How will voice search impact SEO in 2021?

  COVID pandemic has changed the life of children the most. When a child's development needs outdoor experience & activities, more than two years in succession, they are confined indoors within four walls. On top of it, they are strapped to the computer or mobile screens for their education. Ideally, children are advised to avoid  screen time during infancy  and later during childhood to restrict it to less than an hour. On the contrary, the current situation demands them to stay in front of the screen for their entire school hours. It causes severe eye strain due to light emitted by the screen and body muscle strain, and weakness due to bad posture and sedentary lifestyle. Since this situation will take time to get normal, a constant question in every parent's mind is how to protect their child's eyes from this continuous strain. Additionally, how to compensate for the lack of physical activity! Like how we can make the children stay active indoors by playing games i...

  Dr. Joe Thomas, Associate Consultant – Rheumatology, Aster Medcity, Kochi, Kerala, India   Various strains of the virus have made an appearance throughout the pandemic. With the shocking second wave that shattered India, a third mutation in the B.1.617 strain has been identified as the major cause behind the surge in infections. Within few weeks of the second wave, the B.1.617 variant became the dominant strain across India and has spread across 40 nations. The variant is most likely to be highly transmissible and slightly better at evading immunity than existing variants, as the country recorded nearly 400,000 new infections on 9 th  May, taking its total number of cases to more than 22 million. Animal models of the COVID 19 research, hint that it might be able to cause more severe disease. World Health Organization (WHO) designated B.1.617 a ‘variant of concern’. Variants are classified when there is evidence that they spread more rapidly and causes more severe diseas...

  Millions of people around the world have now been safely vaccinated against COVID-19, bringing us all one step closer to getting back to normal life. Citizens are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Sinopharm or Covi-shield, or 2 weeks after the single-dose Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. Currently, there are limited data available on vaccine protection in people who are immunocompromised. Guiding principles for fully vaccinated people Resume indoor and outdoor activities following safety measures Fully vaccinated people can reduce the risk of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to unvaccinated people. Fully vaccinated people should still get tested if experiencing Covid-19 symptoms. Fully vaccinated people should not visit private or public settings if they have tested positive for Covid-19 at least 10 days prior or experiencing Covid-19 symptoms. Fully vaccinated people should continue to follow any applicable Federal, Sta...

  There has been an emphasis on personal hygiene since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the virus continues to spread, implementing a few stringent practices at home has become essential. There is no doubt that once you are outdoors, you come in contact with frequently touched areas. Therefore, it is important to be cautious and practice some basic tips to keep you and your family safe when you come home from work or the outdoors, in general: Don’t wear shoes inside:  Whenever you enter the house, remove your shoes straight away as you don’t want to bring germs from the outside into your home. Take your shoes off at the front door and slip into some home slippers instead. Leave your wallet and bag near the front door:  Just as your hands can become contaminated, so can your purse, handbag or backpack, especially if you’ve had it resting on public surfaces. Therefore, when you arrive home, leave your bag near the front door. Avoid placing your bag on the dinin...

  Wearing a mask in public has become essential for us to stay safe from Covid-19. It has become our daily routine. The general stores, restaurants, and hospitals have made it compulsory to wear a mask before entering it. If you are developing skin problems like acne due to long-term usage of a mask, you are not alone. What is mascne? Mascne or Maskne is a situation created by wearing a mask or face coverings. Mascne does not merely end in the creation of pimples. It may also cause other skin problems like itching, skin rashes, redness, and bumpiness. There is as such no way of preventing Mascne from developing. Due to Covid-19, people have to wear a mask for longer periods. Sometimes lead to sweating which blocks the follicles and causes acne. If you are worried about Mascne, then read on. We will explore the potential causes of Mascne and how we can take precautions to avoid developing Mascne. Another cause could be skin irritation due to the material of the masks. Trial of diffe...

Y ou may have noticed the sales and revenue of some industries plummet during the lockdown. A few sectors have seen an almost complete shutdown of the business.  In such a scenario, marketing plays a critical role for many surviving businesses – especially digital marketing . Currently, the cost of traditional advertising, especially when there is no vision of the Return on Investment. Digital marketing helps you track your advertising rupees, paisa-by-paisa. And of course, what better time to market online than when most of the population is spending most of their time at home? In fact, a recent Google report has indicated as much – the Indian consumer feels the need to be ‘always on’ when at home.  Here are a few digital marketing strategies your business can adopt in these tricky times: Adopt a multi-channel approach Did your business adopt a one-channel digital marketing strategy prior to the lockdown? Change it, instantly. If you were already following that path, good, re...

  It is essential for one to take good care of their  mental wellbeing  especially during this ‘new normal’ that is based on a lot of changes and ambiguities. Build a routine When you organise your tasks and outline your goals, you mentally prepare yourself for what to expect during the day. Then it becomes easier to work towards achieving the goals you set out, rather than vaguely meandering towards them. Dedicate a room to be your  home office A wide desk, an ergonomic chair, and a little silence will increase your productivity and help you feel that you are working in a professional environment. Get on the move Add a thirty-minute physical workout routine to your day. Try going out for a walk or a bike ride. You can also opt for yoga or meditation. It’s all about doing away with the tension or stress built up over the recent period. Get that heart pumping. Socialise Talk to your favourite people or visit them as the unlock phase brings in some travel ease. Di...

  There are two major risks of using electronic devices without precautions, especially in children and teenagers. They can cause dryness and eye strain, leading to the development of some permanent visual conditions in the future. Therefore, the following precautions are mandatory. Eye Care Tips For Children Hours on digital devices:  Allow usage of devices only when needed. Due to schools and universities offering e-learning, children have to spend long hours on computers and phones. Compensate this by reducing their use by not indulging in the video, phone, or computer games. Frequent breaks:  Allow your children to take frequent breaks during long hours of use of devices, if possible, for 5 minutes, after every 45 minutes. If that is not possible, apply the 20-20-20 rule. 20-20-20 rule:  Try and apply the 20-20-20 rule, looking at 20 feet for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. Children using glasses:  To ensure the safety of your child’s eyes, ensure that their gl...

W hile  digital advertising agencies  and traditional advertising companies may seem to work towards the same goal, their manner of doing so is vastly different. Marketing has been one of the age-old practices of businesses as it is the best way to spread awareness about your company and products. While advertising on traditional platforms such as print, radio, and television is still very much in practice, we are seeing a gradual shift of focus from traditional advertising to digital advertising. Usage of social media has grown exponentially in India in the past few years as have the number of  digital advertising agencies  and social media marketing agencies. But what has changed with the advent of digital marketing? We have listed some of the differences between the two mediums: Communication: In traditional marketing, the train of communication is unidirectional as the customer is generally not able to communicate to the supplier. However, digital advertising age...

  The loss of a loved one is an unpreventable event. It is a challenge that demands a reset mechanism after going through a devastating emotional state. The grieving process similar to healing a wound after an injury, where the body and mind need to rest. Mourning the loss is necessary. There may be a constant feeling of sadness and hopelessness that life will be different, a constant pining for the person, things in the surrounding being a reminder of the deceased and/or vivid dreams about them. This emotional turmoil can also get complicated due to misperceived guilt and suicidal thoughts. Appetite and sleep can become distressed. In the  elderly there can be symptoms  of worsening memory and functioning, increasing the risk of missing out on medications, chances of falling down, suicide attempts among others. Duration of the grieving process is unpredictable and varies from person to person. However, it is considered to be prolonged when it goes on beyond 6 m...

  Are you someone who is working from home? Are you concerned about your next meal, and whether the next meal is healthy or not? Do you feel that work from home offers unhealthy food choices by default? Or are you someone who is looking for fresh and healthy meal tips while you are stuck at home? Work from home offers the luxury of working from the comfort of one’s house, it also allows a more flexible schedule. Taking a break often means snacking or a trip to the fridge. This also affects eating patterns - from fixed eating schedules when at work to lazy snacking while working from home. Do you agree? We had formed a lot of healthy habits while we were traveling for work. Those healthy habits must stick to our routine even when we are grounded at home. While working from home, we have to keep ourselves hydrated and nourished. It will ensure that we are not losing our concentration and productivity during our work. A couple of significant advantages of snacking while working from ...

  Patients with diabetes have been in the spotlight since the early stages of the pandemic, as growing epidemiological data have revealed they are at higher risk of severe clinical outcomes of COVID-19 .  Hospitalization of patients with diabetes due to flu-like infections is up to six times more likely to occur compared to healthy individuals. 1. How high blood sugar specifically increases the risk of complications of COVID-19?  People with diabetes have much higher rates of serious complications and death than people without diabetes. 2. Increased COVID-19 severity in individuals with diabetes. SARS-CoV-2 infects the lung tissue via entry through ACE2 receptor and individuals with diabetes have increased ACE2 receptor expression. Medications taken by diabetic people and who do not have their diabetes managed properly are more susceptible to COVID – 19 infection. 3. Is there a different risk for Type 1 patients compared to Type 2 patients? If so, what are the differences...