The Future of Jobs Report 2020
News: World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the Future of Jobs Report, 2020.
Facts:
- About the report: The report maps the jobs and skills of the future by tracking the pace of change.
Key Highlights from the report:
- Reskilling: 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 as adoption of technology increases.
- Effect of Automation on Jobs: Faster than expected workforce automation would displace around 85 million jobs globally in medium and large businesses across 15 industries and 26 economies.
- However, 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms.
- Skills in Demand: Critical thinking and problem-solving top the list of skills that employers believe will grow in prominence in the next five years.
- Top 5 Jobs in Demand: AI and machine learning specialists, data analysts and scientists, information security analysts, internet of things specialists and big data specialists will be the top five jobs in demand.
- Jobs that will become redundant: Jobs like administrative and executive secretaries, general and operations managers, assembly and factory workers, accounting, bookkeeping, payroll clerks and data entry clerks will find themselves redundant.
- Inequality: In the absence of proactive efforts, inequality is likely to increase by the dual impact of technology and the pandemic recession.
Recommendations:
- Government should secure the life of the displaced workers by providing them access to the social safety nets.
- Government should take necessary measures to improve their education and skills and should also offer incentives for businesses in order to invest in future jobs.
- The private sector should organise training programmes and skill development programmes in order to enable the workforce to match with the technology.
Additional Facts:
- World Economic Forum(WEF): It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva,Switzerland.
- Reports: a) Global Competitiveness Report b) Global Gender Gap Report c) Global Risks Report and d) Global Travel and Tourism Report among others.
India recorded highest air pollution exposure globally in 2019: Report
News: The State of Global Air 2020 (SOGA 2020) report has been released.
Facts:
- About the report: The report is produced annually by the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation(IHME) Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project.
Key Takeaways:
- PM 2.5 Concentration: India recorded the highest annual average PM 2.5 concentration exposure in 2019.India was followed by Nepal, Niger, Qatar and Nigeria.
- Infant Deaths: High Pollution contributed to the deaths of more than 1,16,000 Indian infants who did not survive their first month.More than half of these deaths were associated with outdoor PM2.5 and others were linked to the use of solid fuels such as charcoal, wood and animal dung for cooking.
- Air Pollution: Air pollution was the 4th leading risk factor for early death worldwide in 2019 surpassed only by high blood pressure, tobacco use, and poor diet.
- Household Air Pollution: India has managed to reduce the number of people exposed to household air pollution to 61% from 73%.
- Ozone(O3) Exposure: Qatar recorded the highest O3 exposure in 2019 followed by Nepal and India.Among the 20 most populous countries, India recorded the highest increase(17%) in O3 concentrations in the past ten years.
Additional Facts:
- Global Burden of Disease Study(GBD): It is a comprehensive regional and global research program of disease burden that assesses mortality and disability from major diseases, injuries and risk factors.
- It is based out of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Scientists discover new organ in the human throat
News: Scientists in the Netherlands have discovered a potential new organ in the human throat named “tubarial salivary glands”.
Facts:
- Tubarial Salivary Glands: It is about 3.9 centimeters in length on average and is located over a piece of cartilage called the torus tubarius,the structure that supports the entrance of the auditory tube.
- Function: Researchers suspect that the glands probably lubricate and moisten the upper throat behind the nose and mouth.
- Significance: The discovery is potentially good news for some cancer patients with head and neck cancers as radiation oncologists can circumvent these areas and protect them from the side effects of radiation.
Additional Facts:
- Salivary Glands: It has three pairs of major glands(parotid, submandibular and sublingual) and over 1,000 minor glands that are spread throughout the mucosa.These glands produce saliva necessary for swallowing, digestion, tasting, mastication and dental hygiene.
ECI Constitutes Committee on Expenditure Limit
News: Election Commission of India(ECI) has constituted a committee to examine the issues concerning the expenditure limit for a candidate.
Facts:
- Background: The committee was set up after the Ministry of Law & Justice has notified an amendment in Rule 90 of Conduct of Elections Rules,1961 increasing the existing election campaign expenditure limit by 10% with immediate effect in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
- Members of the Committee: The committee comprises Harish Kumar (Ex.IRS) and Umesh Sinha(DG-Expenditure).
- Terms of Reference: The committee will have following terms of reference:-
- To assess the change in number of electors across the States/Union Territories and its bearing on expenditure.
- To assess the change in Cost Inflation Index and its bearing on the pattern of expenditure incurred by the candidates in recent elections.
- To seek views/inputs of the political parties and other stakeholders.
- To examine other factors which may have bearings on expenditure.
Additional Facts:
- Expenditure Limit: Election Commission of India imposes limits on the expenditure incurred by a candidate, but not political parties on their election campaign.
- Range: The expenditure limits range from Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 28 lakh for assembly elections and from Rs. 54 lakh to Rs.70 lakh for Lok Sabha elections.
- Earlier Revision: The expenditure limit was last revised in 2014 while the same was done for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2018, following their bifurcation in 2014.
- After that, the limit has not been increased despite an increase in the electorate and an increase in the Cost Inflation Index.
Culture & Tourism Minister virtually launches Life in Miniature project
News: Union Minister for and Tourism has virtually launched the Life in Miniature project.
Facts:
- Life in Miniature Project: The project is a collaboration between the National Museum, New Delhi, Ministry of Culture and Google Arts and Culture.
- Purpose: The project uses technologies like machine learning, augmented reality and digitization with high-definition robotic cameras to showcase special works of art such as miniature paintings from the National Museum in a magical way online on Google Arts and Culture.
ASW corvette INS Kavaratti commissioned in Vizag
News: Army chief General has commissioned anti-submarine warfare(ASW) ship INS Kavaratti into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
Facts:
- INS Kavaratti: It is an anti-submarine warfare corvette of the Indian Navy built under Project 28.
- Built by: It has been designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation Directorate of Naval Design(DND) and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata.
- Purpose: The ship has up to 90% indigenously built content and is capable of detecting and destroying submarines.In addition, the ship has a credible self-defence capability and good endurance for long-range deployments.
Additional Facts:
- Kamorta-class corvettes or Project 28: These are a class of anti-submarine warfare corvettes currently in service with the Indian Navy.All of the four corvettes, INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan and INS Kavaratti have been commissioned.
- Anti-submarine warfare(ASW): It is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines or other platforms to find, track, and deter, damage and/or destroy enemy submarines.
Union Minister launches ‘e-Dharti Geo portal’
News: Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister has launched the ‘e-Dharti Geo Portal’.
Facts:
- e-Dharti Geo Portal: It aims to integrate legacy drawings such as maps and lease plans in the management information system and make it geographic information system (GIS)-enabled.
- The portal will also provide the service of Property Certificate by the Land & Development Office(L&DO) which will include property details such as land type, property type among others.
- Significance: This measure will help a prospective purchaser to ascertain the details of the property as well as whether any suit or proceeding is pending in respect of the property.
Additional Facts:
- Geographic information system (GIS): It is a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information. It uses data that is attached to a unique location.
Sri Lanka: Controversial 20th Amendment passed
News: The 20th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution has been passed. The amendment gives expansive powers and greater immunity for the Executive President.
Base year of Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers revised from 2001 to 2016
News: The Labour and Employment Ministry on Thursday revised the base year of the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) from 2001 to 2016.
Facts:
Why the base year has been changed?
- It reflects the changing consumption pattern, giving more weightage to spending on health, education, recreation and other miscellaneous expenses, while reducing the weight of food and beverages.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- It measures changes in the price level of a market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households.
- CPI data is released monthly by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which functions under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- There are four types of CPI: a) CPI-IW (Industrial Worker), b) CPI-UNME (Urban Non-Manual Employees), c) CPI-AL (Agricultural Labourers) and d) CPI-RL (Rural Labourers)
- RBI has adopted CPI as the key measure for determining inflation situation of Indian economy on the recommendation of Urjit Patel Committee.
