Upsc mains essay paper: important topics.
City editor @MarkKleinmanSky
Tuesday 3 September 2024 12:35, UK
Bidders for The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday sister title are this week holding their first direct talks with the newspaper group's bosses ahead of a deadline for formal bids later this month.
Sky News has learnt that the remaining bidders for the right-leaning newspapers are participating in management presentations as they seek to finalise second-round offers.
Sources close to the process said on Tuesday that several parties were scheduled to meet Telegraph executives including CEO Anna Jones and the Daily Telegraph editor, Chris Evans.
Money latest: Cheapest holiday dates until Christmas revealed
They are understood to include Sir Paul Marshall and National World, the London-listed media group run by newspaper veteran David Montgomery.
At least one other party whose identity has yet to be disclosed publicly is also thought to remain in contention to buy the newspapers.
A separate bid orchestrated by Nadhim Zahawi, the former chancellor, is the subject of bilateral discussions with IMI, the Abu Dhabi-based venture which wanted to take a controlling stake in the British media assets before being blocked by the government.
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Sky News revealed exclusively last month that Sir Paul was the frontrunner to buy The Spectator , which along with the Telegraph titles was owned by the Barclay family until their respective holding companies were forced into liquidation last year.
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A deal for The Spectator is expected to be signed later this week or early next, with one source saying that Sir Paul's Old Queen Street Ventures vehicle would pay just under £100m to acquire the current affairs magazine.
RedBird IMI, a joint venture between IMI and the American investor RedBird, paid £600m last year to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into equity ownership.
A sale of The Spectator for just under £100m would leave it needing to sell the Telegraph titles for £500m to recoup that outlay in full - or more than that once RedBird IMI's fees and costs associated with the process are taken into account.
Of the unsuccessful bidders for the Telegraph, Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, offered £350m, while Mediahuis, the Belgian publisher, also failed to make it through to the next round of the auction.
Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, pulled out of the bidding earlier in the summer amid concerns that he would be blocked on competition grounds.
Last month, Sky News revealed that Mr Zahawi had sounded out Boris Johnson , the former prime minister, about an executive role with The Daily Telegraph if he succeeded in buying the newspapers.
Mr Johnson, who now writes a column for The Daily Mail, previously worked for the Telegraph, both as a correspondent in Brussels and more recently as a highly paid columnist.
The fate of the Telegraph, historically a staunch Conservative Party backer, has now been up in the air for more than a year.
Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's biggest high street lender, seized control of its parent companies after the Barclay family fell behind on debt repayments.
The Barclays continue to control Very Group, the online retailer, with IMI also having extended financing to that business.
Mr Zahawi was recently appointed as chair of Very Group.
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IMI is controlled by the UAE's deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Lloyds debt, which totalled more than £1.15bn, was repaid by RedBird IMI on behalf of the family.
RedBird IMI's attempt to take ownership of the Telegraph titles and The Spectator was thwarted by the last Conservative government's decision to change media law to prevent foreign states exerting influence over national newspapers.
A spokesman for RedBird IMI declined to comment.
Health Disparities
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By Usha Lee McFarling and Katie Palmer
Sept. 4, 2024
It was created with the best intentions: a government policy asking researchers to collect racial data to help address health disparities. But it may have had an unintended opposite effect, paving the way for the problematic use of race in an array of medical decision-making tools.
Starting in the 1990s, the National Institutes of Health began requiring the collection and reporting of racial data in its funded research. It was a major pivot point, revealing in stark, undeniable numbers racial divides in health outcomes. But to a new generation of researchers, that quantification enabled the development of algorithms that misused race as a health risk factor.
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Poorly understood correlations between race and outcomes were embraced as a way to make disease-risk calculations more precise, though the race data were actually quite imprecise.
It was a time when many in medicine, new to handling race data, used it in a sloppier way than they would today. Many categorized research subjects as simply being Black, Hispanic, or Asian without thinking about the complex ancestry within those groups.
Many also still considered race a biological explanation for differences, and not, as scientists agree today, a socially created category — with a weak relationship to genetic differences — that may be more connected to characteristics like income or neighborhood. In some instances, researchers devising new algorithms uncritically accepted faulty ideas about racial differences that date back to America’s slavery era.
“All we have is old research that was accepted under a lower standard of rigor,” said Lou Hart, medical director of health equity at Yale New Haven Health System. The federal government said, “‘You have to diversify your clinical trials. You have to report out this type of information and publish literature.’ And so people did.”
Eliseo Pérez-Stable, director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, said the collection of racial data “categorically” did not lead to the creation of race-based algorithms. “The reason we collect race and ethnicity, and we should collect other things like socioeconomic status that we don’t, is because they influence health outcomes in ways that we don’t fully understand,” he said.
Along the path to better understanding, racial data were collected inconsistently: Sometimes participants were asked, sometimes study leaders just guessed. And researchers often divided the world simply into Black and white, ignoring those who were other races or mixed race.
“The suggestion that Black people and only Black people are different than every other human on the planet is just ludicrous,” said Vanessa Grubbs, a nephrologist in Oakland, Calif. and a leading voice calling for the removal of race from algorithms used to assess kidney function.
Kidney function is estimated using a blood test that measures levels of creatinine, a waste product created when muscle breaks down that is filtered out by healthy kidneys. Studies found that, on average, Black people have higher levels of creatinine, leading researchers to introduce a race adjustment for Black people into the kidney algorithm.
In their original paper published in 1999, creators of the algorithm attributed high creatinine levels to Black people being more muscular — an assertion that was not widely questioned at the time but has more recently come under scrutiny for overgeneralization and racial stereotyping. The algorithm was updated with a more diverse subject pool, but the concept that Black muscle mass was a reason for difference persisted.
The idea that Black patients would have greater muscle mass was easy to believe, perhaps, because of the United States’ history of slavery. As recently as 2011, one urologist hypothesized that enslaved Africans who survived the passage to the Americas would have had greater lean muscle mass; others pointed out that those who were enslaved were “bred” for greater strength.
“When you ask where did these algorithms come from, not all roads, but many roads lead back to slavery-era race science,” said David Shumway Jones, a historian of science, physician, and professor at Harvard Medical School. “The notion that Black people have different skin, different bones, different bone density, it all goes back to these pre-Civil war claims.”
Until recently, even some high-profile scientific papers used race in ways that would not pass muster today. The studies cited in the kidney algorithm paper to suggest that higher creatinine levels in Black people were due to muscle mass were extremely thin; some were decades old.
None of the three cited studies — all small and using subjects from a single town, hospital, or in one case, staff at a single lab and their friends — directly measured muscle mass . One looked at body fat in children, another at potassium levels.
Health equity advocates don’t believe the equation creators were out to harm Black people. “No one was meeting in back rooms or alleys saying, ‘How can I hurt Black patients?’’’ said La’Tonzia Adams, a pathologist in Portland, Ore., working with the College of American Pathologists to ensure new race-free algorithms are being implemented. “This started with good intent.”
Instead, they say the mostly white people leading the field of nephrology and at its journals never questioned the careless thinking because notions that races differ biologically were so accepted. “These ubiquitous and pervasive race claims have been in medicine forever,” said Jones, who has examined how the New England Journal of Medicine has historically handled issues of race . “It’s very easy for editors not to notice them.”
Oversimplistic thinking about race has been repeated across medical specialties. For decades, hypertension in Black Americans was explained away because of the “salt-slavery hypothesis,” which posited that high blood pressure could be due to salt deficiencies in regions of Africa where enslaved people were stolen from, the trauma of the slave trade, or conditions of slavery. That idea was easily debunked by historians who showed that there wasn’t a salt deficiency at the time and that hypertension rates are not high among present-day West Africans.
There’s a similar issue with the race-adjusted STONE score algorithm developed to diagnose kidney stones. The presence of flank pain is considered as important as finding blood in urine — unless you’re Black . This algorithm stems from a single study conducted in 2014 at two hospitals in Connecticut finding that Black people were less likely to have kidney stones — data points now deeply questioned by those in the field, and being reevaluated by Hart and his colleagues .
In obstetrics, the unfounded slavery-era notion that the pelvises of Black women were narrow, “ degraded and animalized ,” remained a “ concerning echo ” in a birth risk calculator — causing some U.S. doctors to discourage vaginal deliveries after a C-section for Black women. In Canada, the mother’s race isn’t a factor. “Are pelvises different in Canada?” Jones asked.
In pulmonology, a sweeping generalization that Black people have lower normal lung function led physicians to long overlook chronic lung disease in Black patients. The idea, as chronicled by the late Lundy Braun, who was a professor of Africana Studies and pathology at Brown University in her history of the spirometer, traces to 1851.
Physician Samuel Cartwright built his own spirometer to measure lung function, which he quantified at 20% lower in Black people he enslaved. Cartwright argued that Black people needed to be forced to work or their weak lungs would suffer. “You can imagine what a powerful justification this is for enslaving human beings,” said Dorothy Roberts, a professor of law and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.
For centuries, this racist concept echoed in clinicians’ estimates of lung function and adjustments of up to 15% to spirometer readings, which indicated the lung disease of Black people was less severe than the devices indicated. In March 2023, the American Thoracic Society urged that race and ethnicity should no longer be used to interpret spirometry results.
“Essentially structural racism is baked into the numbers because of what we set the norm at,” said Lauren Kearney, a pulmonology fellow who helped usher in race-free spirometry assessments at Boston Medical Center. “In the past, we were told in medical school that race does define biology.”
A number of new studies estimate the lung test adjustment has taken a toll. It has prevented or delayed disability and workers’ compensation payments for Black workers, and has led to missed cases of respiratory disease and severe lung impairment , more uncontrolled asthma , and the underestimation of COPD severity in Black patients.
Not all racial misconceptions have manifested in algorithms; some simply bled into medical practices that put Black patients at higher risk. For decades, radiologists, dentists, and manufacturers of X-ray equipment internalized the idea that Black people have thicker skin and denser bones, and therefore irradiated them with higher doses, until the practice was stopped in the 1970s.
There’s no direct evidence the practice increased cancer risk. But it highlights the easy adoption of racial categories in medicine, said Itai Bavli, a postdoctoral fellow in applied ethics at the University of British Columbia and lead author of a paper about the topic published in NEJM in 2022. The paper chronicled numerous characterizations in medical literature of Black skin as “perfectly opaque;” Black flesh as “harder;” and Black bones and skulls as “thicker and denser” or “almost impregnable.”
“The belief that Black people are different was so widespread,” said Bavli. “One might have expected X-ray technologies, which see through the skin to deeper structures beneath, to be spared racialization. They were not.”
STAT’s coverage of health inequities is supported by a grant from the Commonwealth Fund . Our financial supporters are not involved in any decisions about our journalism.
Usha lee mcfarling.
National Science Correspondent
Usha Lee McFarling, a veteran science reporter based in Los Angeles, has written for STAT since 2015 and covers health disparities.
Health Tech Correspondent
Katie Palmer covers telehealth, clinical artificial intelligence, and the health data economy — with an emphasis on the impacts of digital health care for patients, providers, and businesses.
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Dear Diary:
Hard to believe it was the middle of April. The clouds hung low, the temperature was brisk, the sun had set.
It was that in-between time. After work, before drinks. The sidewalks were empty. The traffic was light.
I went out to run a quick errand. I was wearing a spring-weight fleece jacket and wishing I had worn gloves.
As I walked along, I noticed a man standing at a corner about 20 feet away. I was struck by his clothing: a winter jacket and a knit hat.
“It’s cold,” I said.
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We should be wearing gloves, I said.
My sentence was cut off by the rumble of a truck barreling up the avenue.
The man’s arm shot out as he looked at me.
“Step back,” he said.
I did as I was told.
He started to pat his pants. His expression suggested he was trying to solve a puzzle. His fingers reached into one of his pockets, and he pulled something out: a pair of gloves. He offered them to me as we began to cross the street.
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Here are the key takeaways for how to write essay introduction: 3. Hook the Reader: Start with an engaging hook to grab the reader's attention. This could be a compelling question, a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or an anecdote. Provide Background: Give a brief overview of the topic, setting the context and stage for the discussion.
Table of contents. Step 1: Hook your reader. Step 2: Give background information. Step 3: Present your thesis statement. Step 4: Map your essay's structure. Step 5: Check and revise. More examples of essay introductions. Other interesting articles. Frequently asked questions about the essay introduction.
Every good introduction needs a thesis statement, a sentence that plainly and concisely explains the main topic. Thesis statements are often just a brief summary of your entire paper, including your argument or point of view for personal essays. For example, if your paper is about whether viewing violent cartoons impacts real-life violence ...
Interactive example of a narrative essay. An example of a short narrative essay, responding to the prompt "Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself," is shown below. Hover over different parts of the text to see how the structure works. Narrative essay example.
Start with a compelling hook—an interesting fact, a thought-provoking question, or a brief story. Give some background information to help readers understand the topic. Clearly state your thesis, outlining the main points you'll discuss in your essay. Now, let's read on for more detailed explanations and tips on building a strong ...
an overview in the introduction of what points you will make in your essay. In other disciplines, you will not be expected to provide this overview in your introduction. • Avoid writing a very general opening sentence. While it may be true that "Since the dawn of time, people have been telling love stories," it won't help you
However, in a descriptive essay, vividly describing the subject is the goal. In a narrative essay, the goal is to tell a story. In-depth descriptions may be part of the essay, but they need to support the narrative. Narrative essay outline example. Title: Careful, You Might End Up in My Book! Introduction: Real-life characters make the best ...
A thesis statement tells the reader the main point or argument of the essay. This can be just one sentence, or it can be a few sentences. Map Your Essay. Before you wrap up your essay introduction, map it! This means signposting sections of your essay. The key here is to be concise. The purpose of this part of the introduction is to give your ...
1. Generating Narrative Essay Ideas. If you're not sure what to write about, you'll want to generate some narrative essay ideas. One way to do this is to look for writing prompts online: Reedsy adds new prompts to their site every week, and we also post writing prompts every Wednesday to our Facebook group.
A narrative essay tells a story in chronological order, with an introduction that introduces the characters and sets the scene. Then a series of events leads to a climax or turning point, and finally a resolution or reflection on the experience. Speaking of which, are you in sixes and sevens about narrative essays?
Unoriginal essay introductions are easily forgotten and don't demonstrate a high level of creative thinking. A college essay is intended to give insight into the personality and background of an applicant, so a standard, one-size-fits-all introduction may lead admissions officers to think they are dealing with a standard, unremarkable applicant.
Learn how to craft an essay introduction that will start your writing journey on the right foot with our effective essay introduction structure and examples. About Us ... Since then, their famous tale has been debunked by scientists and the family themselves (Smith, 2005). [2] Yet ghost stories have gripped human consciousness for centuries ...
If written as a story, the essay should include all the parts of a story. This means that you must include an introduction, plot, characters, setting, climax, and conclusion. When would a narrative essay not be written as a story? A good example of this is when an instructor asks a student to write a book report. Obviously, this would not ...
1. Pick a meaningful story that has a conflict and a clear "moral.". If you're able to choose your own topic, pick a story that has meaning and that reveals how you became the person your are today. In other words, write a narrative with a clear "moral" that you can connect with your main points. 2.
Narrative Introductions. The introduction of a narrative essay sets the scene for the story that follows. Interesting introductions—for any kind of writing—engage and draw readers in because they want to know more. Since narratives tell a story and involve events, the introduction of a narrative quite often starts in the middle of the ...
Make a brief outline of the essay based on the information presented in the introduction. Then look at that outline as you read the essay to see how the essay follows it to prove the writer's thesis statement. 2. Keep your introduction short and simple.
Write an introduction that interests the reader and effectively outlines your arguments. Every essay or assignment you write must begin with an introduction. It might be helpful to think of the introduction as an inverted pyramid. In such a pyramid, you begin by presenting a broad introduction to the topic and end by making a more focused point ...
However, unlike other essays, the paragraphs of the narrative essay have specifically designated purposes: 1. Introduction Paragraph: Gives an insight into the story. 2. First Body Paragraph: Discuss the rising action. 3. Second Body Paragraph: Present the climax of the story. 4.
To help you craft an impressive introduction, here are some effective essay introduction phrases that you can use: "In today's society, [topic] has become an increasingly significant issue." "From [historical event] to [current trend], [topic] has shaped our world in numerous ways." "Imagine a world where [scenario].
Write a rough introduction. Come up with a rough thesis statement. Use your introduction to lay out how your essay will be organized. Adapt your thesis and organizational plan as needed as you write your essay. Add a hook to your introduction. Edit and proofread. Next, come up with one or two potential organizational plans.
Step 1: Start With a Hook. Start your essay introduction with a good hook statement that grabs your readers' attention. The goal of the hook is to make your reader interested in reading your essay and keep them engaged until the end. Hooks can have several different forms; it can be a quote, an anecdote, or an interesting fact.
Here is an example of reversing expectations. The introductory paragraph is filled with doom and gloom. We feel sorry for the writer but are left wondering whether the article will be a classic sob story. It is in the second paragraph that we find out that it's quite the opposite.
Introduction sentence starters can provide a scaffold for students to get their ideas down on paper. To teach students about different writing techniques. There are many different ways to start a story or essay. Introduction sentence starters can help students learn about different techniques and experiment with different styles.
Creative writing excerpt from Alan Lomax collection. Alan Lomax Collection (AFC 2004/004), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. This guide provides an introduction to doing research on the topic of creative writing using American Folklife Center collections, and serves as a companion piece to an existing guide on Narrative and Verbal Arts in AFC collections.
Writing a college essay takes skill, but making a strong college essay conclusion is often the most important part. A great ending can make a big impact on your readers and bring your main ideas together. This guide will walk you through four strategies that will help you create impactful conclusions that resonate with your audience. 1. Writing a Memorable College Essay Conclusion The ...
Detailed Essay Plans: Step-by-step essay plans on key themes such as fate, love, societal conflict, and the role of authority. These plans include topic sentences, evidence, and detailed analyses to help students structure their essays effectively. Students can use the plans to help write their own responses.
The essay paper, crucial for distinguishing candidates, involves answering two subjective questions, each worth 125 marks, within 90 minutes. ... including an introduction, body, and conclusion ...
Bidders for The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday sister title are this week holding their first direct talks with the newspaper group's bosses ahead of a deadline for formal bids later this month.
This is Part 2 of Embedded Bias, a series revealing how race-based clinical algorithms pervade medicine and why it's so difficult to change them.. It was created with the best intentions: a ...
A brisk April day in Manhattan, an overdue introduction on the F and more reader tales of New York City in this week's Metropolitan Diary. Dear Diary: Hard to believe it was the middle of April ...