1) Hand-in- Hand Military exercise:-
- The India China Combined Military Training Exercise Hand in Hand 2015 commenced on 12 Oct at Kunming Military Academy, Yunnan, China.
- The joint exercise has met its stated objectives; to exchange experience on counter-terrorist training and conducting counter-terrorist operations, enhance mutual trust and understanding and promote healthy military relations between the two armies.
2)Inscriptions and Kings :-
- Almost all inscriptions have something to do with the king. Either they were commissioned by the king or they mention the reigning king of the day.
- Pallava kings in the 5th to 7th centuries recorded inscriptions in creative ways. We have verses with hidden political import and the titles they gave themselves, including Mahamalla, the great wrestler, Vichitrachita, the innovative-minded, and so on.
- It is from the reign of Raja Raja I that the Meikerti (True Fame) or prashasthi takes definite form. The long verse begins with Swastishri (prosperity be praised) and then Tirumagal Pola Perunila Chelviyum, which became the key clues thereafter through his reign.
- Meikerti has become invaluable now to date the events of the king chronologically. They also have several references to constellation patterns that help date the reign.
- Raja Raja’s verse runs into more than 200 lines in Tamil , which has fascinating details of not just the wars he fought and won but insights into how he fought them.
- Vira Rajendra (1063-1070) has a poetic inscription where he is described as being always accompanied by bravery and clothed in sacrifice
- Kulotunga Chola was one of the kings who had different Meikerti – as many as six. He mentions how his feet were the crowns for the kings he had vanquished. Among the Pandya kings, the Meikerti of Maravarman Sundarapandyan (1215-1239) is the best.
- The Vijayanagar kings continued this tradition of inscription but their verses were very short, seldom more than 10 lines, with oft-repeated phrases and not always accurate.
3) 4k Technology :-
- 4K resolution, also called 4K, refers to a display device or content having horizontal resolution on the order of 4,000 pixels.[1] Several 4K resolutions exist in the fields of digital television and digital cinematography. In the movie projection industry, Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) is the dominant 4K standard.
- 4K is not the same as 4K Ultra HD. The standalone term “4K” was originally used to describe Digital Cinema (4096 × 2160 px). Since Digital Cinema resolution is not available in a consumer television, the term “4K Ultra HD” (3840 × 2160 px) was invented — notice the slight reduction in 4K Ultra HD resolution to achieve a 16 × 9 aspect ratio.
- 4K Ultra HD is exactly four times the resolution of Full HD, which produces a magnificent image when viewed in person.
- The term True 4K or Native 4K is used to describe 4K Ultra HD content which does not require up-scaling from a lower resolution source.
4) HFC and Ozone Depletion :-
- NASA has claimed that HFCs are an not existential threat to the ozone layer or to ozone hole recovery, but the impact is not zero as has been claimed.
- HFC emissions cause increased warming of the stratosphere, speeding up the chemical reactions that destroy ozone molecules, and they also decrease ozone levels in the tropics by accelerating the upward movement of ozone-poor air, the findings showed.
- HFCs have been adopted as replacements for chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) in refrigerators and in home and automobile air conditioners
- While HFCs are only weak ozone-depleting substances, they are, like CFCs and HCFCs, strong greenhouse gases. If production trends continue, projections show that, by 2050, the amount of global warming by all HFCs could be as large as 20 percent that of carbon dioxide, the study pointed out.
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[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.