diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2af7cef..ff29930 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,4 +21,5 @@ build/
 nbbuild/
 dist/
 nbdist/
-.nb-gradle/
\ No newline at end of file
+.nb-gradle/
+.elasticbeanstalk
diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 7353e4e..dd07c08 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ create database notes_app
 
 + change `spring.datasource.username` and `spring.datasource.password` as per your mysql installation
 
-**2. Build and run the app using maven**
+**4. Build and run the app using maven**
 
 ```bash
 mvn package
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 9c59df4..baec0d9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@
 	<parent>
 		<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
 		<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
-		<version>2.0.0.RELEASE</version>
+		<version>2.5.5</version>
 		<relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
 	</parent>
 
 	<properties>
 		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
 		<project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
-		<java.version>1.8</java.version>
+		<java.version>11</java.version>
 	</properties>
 
 	<dependencies>
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@
 			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
-
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-validation</artifactId>
+		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/IndexController.java b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/IndexController.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9c5ea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/IndexController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package com.example.easynotes.controller;
+
+
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
+
+@RestController
+@RequestMapping("/")
+public class IndexController {
+
+    @GetMapping
+    public String sayHello() {
+        return "Hello and Welcome to the EasyNotes application. You can create a new Note by making a POST request to /api/notes endpoint.";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
index b0f06a8..d357d46 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ## Spring DATASOURCE (DataSourceAutoConfiguration & DataSourceProperties)
-spring.datasource.url = jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/notes_app?autoReconnect=true&useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&allowMultiQueries=true&useSSL=false
+spring.datasource.url = jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/notes_app?useSSL=false&serverTimezone=UTC&useLegacyDatetimeCode=false
 spring.datasource.username = root
 spring.datasource.password = callicoder
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java b/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java
index 4bf539c..298ed22 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
 package com.example.easynotes;
 
-import org.junit.Test;
-import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
-import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringRunner;
 
-@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
 @SpringBootTest
 public class EasyNotesApplicationTests {