Current Affairs- November 29, 2022

IFFI 2022

– 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) ends in Panaji, Goa

– Golden Peacock Award for Best Film was bagged by the Spanish language film ‘I have Electric Dreams’ directed by Valentina Maurel

  Best Director award was given to Nader Saeivar for Turkish film ‘No End’

– ‘Vahid Mobasheri’ won the ‘Silver Peacock’ award for ‘Best Actor (Male)’ for the film ‘No End’

– Daniela Marin Navarro was given ‘Silver Peacock’ award for the ‘Best Actor (Female)’ for the film ‘I Have Electric Dreams’

– Special Jury Award was conferred on Director ‘Lav Diaz’ the film ‘When the Waves are Gone’

– Iranian film “Nargesi” directed by Payam Eskandar bagged the ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal

– ‘Best Debut Feature Film of a Director’ was given to ‘Asimina Proedrou’ for the Greek film ‘Behind the Haystacks’

NEW ENVOYS

– Md. Mustafizur Rahman, High Commissioner of Bangladesh

– Ibrahim Shaheeb, High Commissioner of Maldives

– Abdulnasser Jamal Hussain Mohammed Alshaali, Ambassador of United Arab Emirates

–  Juris Bone, Ambassador of Latvia

–  Suzuki Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan

INDIA

– Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar presents Shilp Guru and National Awards to master craftspersons in Delhi

– Right to freedom of religion not fundamental right to convert: Centre to SC

– Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds 4th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue with Minister of Armed Forces of France Sebastien Lecornu in New Delhi

– India & Malaysia holding military Exercise “Harimau Shakti -2022” in Malaysia from Nov 29 to Dec 12

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– Govt. allows ED (Enforcement Directorate) to share information about economic offenders with 15 more agencies, including SFIO, CCI and NIA

– Power Ministry launches schemes to procure 4,500 MW electricity supply for 5 years under SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India) policy

– S&P Global Ratings cuts India’s economic growth forecast to 7% for FY23

WORLD

– WHO renames monkeypox as mpox, citing racism, discrimination concerns

SPORTS

– Tennis: Canada wins Davis Cup title by defeating Australia 2-0 in final played at Malaga, Span

– Former athlete P T Usha becomes first woman president of IOA (Indian Olympic Association)

Current Affairs-November 30, 2022

 

INDIA

– Indian Air Force conducting Annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise ‘Samanvay 2022’ from Nov 28 to 30 at Air Force Station Agra

– Former IAS officer Preeti Sudan appointed UPSC Member

International Jaguar Day celebrated on Nov 29 at National Zoological Park, New Delhi

– Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra returns private university Bills passed by state assembly

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– Pilot project for retail participation in CBDC (central bank digital currency) to start from Dec 1 in four cities and with four banks: RBI

– Govt lifts ban on exports of organic non-basmati rice

– iNCOVACC, world’s first intranasal vaccine by Bharat Biotech, gets approval from CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation)

– 7th edition of Global Technology Summit being held in New Delhi from Nov 29 to Dec 1; is India’s annual flagship event on Geotechnology and is co-hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India

– Tata Group announces merger of Air India with Vistara; Singapore Airlines to get 25% stake

– YouTube removed 1.7 mn videos in India in July-Sept, most in world

– GroupM Media’s CEO Prashanth Kumar elected president of AAAI (Advertising Agencies Association of India)

WORLD

– International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People observed on Nov 29

– UN panel recommends Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be listed as ‘world heritage site in danger’

– US: Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, world’s largest active volcano, erupts for first time in 40 years

– Italy: Seven killed by landslide on Ischia Island

4 Important Tips For Using Social Media For Job Hunts

 Since its debut, social media has become much more than just a way to stay in touch with friends and family online. In recent years, it has developed into a useful resource for job searching that many prospective employees still continue to underestimate. In fact, many recruiters like to check out the job searcher’s LinkedIn profile, and hiring managers admitted that they were okay with being contacted by potential applicants via LinkedIn.

Social media may be an effective job-search tool for anyone, whether a recent college graduate or an experienced professional seeking a new opportunity. It can play a significant part in developing your career and finding your next job. However, to make the best impression, it is important that you keep certain things in mind. The following tips can be beneficial if you haven't been using social media for job searching.

Maintaining a Professional Profile

It's important to maintain a professional presence on popular social media platforms, in addition to having visible profiles on those platforms, if you plan to use social media for job searching. It's almost certain that hiring managers will look you up online and find your social media profiles when you're actively looking for work.

Take advantage of these platforms to showcase your knowledge of the industry; share important news stories, post facts and other useful information, etc. This can also assist in the growth of your professional network, which will make you look more noteworthy to potential employers as more people start to be using you as a reference for a particular subject or sector.

Keep Up With Industry News

Just as recruiters can uncover information about you on social networks, remember that you can also track what they are doing. Learn more about the company's areas of expertise, recent projects, and any other information you may be able to gather from their networks. You stand to benefit greatly at the interviews you appear for if you have done thorough online research as part of your preparation

Share Online Portfolio/CV

Create a customised blog, online portfolio, or social media profile to display your work so as to leverage social media successfully during your job search. A simple website or blog showcasing your articles could be created if you aspire to become a journalist, for instance. You may quickly point prospective employers to your greatest work by building an online portfolio, and you'll be able to impress them with your abilities. This can include things like your professional website, online portfolio, client websites you've worked on, and other websites that showcase your skills and experience (like ones where you've contributed content as a guest contributor).

Networking

Build connections with individuals who work at companies you are interested in working at or who have similar interests and experience in your field. Start up a casual conversation and get to know one another on a professional level instead of just asking around for employment opportunities. Expanding your career network requires you to develop these business connections. Once you have them in your network, you might be the person they think to approach first when there are suitable opportunities.

3 out of 4 hiring managers will look up a candidate's social networks, as per studies, which have also revealed that many organisations use social media for hiring these days. Even if you aren't a regular user of social media, you should think about creating one or more social media profiles when you are seeking employment. Even if nothing else, it can show prospective employers that you have the technical know-how and are aware of current online and social media trends.

Never undervalue social media's ability to showcase your skills, provide companies with a glimpse into your personality, and help you get employment. And most importantly, be yourself! Authenticity will give you a significant advantage over the competitors in the challenging job search market of today.

Source: The Telegraph, 28/11/22

Uneven pattern: Editorial on variations in rural wages

 Indian agriculture is well-known for a number of complex problems that contribute toward poverty, inequality, and low productivity. Recent data compiled by the Reserve Bank of India reveal a great deal of variations in rural wages for the year, 2021-22. While a rural wage earner in Kerala had an average monthly earning of Rs 18,170, the figure in Gujarat was Rs 5,500 per month. The national average across states was a wage of Rs 323.2 per day. This would turn out to yield a monthly income of Rs 8,080 per month, assuming a worker had worked for 25 days in a month. In fact, a number of states other than Gujarat have rural wages less than the national average. These include Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra. On the other hand, states like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, among others had rural wages much higher than the national average. The year for which these data were compiled, namely 2021-22, was a bad year for economic activity due to the incidence of Covid and its associated disruptions. It could have depressed rural wages in some areas where the disruptions were the most. However, it does not explain the variations across states and the implications for rural demand.

The marked variations in rural wages across states show the imperfect nature of rural labour markets. Ideally, wage differences would induce migration from low to high-wage destinations. In India, even though migration does take place, there are cultural and language barriers that restrict these flows. The year, 2021-22, was bad from this angle too. Covid had induced reverse migration to home states. The second aspect of concern that can trigger wage differences is the local climate in different states that affect agricultural activities and, hence, rural wages. Agriculture is still dependent on monsoons and climate variations have been accentuated by global warming. Another implication of imperfect markets coupled with climatic unpredictability would be uncertainties in jobs and incomes. Hence, even though there has been a recent trend of lower demand for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, depressed wages can, once again, lead to a need for greater allocation for employment under MGNREGA for wage earners to supplement incomes. Finally, there are possibilities of boosting non-agricultural sources of rural incomes such as floriculture, horticulture, local food processing and cold chains. These would increase rural incomes and provide new employment opportunities. Policymakers need to take a relook at the entire sector. But before doing so, they must talk to rural workers to find out what actually ails them.

Source: The Telegraph, 29/11/22

Great burden: Editorial on austerity measures adversely affecting women

 1.7 billion women were pushed below the poverty line as well as being foisted with more caregiving as they worked an additional 512 billion unpaid hours in 2020

Historically, austerity measures have been implemented in times of economic crisis. Arguably, they are necessary to maintain a country’s creditworthiness in the eyes of lenders. Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom have all opted for it during the recession of 2007-2009. But a new Oxfam report, The Assault of Austerity, shows how measures such as cutting public wage bills and social protection budgets — central to an austerity regime — create gaps that are passed on to households and adversely affect women. The findings have contemporary relevance. As the world navigates through the economic ravages of Covid-19, conflict and the climate crisis, four out of every five governments are now locked in austerity measures, slashing public services like health, education, and social protection rather than snipping wealth and windfall taxes. The consequences of the pursuit of austerity on women are telling. For instance, 1.7 billion women were pushed below the poverty line as well as being foisted with more caregiving as they worked an additional 512 billion unpaid hours in 2020. More than 10 million women fell out of the workforce globally since 2020 and lost $800 billion in income. In India, only 7% of men lost their jobs, compared to 47% of women. The ‘invisible’ costs included a striking rise in intimate partner violence — one in every 10 women is assaulted at home. Moreover, budget cuts during lockdowns forced 85% of countries to shut their emergency services for survivors of gender-based violence. Access to amenities was hampered too: women and girls are facing even more difficulty getting clean water — the lack of which already kills 800,000 of them each year — along with affordable food, given the sharp rises in costs.

Austerity is not inevitable; it is a choice. A progressive wealth tax on the rich can raise almost $1 trillion more than what governments are planning to save through cuts in 2023, according to Oxfam. The skewed sense of priorities is revealing: 2% of what governments spend on the military is enough to end interpersonal, gender-based violence in 132 countries. The absence of systemic data — or wilful blindness to it — on the economic violence being perpetrated upon women means that governments are making their decisions in the dark. Feminist budgeting and progressive taxation, where taxes are invested in universal social protection and public services, putting the specific needs of women at the heart of policymaking could make a world of difference.

Source: The Telegraph, 30/11/22

Quote of the Day November 28, 2022

 

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work - he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving”
Mahatma Gandhi

“ग्राहक हमारे लिए एक विशिष्ट अतिथि है। वह हम पर निर्भर नहीं है। हम ग्राहक पर निर्भर हैं। वह हमारे कार्य में व्यवधान नहीं है - बल्कि वह इसका उद्देश्य है। हम ग्राहक की सेवा कर कोई उपकार नहीं कर रहे। वह सेवा का मौका देकर हम पर उपकार कर रहा है।”
महात्मा गांधी

Kuki-Chin Bangladeshi Refugee Issue

 he on-going conflict between Bangladeshi security forces and the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) triggered an influx of refugees from the Kuki-Chin community to the Indian state of Mizoram.

Who is Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA)?

• The Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) is the armed wing of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) – a separatist group that was established in 2008 to create a separate state in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Southern Bangladesh.
• The KNF claims that all members of the Bawm, Pungkhua, Lushai, Khumi, Mro, and Khyang ethnic groups are part of the greater Kuki-Chin race.
• Also known as the Bawm Party, this group is having close relationships with rebel groups in Northeast India and Myanmar.

About the current conflict in Bangladesh

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has launched an operation in October 2022 against the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) after it entered into an agreement with the newly formed militant outfit called the Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, which originated from the remote hilly terrains of Rangamati and Bandarban. Under this three-year agreement, KNF will provide shelter, training and other support to the militants in return for 3 lakh Bangladeshi Taka and food expenditure. While several of them have been arrested, 50 militants are currently being trained in the region.

Refugee Situation in Mizoram

This on-going military operation in the CHT has triggered the inflow of refugees in Mizoram. At least 200 Kuki-Chin refugees from Chittagong reached Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district.

The state cabinet had recently approved the setting up of temporary shelters and other basic amenities the Bangladeshi Kuki-Chin refugees. Some 35 lakh people of Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities live in Chittagong Hills Tracts. More refugees from this region are expected to reach Mizoram. They will be recognized as “officially displaced persons” in the state government records since there are no laws related to refugees in India. These refugees will be housed on the same lines as the shelters given to the refugees from Myanmar, who entered Mizoram after the 2021 coup. Mizoram, which shares a 318-km-long border with Bangladesh, currently hosts some 30,000 refugees from Myanmar.