All about -Gig economy

The term ‘Gig Economy’ is often in news these days. The trend toward a gig economy has begun. Why is it so controversial? Let’s see.

What is a Gig?

A gig is a temporary contract job. It denotes a short-term contract or a freelance work as opposed to a permanent job. The contract employee gets paid once he finishes the work.

What is a Gig Economy?

In a Gig Economy instead of traditional workforce, there would be only temporary or part-time work force.

The gig economy gets its name from each piece of work being similar to an individual ‘gig’.

Workers are paid for each individual gig they do – such as food delivery or a car journey – instead of monthly salary/days wage/hourly wage.

Companies like Uber, Ola, Deliveroo have made a huge success with this concept. Even software companies hire gig workers on a project basis.

Is Gig economy a new concept?

The ‘Gig concept’ is very common in advanced countries like the US, Europe, who hire part time workers.

With freelancing evolving into the Gig Economy, the concept is attracting a lot of people in India as well.

Gig economy is remunerative and gives a wide range of choices but it also leads to casualisation of the labour. (Reference – Investopedia)

How many people are part of the Gig economy?

• As many as 30 percents of workers across the United States and Europe are thought to make up the gig economy.
• There are five million people currently working in the gig economy in the UK according to the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). This is around 15.6 percent of the total full and part-time workforce (31.95 million people).
• The statistics of people involved in Gig economy in India is not very clear till now.

What factors contribute to a Gig economy?

• The comfort of working from home – In a modern digitized world, it is easy to work from home with the click of a mouse. It is independent contract work and workers don’t need to go to the office for work but can work remotely from home too.
• More choices – There is a wide range of choices for the employment seeker as well as the job provider as proximity to work place does not matter here. People also change jobs several times.
• Experimentation – Gig economy is a reflection of experimentation too.
• Uncertain business climates – As the nature of jobs is changing (eg. by automation, artificial intelligence), there is no need to hire permanent employees.

Why is Gig Economy preferred by workers?

• One can also work on freelancing as well as work full-time somewhere else. Hence it is profitable to the worker as he can hit two targets together and multitask.
• It is very beneficial for womenwho work on this concept when they cannot continue their work or take a break from career due to marriage or child birth.
• Retired people can also stay active after retirement as this will keep them engaged away from loneliness and depression. They can earn as well on their own rather than depending on their children or pensions.
• It offers flexibility and diversity to the workers, unlike the monotonous full-time jobs. It offers flexibility when workers can work according to their convenience and schedule rather than routine like in full-time jobs.
• The travel costs and energy to travel to the workplace is reduced.

Why is Gig Economy preferred by Employers?

• The efficiency, efficacy and productivity of workers in gig economy are much more than that of a stable full-time job.
• More Economical for employers – When employment givers can’t afford to hire full-time workers, they hire people for specific projects and pay them.
• Start-up companies and entrepreneurs – who do not have big financial space – can grow only if they can leverage the services of contract employees or freelancers.
• In a gig economy, businesses save resources in terms of benefits, office space and training. (Reference – Whatis)

What are the stumbling blocks in a gig economy?

• There is no certainty, stability or job security in gig economy.
• Workers can be terminated anytime here in a gig economy.
• Workers do not have a bargaining power in a gig economy.
• Workers do not get pensions, gratuity, perks etc that is available for full-time workers.

• There is no basis on which banks and other financial service providers can extend lines of credit when steady income is not assured.
• The social welfare objectives can be neglected if business and profitable avenues of freelancing are prioritized.
• It is not accessible for people in many rural areas where internet connectivity and electricity still is a distant dream. Hence they are deprived of this opportunity and this stems up inequality debate again.
• Confidentiality of documents etc of the workplace is not guaranteedhere. When there is a situation where gig worker is potentially working for others as well, including competitors, the employer is wary of what he shares with the gig worker and perennially suspicious.
• In few work projects where teamwork is essential, gig economy becomes dysfunctionalin such a scenario.
• It is still in a nascent stage in a country like India.

What is the way forward?

The UK PM Theresa May had said: “I am clear that this Government will act to ensure that the interests of employees on traditional contracts, the self-employed and those people working in the ‘gig’ economy are all properly protected.”

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• The government needs to step in, not to regulate away flexibility but to build worker and workplace protection into the system.
• One of the biggest changes is a recommendation to change the law to redefine what a “worker” means.
• Basic labour welfare like minimum wages, pension etc can be paid to the gig workers.
• Traditional job descriptions should be overturned into skills-based categorizations.
• There should be revamped of employee policy assessments and evaluations. An effective evaluation process is required to ensure consistent and quality work, where customized assessment procedures will need to be developed.
• Effectively communicating employer brand is important as communicating an authentic corporate brand is needed for traditional talent acquisition processes, even more important in a gig economy, where the foundation is built upon trust.
• India should learn from developed countries like the US and basic training and courses on freelancing, etc. should be provided to people.
• India can engage with the European Union and the United States, where discussion on protections in a gig economy is already underway.
• Companies can introduce peer-to-peer mentoring and establish sharing platforms, both offline and online, to enable workers to connect with each other.
• Career Avenues, choices, counselling should be available to students and workers on gig economy.
• Companies will also need a human resource department that can manage a diverse workforce and imbue the company’s culture into gig workers.
• All casual workers must be given a full list of their rights and duties along with employment contracts in a gig economy.
• The business, as well as welfare considerations of the people, should be well balanced.

Originally posted on this website clickhere

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MALABAR JOINT NAVAL EXCERCISE 2017

In news: India, US and Japan took part in Malabar exercise in Bay of Bengal in its 31^stedition. Malabar importance in terms of strategic position of India, US and Japan. Malabar exercise is done annually between India and US Navy. Earlier it was carried on west coast but from 2007 onwards, India is holding exercise in Bay of Bengal and alternatively in Sea of Japan.

Japan have joined exercise 7 times before, but this time they were formally inducted now onwards. Malabar 2017 featured 95 aircraft, 16 ships and two submarines, making it one of the largest naval exercises in the region in recent times.

Background: The annual Malabar exercise started in 1992 as a bilateral event between the navies of India and the United States. It was an important step in the process of reviving India’s relation with USA, as both countries had occupied opposite ends of the spectrum during the Cold War.

The aim-

• Increase interoperability
• Learn from each others’ experiences
• Observe
• Make friends
• Show solidarity between participating navies

The thrust of exercises at sea this year would be on Aircraft Carrier operations, Air Defense, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Surface Warfare, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS), Search and Rescue. What are the landing procedures? How the person on board aircraft carrier guides? What aids are available to pilot? This is subject matter of discussion during the present Malabar.

Anti-submarine warfare is an important component of naval warfare. It assumes significance in Indian Ocean Region because hydrological conditions are severe. This means it is easy for submarines to hide in Indian Ocean water. It is consequently difficult for warships and aircrafts to search for them. India acquired P-8I aircraft which are for searching submarines in Indian Ocean. There is state of art sonars on newly commissioned ships. So India is well equipped to participate in these operations.

For US it is important as they don’t generally operate in this area. Now they are getting an opportunity to test their sonars, sono buoys, P-8I capability against the submarines in Indian Ocean, there are helicopters which are being participated by 3 navies. So ASW has lot of significance.

India is becoming partner to US?

These exercise shouldn’t be interpreted as India joining some group. The Indian navy does joint exercises with 13 countries. The complexities of exercise may change- It may be a passing exercise as when Indian ships visit foreign ports and stand with the host navies. This happens with most navies.

India does yearly exercises with all advanced navies and friendly countries- UK, France, China

All regional navies- Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Oman, Mauritius. So joint exercises doesn’t mean India is becoming part of the alliance. Joint exercises are held to learn from each other.

Increased scope

Complexity of exercise has increased in scope and work. With foreign navies, such exercise become more interesting as India is able to start getting into the nitty gritty of subject matter. There is a first-hand view of warfare tactics used by respective participating countries. Soon there might be increase in weapon firing between navies in terms of displaying more sate of the art technology available with them.

Normally on aircraft, the landing is more challenging. It is complex for two reasons:

1. Deck is small. So more accuracy needed
2. Aircraft carrier is moving, the runaway is moving.

So now the naval designers have designed that landing aircraft has a hook with it and there are arrester wires at the runway at sea. As it aircraft lands on that runway, it throws hook on the wires and is brought to a halt immediately. If it is missed, then the aircraft pilot is trained to take off again.

Reaction of Russia

So far as naval officers are concerned, they know what joint exercises are about. They don’t see anything beyond it. Naval officers essentially see joint exercises as means of interacting, both socially and operationally. Major part of joint exercises is interaction. Recently India had fleet review where hundreds of sailor and officers interacted with each other. So when these officers grow in ranks and head the navy, they shall remember the bonds shared during interactions.

Conclusion

Naval exercises are a complex process. The exercise are for 4 days, but the preparations start 4 months ago. What are going to be participating units, exercises, schedules etc  are planned in detail. Also, there will be debriefs and reports post the exercises. The feedback goes back to the ship designers also which can learn and incorporate them.

Navy will be the dominating force on India in coming times. It will be a kind of diplomatic military dominant force visible in other countries. Navy ought to be dominant force as there are sea lines of communication. However, India is still short of ships, aircrafts and submarines which is slowly needs to incorporate at available capacity. The responsibilities are growing and Indian Ocean Rim Countries look up to India to provide protection to them.

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Gene Therapy for Cancer

​In news: There is ray of hope for cancer victims, especially victims of leukaemia, i.e. blood cancer. A new mode has been approved by US FDA which allows to alter the genes of cancer patients. The reengineers can be put back in body of cancer victims and make cancer patient fight the disease.

There are various therapies to cure cancer

1. Surgery– remove the tumour
2. Radiotherapy– radiate the tumour and heal the tumour cells. Healthy cells are damaged.
3. Chemotherapy– chemicals are injected into the body intravenously, oral route and kill the tumour cells and healthy cells.
4. Immune therapy – no outside help to be taken. Chemical agents of x-rays. The body’s immune cells will kill the tumour.

How the new therapy works?

Known as a CAR-T therapy, the approach has shown remarkable results in patients. The treatment is not a pill or a form of chemotherapy. It uses a patient’s own immune cells, called T-cells, along with white blood cells. These cells are removed from a patient, sent to a lab, and encoded with a viral vector, reprogrammed, and returned to the patient. Here, these cells wont kill healthy tissues but only tumour.

The process

The report has been given to 35 countries. Every country has to do clinical trials to approve its use. There are monoclonal antibodies which augment the t-cells and have break on the t-cells.

Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs)- One way the immune system attacks foreign substances in the body is by making large numbers of antibodies. An antibody is a protein that sticks to a specific protein called an antigen. Antibodies circulate throughout the body until they find and attach to the antigen. Once attached, they can recruit other parts of the immune system to destroy the cells containing the antigen. Researchers can design antibodies that specifically target a certain antigen, such as one found on cancer cells. They can then make many copies of that antibody in the lab. These are known as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).

Over past couple of decades, USFDA has approved more than a dozen mAbs to treat certain cancers.

Side effects

As T-cells are modified genetically, so there will be reaction. So there is cytokine release system in the immune system. This cytokine immune release may lead to brain edema, may attack any organ of the body and cause damage. But it is risk worth taking as it is working well.

Long time is taken to bring into market as they are contemplating adverse effect- fever, cerebral edema, various organs had inflammatory signs. All this has to be seen in this context so that patient safety and efficacy is assured.

This is first time, there is a therapy to save people’s life. Despite the side effect, as they don’t occur in majority of deviations. Despite of the side effects, they are cured of the disease. The cure in T-cells in lymphoblastic leukaemia is a milestone.

India’s fight against cancer

Picture Credit: http://www.cipherhealthcare.com/images/no-of-cancer-patients.png

India has 14.5 lakhs of cancer cases in India out of which 40% are tobacco related. Leukaemia is mostly visible below 25 years. Blood cancer and solid tumours can be targeted by this therapy.

In Indian context, solid tumours will be addressed by this therapy as India is mainly fighting tobacco related cancer.

Picture Credit:https://www.thebetterindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cancer-2_2_650_020114021033.jpg

Patented gene therapy

India will not be able to copy the gene therapy as their will be patented rights. But Novartis will bring at lower cost to India. In clinical trials, the patients are not charged.

Noble priize 2017

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Three Americans won the Nobel Prize in Physiology for their discoveries
about the biological clock.
They have isolated a gene that controls the body’s normal daily circadian
rhythm.
Biological clocks produce circadian rhythms and regulate their timing.
Circadian rhythm regulates the periods of tiredness and wakefulness during
the 24-hour cycle in synchronizes with earth’s rotation.
It adapts the workings of the body to different phases of the day.
It influences sleep, behavior, hormone levels, body temperature and
metabolism.
The body responds primarily to light and darkness and is found in all living
things viz plants, animals (including microbes) and human beings.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

It was awarded for the development of technique called “cryo-electron
microscopy” which helps in determining the structure of biomolecules in
solution.
It takes accurate and detailed pictures of living things at atomic scales.
The high-resolution, 3D images can help in cancer drug research and better
understanding of the Zika virus.

Nobel Prize in Physics

It was awarded for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the
observation of gravitational waves.
Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time released by violent
events such as mergers of black holes,
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is the
scientific project that made gravitational wave detection possible.
There are two LIGO detectors in USA (Louisiana and Washington), one in
Italy (Virgo) and one planned in India (INDIGO) and in Japan (KAGRA).

Nobel Peace Prize


It was awarded to International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
(ICAN).
It was given for its efforts to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian
consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and to achieve a treaty-based
prohibition of such weapons.
ICAN is a Geneva-based coalition of non-governmental organisations from
over 100 countries around the globe.
It began in Australia and was officially launched in Vienna in 2007.
It has been the leading civil society actor in the effort to achieve a
prohibition of nuclear weapons under international law.

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