Top 5 Policy Jobs
Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Youtube.
Location- Gurgaon
Policy Economist, Azim Premji University
Location- Bangalore
Research Associate, Centre for Law and Policy Research.
To apply, email at- careers.clpr@clpr.org.in Location- Bangalore
Education Policy Officer, UNESCO
Application deadline is 31 October 2021. Location- Delhi
Senior Policy Manager, Sustainability, Amazon
Location- Delhi
The Climate Change Debacle
Ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference which is to be held in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November 2021, the leak of documents was reported by the BBC. It includes 32000 submissions made by the governments & companies to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The Leaked Document:
The document states that countries like Saudi Arabia, Australia, India are asking the UN to downplay the need to rapidly phase out fossil fuels. As per the document, the countries have asked for the omission of statements like ‘the need for urgent and accelerated mitigation actions at all scales’. They have also resented the findings, which suggest closing of coal-fired power plants. Brazil and Argentina, have also demanded the omission of evidence that highlights that less meat consumption is necessary to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
At the same time, a new report, ‘Climate change triggers mounting food insecurity, poverty, and displacement in Africa’ was released by the World Meteorological Organisation & other agencies.
Findings:
The report brings out the geographical, physical & economic impacts in Africa due to climate change which includes the dangers of the complete disappearance of the glaciers by the 2040s. By 2030, up to 118 million extremely poor people will be exposed to drought, floods, and extreme heat if the required action is not taken.
Other concerns:
The underrepresentation of Africa in the climate change meetings & conferences has been a long lying issue that has been highlighted by Future Climate for Africa, a multi-country research program.
Africa will need investments of over $3 trillion in mitigation and adaptation by 2030 to implement climate plans.
(Sources: BBC, Indian Express)
Agri-tech and Privacy Challenges
On 1st June 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare released a consultation paper titled the Indian Digital Ecosystem on Agriculture (IDEA) on digitization of agriculture. It has been criticized by farmers and organizations for concerns related to data privacy.
Following this, the government signed numerous MoUs with Amazon, Microsoft, Cisco, and others. The MoU signed with Microsoft was to develop a ‘Unified Farmer Service Interface’ named ‘Agristack’.
Role of Agristack-
The platform will collect data like farmers’ demographic records. Based on this, it will produce agri-focused solutions with the help of technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, advanced analytics, and many more.
The Internet Freedom Foundation, which is the Indian digital liberties organization highlighted the concerns around the MOUs signed-
Data Security- The MoUs will give significant control of pilot projects to the private companies and there is no clarity over data security.
MoU with ITC- Along with commercial data(like land records, soil quality & quantity) ITC will also collect the demographic data (like socio-economic factors such as gender, age, place of residence, and even religion) which will enable geo-tagging and geo-fencing.
Due to the absence of data protection legislation, it would make users’ data vulnerable to profit-making and revenue created by the stakeholders.
(Sources: Internet Freedom Foundation)
Job Hunt and Exhaustion
Job Hunting can be a mission, an exciting process but also exhausting for many, especially with full-time jobs and family. In such a situation one often thinks about how to commence the process of searching. Here, Marlo Lyons a certified career coach and strategist, writer of the article How to Job Hunt (When you are Already Exhausted) recommends reliable strategies to execute a successful job hunt:
Ask Yourself 2 Questions- Why & Why now?
Before beginning the job search, be clear with purpose as to why you want a new job. It will further help you in narrowing down your search to the specifics and you will be able to explore more in those areas.
Thoughts become reality
Reminiscence why you were ecstatic about getting a new job. Focus on the things that make you feel that you belong there. For example- the people, work, the workplace. Then think about what was missing in that environment and what you want. Hold on to that and build over it. It will help you in selecting the right path.
Planning- a part of the process
Marlo suggests making a plan of action is key to overcoming the fear of the unknown and will help your job search gain momentum.
Set your mind on how much time you want to commit to job search with your daily activities. Create a balance of the job search with exercise and rejuvenation time with family and oneself.
Focus on what matters
The process of recruiting varies from company to company as there is uncertainty in the process from interviewing to hiring which you cannot control. What you can control is trusting the process and keeping at it. If you do that, you’ll build your momentum.
Marlo Lyons suggests a few things you should spend your energy on:
Enhancing your resume & Linkedin profile.
Upskilling yourself
Scheduling meet-and-greet opportunities with people in your field.
Preparing for interviews.
Reach out to references
Believe in yourself and the process
Being mentally prepared is as important as making a resumè. Marlo emphasizes the ways to deal with rejection, by finding success in every failure. He suggests not sticking to a rejection for more than 1 day, learning from what went wrong, and moving ahead.