name of the student in a box under the face as the student talks, making it easier for teachers to know students by their names. Students, who sit at home in their comfort zone are less shy of speaking than they are in class rooms inside a school building. Discussing Zoom, Harvard gazette writes, both students and faculty have been discovering all of its benefits. Break out groups and chat rooms are enabling much of the small group interactive pedagogy.

For science education, where labs are necessary instruments of learning, classes are being deferred during corona emergency till students have access to lab facilities. It is this aspect of online learning that requires development of sophisticated virtual programs that create lab like environment for students and teachers both. I see it happening one day.

For Pakistan, the benefits of online learning are enormous. Students and teachers save time commuting to and from schools. They also save capital that is spent on transportation, uniforms, school bags, etc. Families can save substantial portion of their earnings that is spent on children going to school. National savings rate can rise, making more capital available for industrial activity. All the time consumed in getting ready to go to school can be diverted to research and learning. Online learning is of great environmental benefit as it cuts carbon emissions from vehicles used to drive children and staff to and from schools. Carbon emissions have become one of the greatest hazards of our time and cutting down will continue to be the priority of human beings.

Online learning is also the best method of preventing drug trafficking and drug addiction in youth. Educational institutions are places where drug pushers find their markets. Peer pressure, curiosity about popular drugs and social conformity are prime causes of addiction in Pakistan. In online learning, students stay home, research on the internet, take care of the elder members of their family and spend quality time with their seniors. The latter have student’s best interest at heart. They can exercise parental controls to monitor internet usage by young adults and keep them out of harm’s way.

During corona emergency, an unintended consequence of online learning is community-connect on how to respond to the pandemic. Online learning not only allows students and teachers to care for those at home who are at higher risk, the forum can be utilized discussing how society can equip itself for responding to emergency situations. Chat rooms can become forums where personal situations are discussed to establish patterns that underlie issues, and ideas can be discussed to find innovative solutions.

One day, online learning will be able to break the ‘school’ barrier and become more inclusive. The practice may one day establish an online learning community in Pakistan that is nation-wide. Globally, it can erase the north-south divide in education. Already, some of the great educators in top western universities have made themselves available to impart free education to students in developing countries. This movement is likely to grow in strength and will withstand capitalist tendency to make profit by imparting exclusive education. It is, in fact, a great revolution in the making that owes its existence to triumph of higher human ideals, upheld by great philosophical minds of our time, who want to uplift humanity from the darkness of ignorance and find it most satisfying that they can reach out to far off corners of the globe and can impart enlightenment to people with less resources.

Online education is the only means to breaking exclusive barriers in education system of our country. Imran Khan has specifically focused on this problem, in the book he authored during his political campaign and in his policy emphasis after becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan. A remote teaching hub can create teachers’ teams for different subjects and an inclusive online community of students and teachers can be built across provinces and far flung areas of the country. The urban rural divide can shrink, to the benefit of human resource development in the entire nation. The hub can be designed around a subject, instead of a school.

Online education can only improve the ethics in educational practices. Because of its transparency, teachers are likely to be more motivated to be accurate in their content and competitive in their methods. Abuse of students by teachers is not possible online.

Online education is not vulnerable to terrorism, school shooting, and other disasters such as earthquake or epidemics and pandemics.

Online education will free governments from having to spend on bricks and mortars to educate their people. Only higher professional learning institutions can be built to draw students to a premise. For all other school and college level education, from Kindergarten to Bachelors, online education can be availed as the system of education that gives results without costly investments that have nothing to do with development of human brains. Eco systems in rural areas would benefit because most trees in rural areas are felled to make roads just to access educational institutions. National energy consumption demand would be eased. Money saved from having to construct school buildings can be utilized for providing other services, including tele health.

For post-colonial world, online education is a great way to cement national bonds and keep divisive ethnic prejudice at bay. In greater humanity, it can be means to overcoming racial prejudice and propagating humanitarian justice. Online education can allow for instant translation. Imagine a child in Europe, conversing, up close, with another child of same age somewhere in Africa and both growing up learning ideas together.

Virtual libraries are easier to manage, easier to access, and cheaper to avail. Think of how many trees would be saved if humanity stopped printing books?

The benefits of online learning are many and far out-weigh disadvantages. The only disadvantage in online learning is system’s vulnerability to hacking. Online learning would have to evolve to safeguard against hackers.

Online education is a global revolution in the making. While describing this transformation in learning, I must say that history is ending – and is about to be made.

My country should take this revolution very, very serious. Here, there are to be found solutions to some of the most enduring problems in our education system.

Thursday 16 April 2020

Mental Health nad Covid-19

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The COVID-19 is affecting 203 countries and territories around the world, more than 2,216,228 cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 151,006 deaths as of April 16th.

Pakistan is no different in this case, In Pakistan, the pandemic has taken the lives of 135 people, and the total number of confirmed cases mounted to 7,025, and graph is increasing exponentially. Keeping rising cases in view, Country went into lockdown to stem the spread of the virus, with authorities advising people to avoid social gatherings. However, nobody is giving importance to the consequences of the self-isolation.

As human beings are social creatures and social isolation is something unfamiliar and new, therefore a significant amount of the population is finding it difficult to adjust to this new situation due to the loss of control. Isolation means there is no easy access to everyday necessities, and this social distancing can have severe implications on mental state that can lead to a chain of intense and unhealthy feelings, especially over long periods of time.

Those who struggle with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. and COVID-19 can add to one's "typical" levels of stress and worry. Fear of the unknown and uncertainty over how long we’ll have to resort to limiting our daily lives, fear of contracting the coronavirus or even worry about how this will affect one's financial situation are legitimate concerns. But it’s important to know that we are all in this together. There are millions of people who are worried about the same thing and feeling the effects of COVID-19.

A study Research in The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) showed that depression is associated with exposure to infectious diseases. We don't yet know what the mental health impact of the coronavirus will be. But based on past research we could anticipate similar effects related to COVID-19, where increasing numbers are being exposed to the virus and many more are making drastic changes in their lives to try to slow its spread. Reactions to the crisis can include feeling overwhelmed, fearful, sad, angry and helpless, according to experts. Some people may have difficulty sleeping or concentrating. Fear of contact with others, travelling on public transport or going into public spaces may increase, and some people will have physical symptoms, such as an increased heart rate or an upset stomach. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The outbreak of COVID-19 may be stressful for people,”

The hashtag #stayathome has become a widely-used slogan on social media. Groups created for the people to share views and feelings about the situation and other similar kinds of interactions can help as it creates bonding and comforts the people that share similar issues. However, such groups can have a down side to them as well due to spreading of misinformation which is a cause of fear, anxiety and depression. The resultant stress can contribute to the manifestation of anxiety disorders. The information overload through social media, including misinformation, “posed a major risk to public mental health during this health crisis”.

Misinformation on COVID-19 is another virus.

The 24/7 media coverage of COVID-19 pandemic has added to the already heightened levels of stress, anxiety and isolation, and there are myths circulating on social media. One of them claims that if you hold your breath for ten seconds without coughing, discomfort or tightness you do not have the coronavirus. This is completely false. And then there's this one: If the coronavirus gets in your mouth, "drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your esophagus and into the stomach. Once there in the tummy ... your stomach acid will kill all the virus." Again, this is completely false.

Severed depression sometimes leads towards suicide and this is evident in cases of COVID-19 outbreak. For instance, German Finance Minister, Thomas Schaefer committed suicide worrying about the economic fallout due to the virus. In other cases, a suspect of the virus is reported committing suicide from hospital building and in their apartments

In light of these cases, The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that the crisis is generating stress, and has advised people to avoid watching, reading or listening to news that causes feelings of anxiety or distress.

Therefore, firstly we need to give our nervous systems breaks and enjoy activities that will reduce our stress levels.

Secondly, maintain a healthy and normal schedule for eating, sleeping, and activities. Avoid eating lots of junk food. In this case one should take Vitamin D as much one could, as it can improve both our immunity and our mood.

Thirdly, engage yourself in physical activities such as, making small home improvements can also help us feel empowered and provide a healthy reduction in news consumption.

Fourth, it is high time to revive the reading culture as It’s a great time to finally get to the books you usually don’t have time for.

Fifth, adopt other means of interacting with your loved ones while staying away from them. Social media is of great help as you can nowadays contact easily using social media applications. Make it a habit to contact at least two people a day. You will feel better, and they will feel better.

Sixth, as most gyms and fitness facilities are closed during this time, it is important to get into a habit of exercising at home. Just because you are stuck at home doesn’t mean that you can’t continue working towards your fitness goals. This will help in improving your mental health in the depressing situation of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Last but not the least, continue your previous sleep pattern. Do not start sleeping in and binge-watching shows to stay up late into the night. Stay motivated towards something. If you can work remotely, that is great. If you are currently displaced from a job, think about what you would like to improve upon, create, or learn about. Some boredom is inevitable, but you don’t have to just accept it.

Studies show that altruism can increase our own sense of well-being as long as we aren’t overwhelmed by helping. Altruism can help us feel compassion and reduce our social fears. It can distract us from our own problems and remind us to feel grateful for what we have. Consider ways that you can help others at this time.

In a nutshell, as we are all in this together. Pandemic like this do occur from time to time throughout the world. Actual chances of becoming infected are very small if you take common-sense precautions.

By : Sadia Satti