A Review Of LinkedIn From A UI/UX Perspective

Introduction to LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the world’s largest digital professional network. It can be used to find the proper job or internship, connect and improve professional relationships, and learn job-related skills. It can be accessed via a desktop computer, a mobile app, a mobile browser experience, or the LinkedIn Lite
Android app.

By exhibiting their unique professional story through experience, talents, and education, a full LinkedIn profile can help one connect with recruiters. LinkedIn may also be used to plan offline events, join organizations, write articles, share images and videos, and so much more. The site also includes features that you won’t find elsewhere, such as a fully functional career board where you can look for and apply for employment.

Many employment agencies now work with LinkedIn; you may be able to share your LinkedIn profile when applying for a job, which means you won’t have to meticulously type your work history into a long online form.

Figure 1 LinkedIn’s Job Portal

Heuristic Evaluation of LinkedIn Using Schneiderman’s Golden Rules The ‘Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design’ by Ben Schneiderman offer guidelines for creating a user interface that is well-designed, productive, and devoid of frustration. Apple, Google, and Microsoft are just a few of the well-known corporations whose well-designed products follow Schneiderman’s
guidelines. Let us now analyse LinkedIn according to the principles of Schneiderman’s 8 Golden Rules.

1) Strive For Consistency
In violation of Scheiderman’s first rule, the LinkedIn interface is neither completely consistent nor is it entirely intuitive. The needs of diverse users for plasticity have not been adhered to completely and various segments such as the LinkedIn jobs, LinkedIn help center or LinkedIn privacy center have very different templates, almost as if they belong to different applications.

Although the user may use the application frequently, inefficient UI/ UX designs makes navigation difficult as well as attempting to find some of its prominent features at times. One example is LinkedIn’s publishing option, which has been heavily marketed in recent years.

If the design had to be consistent, the publishing option would have been located on my profile page as seen on Facebook, Google +, Twitter etc. However, it is located on my home page and I didn’t realise it wasn’t the same as an update until lately. LinkedIn’s new UI/UX design has obliterated this
functionality, as well as anything I may have previously published, without even alerting me.

2) Seek Universal Usability LinkedIn’s new UI/UX design has micro icons which could be difficult to identify for novices, older adults, disabled individuals, different cultural variations and technologically backward individuals. Looking at the application. I thought that it was 2015 and we were using scalable cloud infrastructures. What is the point of micro icons, other than maybe reducing file sizes and speeding up performance? While this is a partially legitimate rationale, it passes the purpose test: Does this activity contribute to or help LinkedIn’s mission and purpose? This, I believe, makes the data and material more difficult to read and hence is ineffective. “Content is King,” as the old adage goes, and I believe this interface fails to deliver on that promise.

3) Reducing Short Term Memory Load Displays in LinkedIn are not kept simple. Tags, a crucial method to categorise your network, have been deleted from LinkedIn. If I want to identify someone with a specific skill set in my network, I have to go to my tags and search for everyone who fits that description, such as graphic designer, media, investor, and so on. Additional fundamental options, such as the ability to sort by new contacts, have been deleted.

Moreover, the multi-person icon is very confusing and connections are hidden below them. As the key material of the ‘My Network’ page, you see people you “may know” or invitations first instead of your connections. Connections are displayed in a small font size on the left of the page, making it difficult to identify for new users.

Figure 2 Connections May Be Hard To Locate

4) Support Internal Locus of control Resumes are a core feature on LinkedIn. However, not only there are 10 other applications for that, they also do it better. If you try exporting your resume to PDF, it looks terrible. Moreover, users cannot change the order of sections on LinkedIn. For instance, users wish to include their educational qualifications and volunteer work first, they cannot.

What’s more? LinkedIn recently altered its messaging system without informing users. It used to be simple to keep track of essential communications; but now that the ‘star’ feature has been disabled, users have to find a new means to keep track of them. Users can only mark messages as unread and attempt to organise them later. Users neither have the option of setting a reminder to respond to a message.  In the former communications system, this was a useful feature. Thus, users become the initiators of actions rather than responders.

Moreover, users cannot save drafts on LinkedIn. If you are serious about social media, you will put a lot of thought into each and every post. As a result, the ability to save draughts is essential. You can only save the most recent post as a copy in the LinkedIn app, and that too as an individual. You can’t even copy or draft the last post if you’re engaging as a page. A user can’t save any drafts on LinkedIn web.

5) Design dialog to yield closure LinkedIn does not provide users with job wise tracking. This in my opinion, is one of the major flaws of LinkedIn. Sequences of applying for a job are not indicated with a beginning, middle and an end thus users are unaware of the stage their application has reached or if their application has been considered or not.

Figure 3 Users cannot check application status

Suggestions for the improvement of LinkedIn

1. Designing an interface that yields closure and provides job tracking.

Since LinkedIn does not provide any job tracking for users, the solution might be as simple as giving the following process flow for task tracking, similar to e-commerce order tracking, in which the professional could raise a ticket at any moment by clicking a button. The solution might be as simple as giving the following process flow for task tracking, similar to e-commerce order tracking, in which the professional could raise a ticket at any moment by clicking a button.

This feature will undoubtedly increase user engagement and encourage him or her to pay for these activities. People will gladly pay for it. They can be priced in accordance with what other competitors have charged. For example, IIMJOBS costs Rs.2000/- for tracking and notifications every six months.

Moreover, LinkedIn should provide better filters for jobs, eliminate jobs that a user has already applied for from the search results, provide the salary description of jobs and streamline job recommendations.

2. Adding a collaboration feature

You can currently either publish a post about a project or post a job opportunity if you wish to collaborate with others on a project or startup activity. This might be extremely beneficial to start-ups who wish to engage with others solely for the purpose of consultation or inspiration (pain-points).

The implementation can be straightforward, with a person/team creating a proposal for a project/start-up and defining the type of partnership they seek. LinkedIn then promotes the project to relevant people based on the circumstances. If they choose to proceed further, they click the Collaborate option. They can also choose how much time they want to spend, among other things.

3. Better arrangement of contacts for improved navigation

Categorization by importance such as main, secondary etc or by their company or organization would certainly improve the usability of LinkedIn.  In addition, user should be able to see a list of companies where people in their network work. This would be very useful when used in conjunction with the other suggestions. The option of filtering in updates relating to one’s contacts while filtering out articles and/or other forms of updates would also be beneficial.

4. Adding an incognito mode on

Incognito modes permit users to have the ability to hide their identity, while looking for new job prospects. This is especially pertinent while the user is still employed. I’m not referring to the present shield, which just shows the user job search activity. Instead, I propose that users be allowed to clone profiles under pseudonyms. It’s a serious issue. Because such anonymity is tough to attain, several senior job seekers have deleted their LinkedIn profiles. Although, majority of LinkedIn users are now employed, yet it is extremely tough to let prospective employers know that you are job hunting while presently having a job.

5. Improve profile visibility

Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn informs the other person that you visited their profile. If a recruiter, CEO, or other significant person has seen a user’s profile, it serves its function. This system guards against stalking and encourages open conversations.

However, some privileged people have access to your profile and can hide it flawlessly under the guise of a ‘private profile.’ LinkedIn notifies users when someone has viewed their profile, but it does not reveal the person’s identify. To access the whole history of who has stalked them, users must upgrade to premium. This defies the purpose of LinkedIn’s transparency, and users should be able to see who has visited their profile.

6. Provide an option to view the complete text

All of a user’s data is constrained to the first two lines of text for profile summaries and the first few items of various categories such as talents, recommendations, and so on. LinkedIn is now making it more difficult for users or recruiters to read someone’s profile by requiring them to click in and out of each category, which is cumbersome and time consuming.

Moreover, the skills section no longer makes your profile look credible even if a user has 99+ on all of them. There are only 3 listed out.

7. Ideation and Design

The goal is to match people who need advice with people who are prepared to help and don’t mind spending some time with those who approach them. It would provide experienced members who desire to be mentors the satisfaction of knowing that they are able to assist young professionals who are in need. Meanwhile, it would ensure that novice workers are not subjected to rejection or blank responses, as well as a reduction in negative feelings such as irritation and disappointment.

Matching the keywords would get better results in the example above. One of the benefits is that filters based on these criteria already exist in the app, making this feature easy to implement.

Conclusion

Although LinkedIn is one of the most sought-after applications for recruiters, networking and finding jobs, the various challenges discussed in this article make it a moderate user experience. Thus, by adhering to the standards and solutions recommended in this paper, a user’s experience on LinkedIn can improve considerably.

COVID 19 impact on the Indian education system : An educational psychological perspective.

The Covid 19 pandemic has left our world in shambles with a crippled health care system and politicians who clearly have their priorities misplaced. Amidst this pandemonium, our education system has witnessed a paradigm shift to the online mode of teaching.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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A dwindling education system

The Right to Education is a constitutional guarantee that has been enlisted under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. This right imposes a positive obligation on the state to provide free education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years. Despite this, the centre has not put forth any comprehensive uniform guidelines to counter the challenges faced by the education sector due to the pandemic.

The 2018 National Sample Survey on Education indicates that, “84% of teachers across the country face challenges in delivering digital education because of lack of IT training and inability to handle computers.” Moreover, the report states that, “only 23.8% households in the country have internet access and only 10.7% have a computer”. These are a just a few statistics of how the pandemic has exacerbated the country’s digital divide.

A UNICEF report in March 2021, stated that ten million child marriages could occur before the end of the decade, owing to the Covid pandemic. According to the report, “school closure, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage.”

Shockingly, despite these glaring barriers in our education system, the government has not increased its allocation for digital infrastructure during the recent budget. In fact, the Ministry of Human Resource Development budget in 2020-2021 for digital e- learning was reduced to Rs 469 crore from Rs 604 crore in 2019-2020.

Additional challenges for children during the COVID-19 pandemic include disruption in academic learning, social isolation, family financial concerns, greater childhood adverse experiences, trauma, grief, and increased screen time (Golberstein et al., 2020). Notably, the impact is even greater for students with disabilities (Brandenburg et al., 2020); students from minoritized communities including Black, Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse; students from families with low-income and economic marginalization (LIEM); gender and sexual minoritized youth (Salerno et al., 2020).

Image Credit: Unsplash

Bridging the digital divide

Despite the unprecedented number of children who are out of schools, some countries are going the extra mile to lessen the devastating impact of the pandemic on their education system. For instance, Rwanda has turned to one of its most accessible mediums: radio. UNICEF along with the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, have identified several radio scripts that align with the Rwanda school curriculum and work to produce and air these classes all over the country (Milks & Mcllwaine, 2020).

Children from Syria were introduced to the Self Learning Programme books that are delivered to their houses (Milks & Mcllwaine, 2020). These books help students who have dropped out of school or are at a risk of doing so, from accessing material of core subjects like Arabic, English, Math and Science.

The Indonesian government is working closely with UNICEF to create guidelines for distance learning and child protection while schools are closed apart from working on educational TV programmes to help children with limited internet access (Milks & Mcllwaine, 2020).

The Way Forward

The Covid pandemic has successfully exposed the deep-seated structural imbalance that exists between rural and urban, male and female and the rich and poor, even in a virtual world.

If our country continues online education without adequate supportive measures, the disparity in the digital world could widen the educational divide among learners in the future.

In my opinion, state governments should consider setting up a dedicated channel for education in consultation with the Union government. As seen in the above example with Rwanda, the government has employed an efficient learning strategy along the lines of radio which is the most common electronic device in the area. Almost every rural household in India has a television and hence the government should create programmes solely dedicated to providing basic education to students. Apart from this, an increased investment in digital infrastructure could be pertinent in reducing the digital divide in India.

The Role of Educational Psychologists During the Pandemic

The scope of educational psychology is crucial now, than ever before since students grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, isolation, family addiction issues, an increase in poverty, and adjusting to hybrid learning.

In urban areas, school psychologists could typically administer rating scales such as the Behavioural Assessment System for Children-Third Edition (BASC-3) or the Behavioural and Emotional Screening System (BESS). These scales may help school psychologists determine students who suffer from ADHD or other learning disabilities even virtually. Grief and bereavement sessions may be conducted by the school psychologists to help students process the trauma of losing loved ones during the pandemic.

School psychologists may also help to include basic physical activity in the curriculum for students which would encourage them to take a break from staring at the screen for long hours. Most importantly however, school psychologists must teach students how to cope, learn and identify triggers, when they need help and red flags. A telephonic interview with student’s parents may also serve as an important communication tool during the pandemic.

With respect to students belonging to rural and tribal areas, school psychologists could promote the use of affordable, low bandwidth e learning solutions and multi lingual platforms to facilitate convenient online learning. The odd and even rule may also be applied in this scenario to improve the chances of students attending online classes.

Conclusion

It has been challenging for students to imbibe with the online medium and thus it is important for the government to understand the predicament of these young ones. School and Educational psychologists understand the challenges faced by students at a grass root level and hence are in a better position of voicing their grievances to the government. School psychologists may file Public Interest Litigations in the local courts to fight for more sustainable learning opportunities for students. While this may seem utopian for now, school psychologists should continue to strive towards achieving their goals through a virtual world. The need of the hour however, is a government amendment of the Right to Education in order to include the mandate of online education under its spectrum. This would also help the states to distribute online and offline learning resources in all parts of the country.

References

Brandenburg, J. E., Holman, L. K., Apkon, S. D., Houtrowd, A. J., Robert, R., & Scholas, M. G. (2020). School reopening during COVID-19 pandemic: Considering students with disabilities. Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, (Preprint), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.3233/PRM-200746

Golberstein, E., Wen, H., & Miller, B. F. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(9), 819. April 4).

Government of India. (July 2017- June 2018). Household Social Consumption on Education in India. NSS 75th Round. NSS Report No. 585(75/25.2/1)

Miks, J., & McIlwaine, J. (2020, April 20). Keeping the world’s children learning through COVID-19. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/keeping-worlds-children-learning-through-covid-19

Salerno, J. P., Williams, N. D., & Gattamorta, K. A. (2020). LGBTQ populations: Psychologically vulnerable communities in the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Trauma : theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 12(S1), S239–S242. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000837

Santhanam, MS. (2021, July 19). How effective is technology in education? The New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/columns/2021/jul/19/how-effective-is-technology-in-education-2332059.html

UNICEF. (2021, March 7). 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage due to COVID19. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/10-million-additional-girls-risk-child-marriage-due-covid-19#:~:text=UNICEF%2FUN0331600%2FDas%2017%2D,analysis%20released%20by%20UNICEF%20today.

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India and Unemployment

Introduction

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According to the data provided by Mahesh Vyas of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, at the close of the 2019-2020 financial year, India had approximately 403.5 million employed individuals and a whopping 35 million unemployed individuals.

Over the past year however, the number of employed individuals has plummeted to 400 million individuals only. The COVID pandemic has undoubtedly contributed to this tragic figure however, what is more appalling is the steady decline in employment since 2016.  In other words, albeit the decelerating rate of employment accorded by COVID, the employment scenario in India is an acute problem. Investigating the data presented by CMIE, the employment rates in India have dwindled from 407.3 million in 2016-2017 to 405.9 million in 2017-18, and to 400.9 million at the end of 2018-19. This implies that the average number of unemployed individuals in India today is roughly between 40-45 million.

What is unemployment?

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Sociologist C.B Mamoria describes unemployment as “a state of worklessness for a man fit and willing to work, that it, it is a condition of involuntary and not voluntary idleness.”

Figure 1 Represents the rise in youth unemployment rates India from 1990 to 2020 (Image- Statistica.com)

Causes of unemployment in India

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C. B. Mamoria has been instrumental in identifying the causes of unemployment in India. He equates it to the policy of ‘laissez-faire’ or free trade that was propagated by the Britishers. Conversely, it failed to accelerate industrialization and as a result, unemployment rates remained stagnant during the British Raj till the end of their rule. The unchecked population spurt from 1921 to 1951 further aggravated the situation. Moreover, the significant decline of small scale and cottage industries resulted in a rural exodus and hence added to the urban unemployment crisis.

Figure 2 represents a comparative Picture of Educated and Uneducated Unemployment Across Developed, Developing and Underdeveloped Regions. (Image source- Bairagya, 2015)

G. R Madan on the other hand proposes vocational unfitness as a huge contributor to internal employment. The relatively high incidence of unemployment among the educated points up the economic waste involved in using scarce resources to educate and train young people who then fail to be absorbed in jobs for which they have been more or less trained (Majumdar, 1997). A study conducted by Indrajit Bairagya depicts that developed states within India account for higher rates of educated unemployment than the developing and underdeveloped states. This may be due to the fact that the developed states account for higher number of educated people than the developing and underdeveloped regions, and as such, a convex relationship is well expected between the unemployment rate and the number of educated people (Bairagya, 2015). Moreover, according to Bairagya, the unemployment rates among uneducated individuals is lower since they are mostly self-employed and engaged in other work.

Figure 3 represents a Comparative Picture of Educated and Uneducated People by Types of Occupation for 2011-12

In this regard, other personal factors for educated unemployment might include the age factor and physical disabilities. A major cause of worry is the recurrent pattern of youth unemployment on the rise, attributed to their inexperience. In contrast, older adults are less flexible, less adaptive and tend to contribute lesser to an organisation and as a result, may not be the best alternative for recruiters.

Over the past couple of years, economic depressions have also majorly contributed to the unemployment rates in India. Fluctuations in trade markets, imposition of excise duties and business strain observed in the trade cycle can adversely affect employment rates. Couple this with a strike or lockdown, and you have yourself the reflection of India in the face of COVID. According to CMIE, the country’s unemployment rates rose from 8% in March 2020 to 24% in April 2020. Despite the gradual decline to 6.5% in November 2020, over 90 lakh Indians lost their jobs between September and December 2020.

Moreover, the leisurely rate of economic growth during the first 45 years post-independence was not able to create enough job opportunities for the rising population. For example, in the 1980s, the growth rate of job seekers increased by 2.2% while the growth rate of job opportunities was only 1.5%. The backwardness of India’s agriculture is another contributor to unemployment owing to widespread disguised unemployment, traditional methods of cultivation and material attachment towards land.

A prevalent sub topic in unemployment that is gaining momentum is the youth unemployment crisis. Several studies indicate that the full engagement of young girls and women is restricted due to casual sexism, gender bias and social customs. Faced with ineffective protection, young female workers either select jobs for security considerations or prolong their education. Various studies have indicated marriage as a major cause of women workers withdrawing from the labour market (Sinha, 2013).

Most labour laws in India are quite comprehensive, however its lack of enforcement has resulted in unabated exploitation, especially among those individuals in the informal sector. Since most jobs are created in private enterprises, individuals are deprived of their rights enshrined under the Indian constitution, national or state laws and international conventions.

Remedial Measures and Suggestions

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The solution to unemployment in India should not be viewed in an isolated sense. Unemployment can only be tackled in its truest sense with the collaboration of the government and the public.

Overpopulation in India is one of the biggest challenges to unemployment. A dis- equilibrium has hence been created between the population and the food supplies sue the rapid spurt of overpopulation. As in this condition it becomes harder to properly sustain a family, the standard of living is constantly decreasing (Dumas, 1987). Even if people cannot afford to sustain families with large number of members, they continue to reproduce, in order to assure the survival of the family by producing more workforce and hoping for a bigger income (Jain et al. 2009). Hence, family planning programmes should be advertised by governments and awareness campaigns should be conducted for the same in order to neutralise growth.

Shri C.D. Deshmukh, the chairman of the UGC in stated in 1957,” we shall have to restructure university education by and large to the number of university educated men and women that the country will be needing from time to time”. In simple terms, he means to say that our education system is degree oriented and not job oriented. The system is in severe need of an overhaul in order to create a future generation of self-reliant, self-dignified men and women. Employment guidance bureaus and employment exchange agencies can play a vital role in this regard (Rao, 2012).

It is quite heartening to note that the IT sector has opened up several jobs for the educated youth of country. However, it is important to note that education in the IT sector is costly and presently the rich seem to possess a monopoly over jobs in this sector. Hence, the government has a major role of acting as a check and balance, by expanding the knowledge of computer education to rural sectors of society in order to prepare these individuals for jobs as well.

In my opinion, substantial economic growth can be achieved through the promotion of economic development. Agricultural sectors could create job opportunities through irrigation projects, intensive agriculture and horticulture. Moreover, the government should participate in the promotion and development of fisheries, forest and animal husbandry. The promotion of cottage industries, which is also a directive principle of state policy should be made an imperative law as it could be a vital source of income for the government. Additionally, the government should propagate the encouragement of growing commercial crops like coffee, tea, pepper, ginger, cardamon, cashew and so on. Lastly, lucrative projects and programmes should be launched such as the UP-government’s initiative in 1990-1991 called Bhoomi Seva, in which young men of the area were given funds by the state government in the form of bank loans for the afforestation of land.

This being said, it is important to highlight the government’s outstanding commitment to decrease unemployment in India by launching various programmes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (2015), Start-Up India Scheme (2016), Stand Up India Scheme (2016) and the National Skill Development Mission (2014).

Conclusion

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Unemployment is a major problem in India. As highlighted above, there are several internal and external factors resulting in unemployment, however with the help of government schemes and the support of sociological institutions, we can counter this problem in India eventually.

Citations

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Bairagya, I. (2015). Socio-economic determinants of educated unemployment in India. Institute for Social and Economic Change.

D.N Majumdar, Unemployment Among the University Educated: A Pilot Inquiry in India, Cambridge, Centre for International Studies, M.I.T., 1957.

Dumas, L.D, (1987), The Overburdened Economy: Undercovering The Causes of Chronic Unemployment, Inflation and National Decline, University Of California Press, Los Angeles, California.

India Today. (2021, January 5). Explained: Why India’s unemployment rate is rising sharply despite economic recovery. Retrieved from https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/explained-why-india-s-unemployment-rate-is-rising-sharply-despite-economic-recovery-1756074-2021-01-05

Jain, T. R.; Mukesh, T.; Ranju T. (2009), Indian Economy, VK Publications, New Delhi, India.

Johari, A. (2021), India’s economic crisis took their jobs and careers – and the ‘recovery’ hasn’t brought them back, Scroll. Retrieved from https://scroll.in/article/985442/indias-economic-crisis-took-their-jobs-and-careers-and-the-recovery-hasnt-brought-them-back

Rao, C. S. (2012). Sociology. S. Chand Publishing.

Sinha, P. (2013). Combating youth unemployment in India. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Department for Global Policy and Development.

The Return of Stability

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Former Vice President of the United States of America, now the President-Elect, Joe Biden’s approach towards India is in stark contrast to that of Donald Trump. The current administration is famous for voicing its opinion about CAA, NRC, Kashmir and climate change.  What can we expect from the new Biden-Harris administration?

A strong advocator of Indo-US ties, Biden’s stance towards India was elucidated after his 2006 interview as a Senator when he said, “My dream is that in 2020, the two closest nations in the world will be India and the United States. I that occurs the world will be safer.” This indicates that the new administration is likely to be favorable to India.

The Biden- Harris duo is also commended by several Indians for their keen attentiveness to the state of human rights in India, particularly in relation to the 2020 Delhi riots. Biden had expressed his disapproval over India’s controversial citizenship law and Kamala Harris stood in solidarity with the Kashmiris, reminding them that they aren’t alone as well as indicating that they will intervene if the ‘situation demands’. Juxtaposing this incident, Trump decided to remain silent on the communal riots and gave Modi a free pass instead.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the biggest difference between the Democrats and the Republicans administration would be along the lines of trade relations with allies. With Biden’s presidency, India’s main objective would be to recover the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which Trump had disconnected India from in 2019. Indian trade relation experts also aspire for a removal of tariffs on steel and aluminum. India is also hoping that Biden will rekindle ties between US and Iran, opening up a new oil market for India.

Biden’s presidency also appears to be a ray of hope for Indians facing the brunt of Trump’s H-1B visa policy. According to reports by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the rejection rate of first time H-1B applicants rose to 24% as compared to 6% in 2015. Biden however assured the world in his manifesto that he would lift the restrictions on immigration if he was elected as President. “He (Biden) will immediately begin working with Congress to pass legislative immigration reform that modernizes our system, with a priority on keeping families together by providing a roadmap to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants — including more than 500,000 from India,” said a policy document issued by the Biden campaign.

Biden also promises to reverse the Paris Agreement and the Iran Nuclear Deal, decisions in his manifesto. India will have access to cheaper oil in the case of an altered stance in relation to the Nuclear Deal. And if the US re-joins the Paris Agreement, climate change negotiations would happen at a common place and India stands to gain in terms of leading the efforts.

The US, to a large extent, would promote India’s urge for status transformation, that would most probably include a renewed push for India’s bid for permanent membership in the UN Security Council. On top of it, as a Democrat President takes over, there is hope that these two large democracies, would promote institutionalism, multilateralism, and a rule and norm-based international governance on global platforms.

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A year of abrogation of 370- Pakistan officials break their silence

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Pakistan has been in a state of complete hysteria ever since India scrapped Article 370 of the Indian constitution- a clause providing special autonomy to Kashmir along with its own flag and constitution and the liberty to handle all matters on its own other than foreign relations, defense and communications. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has also gone ahead and compared Prime Minister Modi to fascists like Hitler and Mussolini and has also spoken about ‘impending genocide’ without a context. 

Today in the first interview to Indian media by Pakistan since the abrogation, the advisor on national security and strategic policy planning to PM Imran Khan, Moeed Yusuf had a quarrelsome and aggressive interview with the notorious Indian journalist Karan Thappar. The former stated that there were two issues that needed to be resolved, Kashmir and terror. He added, “Pakistan stands for peace and we want to move forward.”

When questioned about Pakistan’s undue interference in the abrogation of 370, Mr. Yusuf stated that Kashmiris do not identify themselves as Indians and according to an earlier statement by Farooq Abdulla, ‘Kashmiris would rather identify as Chinese’. “If India is arguing that its actions of August 5^th to bring a permanent change to the territory disputed, a change in demography and a forced domicile law is not against the UN Charter, then India is delusional” said an agitated Yusuf.

Pakistan’s ludicrous allegation is that India deviously desired to alter the demographics of Kashmir with this constitutional change. However ironically, Pakistan has done the same in Gilgit and Baltistan by tinkering with its religious composition from time immemorial. On the 22^nd of September, Dawn- a leading Pakistani newspaper, reported that at a meeting with several senior cabinet ministers, PPP members and the Army Chief, a decision was taken to confer provincial status on Gilgit, Baltistan. However, Mr. Yusuf countered Mr. Thappar’s statement by saying that the people wanted to be integrated in Pakistan and more importantly any demographic change in the future would always adhere to the UN Resolution.

Secondly at the UN, when PM Imran Khan spoke about Kashmir, he accused India of genocide yet blatantly ignored the human right violations in China where approximately one million are in detention camps. In a statement made by Imran Khan last year, the PM confessed that he has not yet released a statement on the Uighurs of China as he is ignorant about the same. Pakistan officials however defend their PM’s statement as they speak about The Fourth Geneva Convention which applies to occupied territories and argue that according to that, India is violating several clauses. Pakistan also claims that they have a transparent relationship with China and attempt to justify their PM’s response by stating that the Uighur problem is a non-issue.

Pakistan’s Kashmir policy has always been in flux between bilateral talks on the one hand and a militaristic approach on the other. Khan began his tenure without much focus on the Kashmir issue. Only after India’s scrapping of Kashmir’s special status did the issue come into the limelight. A year since India’s move in Kashmir, Imran Khan has failed to the resolve the issue with bilateral talks and now only time will tell what the future holds for the two nations.

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How the 1972 Mathura Rape Case, changed laws on sexual violence against women.

Clad in a print cotton sari and sandals on her feet, 16-year-old Mathura, ran down the stairs of the Desaiganj police station with disheveled hair and tears streaming down her face. The horrific chain of events that she had ensued just moments before, would prove to be the very foundations of Indian rape laws, forty-eight years later.

A survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters in 2018, ranked India as the most unsafe country in the world for women. The irony of this survey is that India is a land that venerates female deities’ and goddesses yet the sexual crimes towards women in particular, do not seize to exist. According to NCRB, a woman in India is raped every twenty minutes. These statistics are alarming and the failure of the government to curb these heinous crimes is equally appalling. That being said, rape laws have metamorphized to a certain degree but stringent rape laws are still long overdue.

The 1972 Mathura Rape, (Tukaram vs. State of Maharashtra) is considered as a landmark case owing to the various legal fallacies, interpretations and sexist undertones that emerged from the trial. An episode of custodial rape, The Mathura Rape case revolved around the brutal sexual assault of a tribal Adivasi girl by two police constables. In an unnerving judgement, the sessions court exonerated the men on the pretext of consensual sexual intercourse. In the appeal however, The Bombay High Court reversed the judgement of the sessions court and convicted the men. The court also recorded in its statement that the absence of semen could presumably be due to the fact that she was examined almost 20 hours after the occurrence of the incident. The Supreme Court on the other hand could not fathom the trepidation of the girl and overturned the decision of the high court, reiterating the argument of the sessions court about the consensual sexual intercourse. The court also added that there were “no marks of injury” found on Mathura’s body there was “no battle” on her part and since she did not “raise an alarm” for help she “consented to sex”. The insensitive judgement mobilized women activist groups in the nation, voicing out the miscarriage of justice.

The aftermath of the Mathura Case highlighted the need for a legislation that is sensitive to victims. The developments of the case eventually lead to The Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 1983 in which Section 114(A) was added to Evidence Act in which the court was to presume that a woman was raped if she states that the intercourse is non-consensual. Section 376 (a) to (d) were added under the IPC which recognized custodial rape as a punishable offence along with other provisions. Further, a clause to protect women who are of unsound mind and intoxicated was added. Also, the burden of proof was shifted from the victim to the offender and it led to the abolishment of the publication of the victim’s identity in rape cases.

Laws are said to be dynamic and it is imperative for laws to evolve over time, however the same is not seen with rape laws. The victims of rape will only increase by the numbers, till the misogynistic and patriarchal ethos towards rape laws are abolished. However hard we strive towards modernization; India will only be called a modern society when we make radical changes in our laws and attitude to protect our daughters.

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References–

1) Tukaram v. State of Maharastra, AIR 1979 SC 185

2) Sakshi Rewaria, ‘Critical Analysis of Rape Laws in India and Judicial Opinion’ (Latest Law)

3) Shalu Nigam, ‘From Mathura to Farooqui Rape Case: The Regressive Patriarchy Found its way back’ (Counter Currents, 9 October 2017)

‘Bad Boy Billionaires’- Colossal thieves and devious manipulators

‘Bad Boy Billionaires’ is finally streaming on Netflix after a much-awaited trial, dedicating its episodes to the scandalous lives of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Subrata Roy. Unfortunately, the creators had to drop the fourth episode on Ramalinga Raju as the Hyderabad Court did not vacate a stay he had obtained.

Although this docu-series depicts three distinct narratives, the similarities between these tycoons will astound you. Thriving on the vulnerability of victims and the levy to escape with corruption, this series is a clear indicator that hubris has its ruination.

The first episode titled ‘The King of Good Times’, places Vijay Mallya in the spotlight, depicting a man known for his flamboyance. It tells the story of a beer baron who took over United Breweries, after the passing of his father Vittal Mallaya. The documentary calls out Vijay Mallya, a man with zero remorse for jeopardizing the lives of hundreds of employees and instead invites Enrique to celebrate his 60^th birthday with lavish opulence. He was so out of touch with reality that he invested in Formula One and an IPL team in the backdrop of a plummeting economy, absolving himself of his notorious title.

The next episode, ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever’, is centered on the diamantaire Nirav Modi. Quite like Mallya, Modi envisioned expanding his brand on a global scale and hence competed with the likes of Harry Winston, Cartier and so on. Hence, he went on to expand his brand in Hong Kong, New York and Beijing. Call it karma, but the diamond industry started to encounter a setback owing to the global recession and Modi was forced to borrow funds from Punjab National Bank, a public sector bank. Bribing PNB officials for six-and-a-half years, Modi obtained Letters of Undertaking, allowing him to raise money from the bank’s foreign branches, without paying any cash collateral. Unfortunately for viewers, this episode tends to be more of news piece than a psychological portrait.

The last episode, ‘The World’s biggest family’, depicts Subrata Roy and probably has the greatest impact on its viewers owing to the impoverished victims of the meandering and serpentine chit fund by Sahara. This is by far the best episode as it does a phenomenal job of encapsulating the suffering of the masses in villages who were adversely affected. Roy was a megalomaniac who thrived on the tax payer’s money until he sucked them dry. Mallya and Modi, for all their depravity, at least sold products; Roy built his empire on phantom promises.

Personally, my biggest issue with the series is the glorification of the grandiose lifestyle and hence a trivialization of the suffering of the afflicted to an extent. The first episode barely scratches the surface and merely highlights the protest of Kingfisher employees who hadn’t been paid by their pompous boss.

I was able to interview Rachna Prabhu, (name changed for confidentiality) and her husband who had been employees of Kingfisher airlines for two years and had critical views regarding the series. “The only difference between criminals and Vijay Mallya is that he wears a suit” says Rachna. “Back in 2013, we struggled to find a new job and when my husband finally did, he was not able to get income tax refunds as the IT department kept adjusting it against tax dues which were not submitted by Kingfisher. Moreover, what disgusts us the most is the fact that Vijay Mallya bought a cricket team called Barbados Tridents and yet he told us that he couldn’t pay our salaries. Sadly, the Netflix documentary does not touch upon these areas and instead the interview panelists were clearly biased and put on a diplomatic front about Mallya” adds Rachna.

Secondly, the interview by Johanna Hamilton with the two employees of Firestar Diamond, Modi’s company, reveals the discomfiting dynamics of an employer-employee relationship in a country like India, where the poor give the rich an unending long rope. Despite not receiving their salaries, the two employees are not bitter and refer to Nirav Modi as ‘God-like’ and continue to hope that one day Modi will pay them their dues.

The most discomforting question for me throughout was how these goons with a decorous façade could get away with looting public banks and cheating the vulnerable for so long. The series is eye opening although it does not contribute new facts and makes us ponder for how long this stratospheric inequality will ensue. Mallya, Modi and Roy did not only swindle billions of dollars but also assets that cannot be quantified like the dreams and aspirations of the less fortunate. That being said, the documentary does prove to be a reminder of systemic and sustained corruption and mismanagement that have resulted in frauds running into thousands of crores.

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Explained: The controversy of the Farmer’s Bill’s of 2020

The Farmer’s Bill of 2020 places heavy burdens on farmers

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The passage of the new farmers bills of 2020 into laws, provides enough evidence that farmers voices are subdued in our nation. The three contentious bills, The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were introduced in the Parliament on September 14 resulting in wide scale protests by farmers from Haryana, Punjab and Telangana.

Firstly, these laws are being viewed as an encroachment on cooperative federalism since markets and agriculture belong to the State List of India. The above laws do not mention, in the Statement of Objects & Reasons, the constitutional provisions under which Parliament has the power to legislate on the subjects covered. The Centre, however, argued that trade and commerce in food items is part of the concurrent list, thus giving it constitutional propriety.

Secondly, according to The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, farmers are given the freedom to sell their produce outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis. An APMC is a state-operated market where farmers are allowed to sell their produce to traders or middlemen.  These APMCs were initially set up to provide farmers with information regarding prices. This is done through MSP (Minimum Support Price) which is the minimum price that farmers can be sold. However, farmers and opposition members fear that the dismantling of the monopoly of APMCs will lead to the end of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) -based procurement system and may lead to exploitation by private companies. It is also naïve to simply assume that farmers in Punjab who are accustomed to mandis will go ahead and sell their produce to buyers in Karnataka. India is still plagued by huge connectivity issues and the cost of transit might far exceed that paid to APMC’s.

Thirdly, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 seeks to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onion, and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. This in turn will result in big firms, exporters, processors and traders hoarding commodities during the harvest season, when prices are generally lower, and releasing it later when prices increase.

Fourthly, The Price Assurance Bill fails to provide a mechanism for price fixation which could further lead to exploitation by private firms. Indian farmers undertake agricultural contracts on an informal basis and hence, formal contractual obligations are looked down upon by farmers owing to the unorganized nature of this sector and lack of resources for a legal battle with private corporate entities.

Economically, Punjab and Haryana levy a market fee, rural development fee, and arhatiya’s commission of 3%, 3%, and 2.5%; and 2%, 2%, and 2.5% respectively. These revenues that are earned from farmers are then given back to them as graceful subsidies in the form of electricity etc. Now, with state governments unable to levy market fees outside APMC areas under these laws, Punjab and Haryana could lose an estimated Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 1,600 crore each year respectively apart from adversely affecting farmers.

The unconstitutionality with respect to the passage of the bill is one of the main reasons for the eruption of protests by farmers. The government should have included the opposition and also taken into account the voice of farmers in order to plug the loopholes in the bills. This would not only create an assisted approach towards privatizing the sector but also avoid further exploitation.

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Responsible and Deglamorized media reporting

Sensitization of vulnerable news is something unknown to the Indian media. There have been several instances in the past when Indian media has portrayed a callous attitude while covering sensitive issues like the death of actors. From Jia Khan to Sri Devi and now Sushant Singh Rajput, the reportage by Indian media has been disturbing. Despite the warning issued by the Maharashtra Cyber Police Department, disturbing pictures of the late Sushant Singh Rajput lying lifeless on the floor of his room were circulated by netizens and some media organizations. Videos of the actor’s family grieving his death were also seen, which is the clear violation of the guidelines by the Press Council of India. The dissemination of news of celebrity suicides is mentioned explicitly in the World Health Organization’s guidelines and is imperative to be called to attention now.

Avoiding language that sensationalises and normalises suicides

Media organizations have the propensity to romanticize suicide and this is sometimes done unconsciously. It is pathetic to see social media discourse about the dehumanizing stigmas in our society that lead to anxiety, depression and so on. There is also a pattern of associating suicides to other people who had mental illnesses in the past and extrapolate on their sadness. Hence in order to avoid these misunderstandings, it is paramount to educate the public about the facts of suicide prevention without spreading myths. It could help by elucidating the differences between grief, anxiety and depression for starters as these terms are incorrectly interchanged often. A new trend by mental health organizations in India recommends the phrase ‘died by suicide’ instead of ‘committed suicide’ as the latter could possibly stipulate a sin or crime.

Avoiding pictures and explicit descriptions of the method used

The Copy Cat Effect is a theory based on the evidence that ‘young people may be susceptible to imitating the suicidal behavior of celebrities or others known to them’ as published in the BMC Series Blog in 2018. While the effects of ‘suicide contagion’ are still undergoing research, it is important to take into account. According to international guidelines, while reporting an overdose for example, details of the brand, quantity, how they were obtained and so on should be withheld from the public. Now, while stories of celebrity suicides are newsworthy, reporting the method can trigger other people to imitate it. Research also shows that some vulnerable readers tend to reactivate disturbing images of an actor’s suicide during personal life calamities hence sensitive reportage is the key.

Providing information about where to seek help

Information about suicide prevention centers, crisis helplines and self-help groups should be provided at the end of the articles. Certain digital platforms did a commendable job in providing suicide prevention hotlines available in each state in India along with their telephone numbers and postal addresses. It is always best to include points on how to prevent suicides and encourage those with suicidal tendencies to seek help along with providing information on how to acquire that help.

The guidelines issued by the WHO however serve as guidelines to media organizations and are not binding on them. However, since adulation of celebrities is common in India, the Press Council of India should take the responsibility of enforcing stricter guidelines which could go a long way in sensitizing people about suicide and why they should not resort to such an extreme step.

How much do you know about the Indian laws that protect the LGBTQ+ Community?

Historical literary evidence indicates that homosexuality has been prevalent across India for time immemorial now, however homosexuals were not considered inferior in any way until the British colonial rule in India during the 18^th century. The past few decades have seen a slow but steady rise in recognition of LGBTQ+ rights and issues in India and we have a few laws that are in place to protect the LGBTQ+ community.

Back in 2009, election authorities included a third gender in the voting list which proved to be a paramount advancement towards advocating equality to the LGBTQ+ community. Three years later, in 2012, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said that transgenders don’t need a sponsor’s or parents’ signature for their registration and finally by 2014, a third gender was introduced in the voter identity cards.

A major proponent towards equality of the LGBTQ+ community was the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) Vs. Union of India, 2014 case which was filed by the former to legally recognize those who fall outside the male/female gender binary and to include those people who identify themselves as the third gender. This case went down in history to become a landmark case which spoke at length about LGBTQ+ issues and also legally recognized the third gender. It allowed trans people to self-identify and declare themselves as a third gender and also the liberty to exercise their fundamental rights. Apart from this, it also gave them reservation in educational institutions and jobs. Further it also observed that Article 14 and Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution was coined in gender neutral terms and hence trans people should also rightfully fall under the purview of enjoying a right to equality and freedom of expression.

With respect to healthcare, the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill was passed by the federal government in 2017 which seeks to prevent and control the spread of HIV and AIDS and creates mechanisms for redressing the complaints of persons infected with HIV and AIDS. The act also prohibits any individual from publishing information or advocating feelings of hatred against HIV positive persons and those living with them. The Bill also requires the government to provide free treatment ‘as far as possible’.

In September of 2018, we witnessed one of the biggest victories for India’s LGBTQ+ community with the decriminalization of homosexuality and the subsequent declaration that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is unconstitutional. Section 377 reads: “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.” Decriminalization of the moldy section 377 of Indian Penal Code has marked an end of an era where this brutal law will no longer be able to violate human rights of a certain kind and to foster and facilitate an atmosphere in which millions of people have faced discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The above laws prove to be a ray of hope for the LGBTQ+ community who have suffered psychological trauma and are subjected to violence and discrimination, however only time will tell if this community will achieve true and complete freedom.