Plants are the life and soul of a house. These not only bring positivity and much-needed greenery, but plants also have long been valued for their role in promoting wealth, health and harmony. According to Vastu Shastra, there are some plants which are believed to attract prosperity, and financial stability when placed in the right position. These plants are also said to balance energies. Plants including the Money Plant, Tulsi, Jade, and Peace Lily, among others each serve a purpose. However, Vastu emphasizes that plants must be placed in the right corner and well-cared-for to deliver best results. These require regular maintenance and proper attention to ensure healthy growth.

On this note, let’s have a look at five Vastu-approved plants widely recommended for inviting prosperity.

If you are a corporate employee then this situation might sound familiar to you: You pour your soul into work – working hard, filling in for others’ gaps, meeting deadlines. But, when it comes to promotions, it goes to someone else, who talks big but delivers average results. Welcome to the invisible employee trap: Where quiet employee’s excellence gets ignored while the average worker, who is boastful, climbs the corporate ladder. It’s demoralising, universal, but fixable. Here’s how:

When good work doesn’t lead to recognition

You’re the go-to person in office – you solve problems even before they arise. But that’s where you go wrong. Workplace invisibility hits when reliable performers fade into the background. Introverts work silently, newbies lack networks, and those who avoid promoting themselves slag behind others.Daily diary study (PMC, 2018) links networking to promotions/salary via resources/positive affect. HBR/LinkedIn echo: 73% high managers stall without visibility.Being any of them hurts your career: Your ideas get stolen, successes uncelebrated, promotions missed. Toxic cultures amplify it – some managers favour those who always say “yes” to them. Their biases sideline minorities, who might be working hard but silently. Result? Quiet quitting. Gallup’s longstanding research estimates actively disengaged employees cost U.S. companies $450-550 billion annually in lost productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. Being in such a situation kills your innovation, making you feel more resentful. Companies lose talent, while you lose hope.

Why loudmouths (poorly) win promotions

Here’s the ugly truth: Promotions are often 70% visibility, 30% results. Extroverts self-promote naturally, while grinders don’t. And the halo effect seals it – one charming trait colours everything.The worst part: These promotions create mediocre leaders who hire more talkers.

5 silent promotion killers (you’re probably guilty of at least 3)

1. Saying “Yes” every single timeYou say yes to everything – bug fixes, note-taking, covering other’s work while they relax on vacations. You’re helpful, but invisible. Boss see someone who is reliable, but not who is leadership material.Fix: Practice saying: “Happy to help after I finish X task.” Say yes to growth, no to others’ work.2. Staying silentYou spot problems (toxic teammate, unclear goals) but stay silent just to maintain peace. Issues continue, while leadership potential evaporates. Remember, being nice always is not seen as promotable. Leaders confront early.Fix: Have weekly tough conversations with your manager. Speak first in one meeting. Small courage builds big presence.3. Work-speaks-for-itself mythYour results shine, but only in your head. While you grind, an average worker’s emails weekly wins. So, instead of working silently, narrate your excellence to win promotions.4. Mind-reader fallacyYou hope managers notice your potential. But, the sad truth is that they don’t.Fix: Have “Growth conversation” with your boss and request for the role you want. Get dates and feedback, not maybes.5. Being in your comfort zoneNot stretching projects leads to no leadership exposure. You’re perfect at your work but unknown everywhere else.Fix: Get out of your comfort zone and ask for quarterly bigger projects. Present to executives. Lead cross-team initiatives. Take risks and accelerate your growth.So, stop waiting to be discovered. and claim your spotlight at the workplace today.

Water intrusion can weaken concrete, promote mould, and accelerate structural decay. Signs such as damp basements, bubbling paint, soft flooring, or deteriorating concrete often indicate underlying moisture problems that threaten long-term stability and must be resolved quickly to avoid major repairs.

Such structural flaws usually do not suddenly happen but rather progress gradually due to movements in foundations, moisture, or degradation in materials. Because of this, one can identify issues with floor cracking, uneven surfaces, sticking doors, distorted walls, and water damage, prompting them to seek expert evaluation services before the repair works become extensive. Preventive awareness is, therefore, still the best way forward in ensuring one protects their property value and safety.

Image Credit: Canva

It wasn’t a scam. It wasn’t a language issue. It wasn’t even a lack of money. It was a QR code that simply didn’t get through. It’s about an American traveller who was on his trip to India for the fourth time.Standing outside yet another tourist site in southern India, the traveler realised they weren’t being turned away because they couldn’t pay, but because they couldn’t scan. Cash was refused. Cards weren’t accepted. Everything hinged on UPI, India’s scan-and-pay system, and their phone simply wouldn’t make it past the final loading screen.As per his Reddit post, this wasn’t his first time in India. It was his fourth time in India. In previous trips, which were mostly across North India, cash had always worked. This time, across Chennai, Mysuru, Bengaluru and beyond, cash wasn’t helping them. Entry gates, ticket counters, even small vendors, almost everything was digital. UPI only.

Using a US phone number with international eSIMs like Airalo and Tello, every payment attempt failed at the same point. Scan. The amount appears. Processing. Stuck. Denied. Repeat. The problem followed them, turning what should have been simple moments, buying a ticket, entering a site, into hassles and rejections.It didn’t stop there. OTPs for airline apps never arrived. Verification messages vanished into the void. Systems assumed a local number that didn’t exist. Add relentless rain, hotel mix-ups, communication breakdowns, and mounting exhaustion, and the trip began to feel less like travel and more like friction.Read more: Most spectacular birds of the Indian forestsIn a frustrated Reddit post, the traveller finally shared the big problem that he was facing in India.The responses came fast, which told a different story, and perhaps, a solution.To regular visitors, this wasn’t a failure of India. It was a failure of preparation. People explained that airports now have UPI help desks specifically for foreigners. The fix, they said, was simple but unintuitive: get a local Indian SIM, which will cost around $5 for 30 days.Others suggested lesser-known workarounds: payment apps that authenticate via WhatsApp instead of SMS, eSIMs that offer an Indian number rather than just data, and the old-school advice of carrying both cash and an international card, because not every place has flipped fully digital yet. As per one suggestion, for foreign nationals and NRIs, UPI access is possible through two main routes: using a foreign mobile number or registering with an Indian phone number. Those opting to use an overseas number currently have limited app choices, including platforms such as CheqUPI and Mony. These apps require users to upload passport and visa details, followed by an in-person verification process to activate the wallet. In the case of CheqUPI, a one-time onboarding fee applies.The other option is to get an Indian phone number and use wallet-based UPI apps, which allow UPI payments directly from an in-app wallet, without linking an Indian bank account, making them useful for NRIs who don’t have one. Wallets can be funded via debit or credit cards or internet banking.Read more: Indian Railways to run up to record 1,500 Holi special trains in March to manage festive rush One commented that activating UPI as an American is nearly impossible unless you know where to go and what to download. Another shared how their UPI setup took under an hour once they followed the right path.This post reflects how travel has changed in ways guidebooks have been telling. India’s digital leap has made daily life smoother than ever, for people inside the system. For those outside it, even small gaps can feel overwhelming.A decade ago, not carrying cash was the risk. Today, not having the right number can create hassles not only in India, but anywhere across the globe.For most travellers, the fix is minor once you know it. But until then, a QR code can become a gatekeeper, quietly reminding you that in a world racing toward frictionless payments, access itself has become something you have to earn.

India is on bird flu, H5N1 alert. Cases have been reported in Chennai. More than 1,500 crows have tested positive for the virus and this has stepped up surveillance in several areas of Tamil Nadu including Adyar, Velachery, Thiruvanmiyur and Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR).This is a big health concern because H5N1 is classified as highly pathogenic. “H5N1, like several other influenza viruses, is part of the broader family of flu viruses that circulate seasonally. While human cases of H5N1 remain uncommon, the concern lies in its potential severity when infection does occur. From a clinical perspective, we see that influenza viruses tend to cause more significant illness in vulnerable populations rather than in otherwise healthy individuals,” Dr Kaushik N, Consultant Pulmonologist Aster RV Hospital, Bangalore told TOI Health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported over 250 human infections from 2003 to 2024. Most of the reported cases have been severe. In India, no human cases have surfaced, said Dr Ram Gopalakrishnan, infectious diseases specialist at Apollo Hospitals told TOI. In 1996, the HPAI H5N1 virus was identified in geese in China. In 1997, first human infections were reported from Hong Kong, China. Since 2003, this virus has spread in bird populations across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. It is now endemic in poultry populations in many countries. Outbreaks have resulted in millions of poultry infections, several hundred human cases, and many human deaths.“People at higher risk include elderly patients, those with diabetes, chronic lung diseases such as asthma or COPD, kidney disease, cancer patients, individuals on immunosuppressive therapy, and patients undergoing dialysis. In these groups, viral infections can worsen underlying conditions and sometimes progress to complications like viral pneumonia. We often see acute exacerbations of pre-existing respiratory illnesses during flu seasons, particularly between November and March,” Dr Kaushik N said.The expert added, in most healthy individuals, flu-like viral infections typically settle within 3–5 days. However, in recent months, clinicians have observed that symptoms can last longer, sometimes extending beyond a week. Recovery from influenza infections usually takes about 7–10 days, though in some cases it may take up to two weeks. By this time, the body develops antibodies, and routine retesting is generally not required.“The most important preventive measures remain early detection, avoiding close contact with infected birds or animals, and following basic infection-control practices. Wearing a mask in crowded or poorly ventilated environments, maintaining hand hygiene, and avoiding close contact with sick individuals are effective steps. Early medical consultation is crucial, especially for high-risk individuals experiencing persistent fever, breathlessness, or worsening symptoms,” the doctor has urged.Medical experts consulted This article includes expert inputs shared with TOI Health by: Dr Kaushik N, Consultant Pulmonologist Aster RV Hospital, BangaloreInputs were used to explain the outbreak of H5N1 in Chennai and the symptoms and preventive tips one should be aware of.