IIT-Delhi launches certificate programme in digital marketing

 The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has launched a certificate programme in digital marketing. The programme will be for six months and classes will be conducted online twice a week on Saturday and Sunday. The course fee is Rs 50,000. The 18 modules programme will cover topics on digital marketing, traditional marketing versus digital marketing, website planning and development, email marketing, advertising, Google Analytics, Facebook advertising, Linkedin marketing. The lectures will be delivered online.

The candidates with a Bachelor’s degree can apply for the certificate programme, the final-year students may also apply.

The candidates will also be awarded certificates. A minimum of 50 per cent marks required and a minimum attendance of 60 per cent in both lectures and tutorials needed. For course details, candidates can check here.

The application process will be closed on March 10, and candidates can mail their downloaded application form to iitd@eruditus.com. The shortlisted candidates’ list will be announced within March 15, and the academic programme will commence on March 28.

Quote of the Day February 22, 2021

 

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
Benjamin Franklin

“जल्दी सोना और जल्दी उठना इंसान को स्वस्थ, समृद्ध और बुद्धिमान बनाता है।”
बेंजामिन फ्रैंकलिन

Economic & Political Weekly: Table of Contents

 

Vol. 56, Issue No. 8, 20 Feb, 2021

Editorials

The Incarceration of Conscience

Politics of Inflammatory Oil Price Rise

From the Editor's Desk

Democracy without Disagreement?

Gopal Guru

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago: Rupee Trade: Sag in Export Effort

Law and Society

Two Papers on Judicial Bias in India

Alok Prasanna Kumar

Commentary

The Lockdown in India - Understanding the Matrix of Caste, Class and Gender

Vatya Raina, Ananya

Countering the Left by Moving Rightwards - Political Positioning of the Congress in Kerala

Sarath Sasikumar, Balu Sunilraj

Odisha’s Transformation under the Naveen Patnaik Regime - Beleaguered Victim to Robust Warrior

Pralay Kanungo, Sitaram Kumbhar

Agricultural Reforms in India - Need for a Unique Model

Nitya Nanda

School Education in NEP 2020 - The Underlying Framework

Jyoti Raina

Book Reviews

Foot Soldiers of the Zomia - Writing as Disruption

R K Debbarma

A Realist Take on the Big Questions

Sandipan Baksi

Perspectives

Reinventing the Commons

Shiv Visvanathan

Special Articles

Formalisation Experience of E-waste Recyclers of Moradabad

Ankita Rastogi

Digital Empowerment and Indian Handlooms - Case-based Policy Recommendations

Bishakha Majumdar, Sriparna Basu, Shilpi Jain

Current Statistics

Current Statistics

Postscript

We Need Teachers with Intellectual Humility

Jeny Rapheal

Daily Soaps and Their (Dis)Contents

Sreenidhi Krishnan

​Aristocrats of the Soul - Rohith Vemula and Sushant Singh Rajput

Ali Kirmani

Last Lines

Letters

Allocations for Health in Union Budget 2021–22

Mukesh Kumar, Pratap C Mohanty

Should Women be Entitled to Menstrual Leave?

Vipin Jain, Sourabh Batar

Appointments/Programmes/Announcements

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Current Affairs – February 22, 2021

 

INDIA

10^th round of India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting concludes

The 10^th round of India – China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in Moldo. Two sides positively appraised the smooth completion of disengagement of frontline troops in the Pangong Lake area.

Indo-U.S. exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ comes to an end in Rajasthan

The closing ceremony of the joint military exercise between the Indian and U.S. Army, ‘Exercise Yudh Abhyas-20’ was held at Mahajan Field Firing Range on February 21, 2021. This was the 16^th edition of the joint exercise and it began on February 8. The aim of the exercise was to focus on counter terrorism operations under the mandate of the United Nations.

India to provide USD 50 million credit to Maldives for maritime capability building

India has signed a USD 50 million line of credit (LoC) agreement with the Maldives to facilitate maritime capability building of the island nation. According to a joint India-Maldives joint statement, the agreement was signed between the Government of Maldives and EXIM Bank India. The agreement was signed during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the island nation.

National anthem played in Nagaland assembly for first time in almost 6 decades

Almost 60 years after Nagaland attained statehood, the national anthem was played inside its assembly for the first time this February. The move is historic for a state that has been ravaged by decades of secessionist violence and protracted peace talks that still hang fire. Nagaland attained statehood on December 1, 1963, and was the 16^th state of the Union.

Economy & Corporate

88 Railway projects dedicated to nation worth over Rs 1000 cr by Piyush Goyal

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on February 21, 2021 inaugurated and dedicated a host of infrastructure projects and projects related to passenger amenities at various railway stations in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka through video conferencing. 88 Railway projects were dedicated to the nation worth over Rs. 1000 crores making Indian Railways future ready.

Centre plans to permit sale of 50% of coal/lignite produced by captive blocks

The Centre plans to permit sale of 50 per cent of coal/lignite produced by captive blocks, a move aimed at augmenting the production and increasing the availability of dry fuel. The government plans to do so through incorporation of a provision in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR).

World

International Mother Language Day celebrated on Feb 21

International Mother Language Day was celebrated on February 21, 2021. In 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO had declared 21^st February as International Mother Language Day. The theme for this year is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society”. In India, Union Education Ministry has been celebrating the day as Matribhasha Diwas since 2015.

Russia reports world’s 1^st case of bird flu strain H5N8 being passed to humans

Russia has registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus named A(H5N8) being passed to humans from birds and has reported the matter to the World Health Organization (WHO). Seven workers at a poultry plant in Russia’s south had been infected with the H5N8 strain in an outbreak at the plant in December.

Sports

Novak Djokovic wins Australian Open tennis men’s singles title

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic won his ninth men’s singles title at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne by defeating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final 7–5, 6–2, 6–2 played on February 21, 2021. Men’s Doubles title was won by Croatia’s Ivan Dodig & Slovakia’s Filip Polášek. Women’s Doubles title was won by Belgium’s Elise Mertens & Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka. Mixed Doubles was won by Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejčíková & Rajeev Ram of US.

India’s Ankita Raina wins women’s doubles title at Phillip Island Trophy tennis

India’s Ankita Raina on February 19, 2021 won her maiden WTA title as she and her Russian partner Kamilla Rakhimova clinched the doubles event in the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne. The Ankita-Kamilla pair beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova and Anastasia Potapova 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 in the final. The win will propel the 28-year-old Ankita to top-100 in the WTA rankings in doubles. She will be the second Indian woman player to be in top-100 after Sania Mirza.

TISSNET 2021: Check paper analysis, selection process details

 TISSNET 2021: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) conducted the TISSNET 2021 on February 20. TISSNET is the National Entrance Test (NET) for admission to MA, M.Sc and integrated degree programmes of the institute. As per memory-based reports from candidates who took the test, the overall level of difficulty of the question paper was moderate.

The unofficial answer key is available now. The entrance exam was conducted as a computer based test, where candidates were required to solve 100 MCQ type questions in 100 minutes. Tata Institute of Social Sciences evaluates candidates on the basis of English proficiency, mathematical skills, logical reasoning and general awareness.

The level of difficulty of the English and mathematics/ logical reasoning sections were between easy to moderate in the TISSNET exam analysis. Questions from general awareness were moderate to difficult in terms of the level of difficulty.

The overall number of good attempts is anticipated to be at 70 out of 100. The number of good attempts is deemed to be the highest in the general awareness section as reported by the candidates. Next, TISS will publish the TISSNET result. On the basis of which, candidates will have to appear for next rounds.

The TISSNET selection process is a bit unconventional. The entrance exam is only the first step of the stairway to the final merit list. Candidates have to take the TISSPAT in the second stage while those who prefer HR and LR and ODCL programmes, have to take the TISSMAT exam.

Only after qualifying for these exams, can a candidate appear in the final online personal interview. In the overall selection process, the TISSNET exam carries only 30 per cent marks weightage while TISSPAT/ TISSMAT carries 40 per cent marks weightage. The rest of the marks (30 per cent) are carried by the online personal interview.

Once the merit lists are out, candidates can check their score at the official website i.e. tiss.edu. Since the scorecard is issued through individual candidate login, one must have the registered email ID and password. Those who qualify in the first stage by securing the TISSNET cut-offs, will have to appear in the subsequent TISS PAT or MAT exam depending on the programme they choose.

Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has not revealed any official dates on which the result is releasing. However, once the result releases, candidates must get ready to appear in the PAT or MAT exam. The details of these exams are on the official website which is why candidates are being advised to keepOnce the second stage selection exams are over, the merit lists are again released to indicate qualifiers of the exam. Based on the score, candidates are called to appear in the online personal interview, which is the final selection stage.

TISS PAT is a 45 minutes long test which is expected to notify the complete scheme and pattern of the exam very soon. Similarly, those who appear in the TISS MAT exam may note that it is also conducted as a 45 minutes long test carrying 50 marks. The question paper carries only objective type questions in the MAT exam. a regular tab of the website tiss.edu.

Source: Indian Express, 21/02/21

Providing migrant workers a political voice

 The economy has been opening up and many migrant workers have started going back to their jobs, but this issue must not be relegated to the margins. It’s time migrant workers get the respect, protection and rights they are entitled to as citizens.

Niti Aayog has formulated a draft national policy on migrant workers. According to a report in The Indian Express, the policy, prepared in consultation with seven ministries, civil society organisations, and international institutions, proposes instituting mechanisms to “enable voting” for migrant workers because their political inclusion will enhance political accountability. It also suggests setting up inter-state coordination mechanisms between states to facilitate migrant movement; making migrant wings a part of labour departments; and getting source states and destination states to work with each other.

The migrant crisis, triggered by the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic, saw, according to official figures, over 10 million migrant workers returning home. The pandemic also revealed the fact that the Indian State doesn’t have adequate data and information about this large pool of citizens. This was quite astonishing since migration has been an integral component of India’s political economy, and the presence of migrant workers routinely places additional demands on basic infrastructure in destination towns and cities.

The Niti Aayog draft, which will now be sent to the labour ministry, en route to Cabinet and Parliament, has several excellent workable ideas. A key issue is creating political incentives — the fact that migrants are spread out, and may not end up voting in either source or destination states, means that they have often been underestimated as a political constituency. Enabling their political voice will be key to making them effective stakeholders and forcing the system to take their interests on board. The economy has been opening up and many migrant workers have started going back to their jobs, but this issue must not be relegated to the margins. It’s time migrant workers get the respect, protection and rights they are entitled to as citizens.

Source: Hindustan Times, 21/02/21

Quote of the Day February 19, 2021

 

“Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into opportunities.”
Dheerubhai Ambani

“कठिनाइयों में भी अपने लक्ष्यों का पीछा करते रहें, और विपत्तियों को अवसरों में बदल दें।”
धीरूभाई अंबानी