Thursday, October 29, 2015

Conflict_response

STONEWALLING IN CONFLICT

Similar in some ways to the idiom ‘beating around the bush’ described in a previous ConflictMastery™ Quest(ions) blog, the expression stonewalling refers to the tendency to avoid responding to a question or to be evasive. For me though, stonewalling seems to conjure up a stronger image of obstruction and uncooperativeness.
There are different opinions on where the term originated and according to one source, the first known use ofstonewall was in 1880. The phrase generally means unyielding or immovable – like an actual stone wall or the famous Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Reportedly, the most common use of the word means “to intentionally delay using specific tactics. Those gifted at the art of stonewalling avoid answering questions, halt a conversation, and even cause the other person to forget the subject altogether”.
This week’s ConflictMastery™ Quest(ions) blog invites you to consider when you are stonewalling, or have stonewalled – or someone has stonewalled or is stonewalling you within a conflict. Or possibly, doing so is leading to conflict.
  • When you have stonewalled or are stonewalling someone, what have you done or are you doing that fits with the meaning of this expression?
  • In general, under what circumstances do you find yourself stonewalling someone?
  • How may you describe what the stones are made of that build the wall you experience?
  • Considering a specific situation in which you are stonewalling or have stonewalled the other person, what have you achieved or are you achieving by stonewalling her or him?
  • By stonewalling, what possible things, if any, are you missing from knowing or happening? As you think about this, how else does the image of a stone wall impact you and the conflict?
  • When someone stonewalls you, how do you experience that?
  • What do you think the other person’s intentions were or are in a specific situation when she or he has stonewalled or is stonewalling you?
  • What image does her or his stonewalling conjure up for you?
  • What opportunity do you feel you are missing out on due to the other person’s stonewalling? What may she or he be missing out on?
  • Going forward, what may you build instead of a stone wall to accomplish the outcome you want in a conflict?

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Cinnie Noble  
http://conflict911.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=18978

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Start-Up India News clips


The ‘Start-Up India’ initiative would encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced a new campaign ‘Start-up India; Stand up India’ to promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation.
He also promised to do away with the current practice of interview-based selections for low-skilled government jobs.
The Prime Minister announced the ‘Start-Up India’ initiative, which would encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India.
From the Red Fort, he said each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches should encourage at least one Dalit or Adivasi entrepreneur and at least one woman entrepreneur.
“We are looking at systems for enabling start-ups. We must be number one in start-ups... Start-up India; Stand up India,” he said, exhorting all bank branches to fund at least one start-up of tribals and dalits.
The initiative, Modi said, would give a new dimension to entrepreneurship and help in setting up a network of start-ups in the country.
As part of the Skill India and Digital India initiative, the Prime Minister said a package of incentives will be given to manufacturing units for generating jobs.
Modi also questioned the practice of “interviews” for recruitments even at relatively junior levels and asked departments concerned to end this practice at the earliest and promote merit by recruiting only through transparent, online processes.
The Prime Minister reiterated his government’s resolve to make India a developed nation by 2022, with a house and access to basic services like electricity to all.
Talking about the financial inclusive programme Jan Dhan, he said 17 crore bank accounts were opened. Although these were to be zero-balance accounts, people deposited a whopping Rs. 20,000 crore in them, reflecting the “richness of India’s poor”, he added.
The Prime Minister also spoke of the welfare schemes launched by the his government, including Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, and the schemes launched for labour welfare.
He said 10 crore people have enrolled for social security schemes in a mere 100 days.
He said the government has resolved to provide electricity to all the 18,500 villages which still remain without power within the next 1,000 days. He also reiterated his vision for the development of eastern India.
(This article was published on August 15, 2015)The Hindu, Business Line



NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced a new campaign "Start-up India, Stand up India" to promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation.

Addressing the nation on the 69th Independence Day, he said, "We are looking at systems for enabling start-ups. We must be number one in start-ups... Start-up India; Stand up India."

The initiative, he said, will encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India. Each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches should encourage at least one Dalit or tribal entrepreneur and at least one woman entrepreneur.

Under this, in addition to existing systems to facilitate start-ups, he said loans would also be given to help people.

The initiative, he said, will give a new dimension to entrepreneurship and help set up a network of start-ups in the country.

The Prime Minister also promised to do away with the current practice of interview-based selections for low-skilled government jobs.

He questioned the practice of "interviews" for recruitments even at relatively junior levels and asked departments concerned to end this practice at the earliest and promote merit by recruiting only through transparent, online processes.

As part of the Skill India and Digital India initiative, the Prime Minister said a package of incentives will be given to manufacturing units for generating jobs.
Story First Published: August 15, 2015 09:14 IST, NDTV India



_________________________________________________

In the Budget, the government had announced a slew of measures to encourage start-ups, including setting up of India Aspiration Fund and Atal Innovation Mission.


 - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/modi-to-make-key-announcements-on-startup-india-in-december-mos-finance-jayant-sinha/#sthash.Mz0xouZM.dpuf


____________________________________________



The Indian government is working on a number of incentives to boost startups and entrepreneurial ventures in the country including tax breaks and easier approval processes,reports The Economic Times.
As per the report, the Prime Minister’s Office is drawing up a to-do list to create an ecosystem to boost entrepreneurship in the country, as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Startup India, Stand Up India’ initiative.



The Progress Report on 'Start-Up India' etc...

Modi sarkar more concerned about grabbing headlines, lacks substance, says Arun Shourie


New Delhi: Arun Shourie, a BJP minister in the Vajpayee Cabinet, on Friday hit out at the Narendra Modigovernment, saying its economic policy was "directionless" while the social climate was causing "great anxiety" among the minorities.
Former Union minister in Vajpayee's cabinet Arun Shourie.
Former Union minister in Vajpayee's cabinet Arun Shourie.
The 73-year-old journalist-turned politician said the one-year rule of Modi was "good in parts", his transformation as prime minister was good in foreign policy, but the promised turnaround in economy has not happened.
"The government seems to be more concerned with managing headlines than putting policies in place. The situation is like the many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle lying in a mess with no big picture in mind about how to put them together," he said in an exclusive interview with Headlines Today's Karan Thapar ahead of the first anniversary of the Modi government.
Shourie, who is not active in BJP these days, said despite promises the fears of foreign investors on retrospective taxes and incentives for manufacturing have not materialised on the ground.
"They (investors) require stability and predictability," he said, adding that the concern expressed by eminent banker Deepak Parekh on the situation on the ground should be seen as a "wake up call".
Asked if the Modi government had done enough to put India on growth path, Shourie said that it was "all hyperbole".
"Such claims are meant to grab headlines but lack substance," he said.
He was also critical of handling of the tax issues which was keeping foreign investors away. "First it alienated them but now it has made them laugh. You come out as bullies."
On the social front, Shourie said there was "great anxiety" among the minorities in the wake of the incidents of attack on Christian institutions and the "Ghar Wapsi" and "Love Jihad" campaigns.
He was critical of Modi's "silence" on issues relating to social tensions on account of activities of right wing organisations and statements by some party MPs and leaders.
"You tweet when Sania Mirza wins championship or greet someone on birthdays but you don't do such things when moral questions are involved. People doubt why he is silent," he added.
Referring to former IPS officer Julio Ribeiro's recent anguish that he felt like an "outsider" against the backdrop of attacks on churches, Shourie said when people of such standing make such remarks it means things have gone too far.
"We have to wake up," he said, adding that people like Ribeiro and former Punjab top cop KPS Gill had saved Punjab for India.
Talking about alienation of Muslim youth in the context of "Love Jihad" and Moradabad violence, Shourie said, "if 100 Muslim youth come together and conclude that we are not getting justice here and that ISIS is right then we have a problem at hand".
Replying to questions, Shourie said Modi, Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley were running the party. "It has offended the opposition as well as frightened the members of the BJP," he said.
"They are the ones responsible for mistakes and they are also the Supreme Court. The three leaders are not getting proper feedback and no corrective action takes place," he said.
Shourie also invoked the controversial monogrammed pin-striped suit that Modi wore during his interaction with US President Barack Obama earlier this year.
"It was inexplicable, incomprehensible and a big critical mistake," Shourie said. "I fail to understand why he accepted and then wore that suit. You cannot take Gandhiji's name and wear such a thing," he said, adding, it was good that he disposed of it quickly.
PTI




Sunday, October 11, 2015

Resume Writing

Introduction to Writing a Career Objective
Writing a Career Objective is a smart way to capture the attention of the hiring manager, if written correctly. Unfortunately, most people misunderstand what the Career Objective is supposed to say.
What the Career Objective IS supposed to say:
A short blurb telling the hiring manager what skills, knowledge, and abilities you have that will help the company achieve its goals.
What the Career Objective IS NOT supposed to say:
A short blurb telling the hiring manager what you want from the company, and in terms of how it will help your own career.
If you follow that one rule, your Career Objective will naturally be strong. However, you should read this guide to get concrete ideas about how to write yours.


1. Change the intro

Firstly, change the title of your “Objective” section to “Professional Profile”, “Career Summary”, or “Qualifications Summary”. It doesn’t matter which one. Objectives are viewed as outdated.
The content of that introduction section will also need to change. What you’ve written — “To search for a position that will allow me to improve my current programming” won’t inspire anyone to interview or hire you. After all, everyone applying to those positions wants that. So how can you stand out?
Tell the company why you would make a good fit for the job opening you’re applying for. It seems like you’ve got a lot of relevant skills to offer as a software engineer. How many positions are you applying for? Do these positions emphasize having familiarity with the same programming languages and scripting, or different ones?


What is a Professional Profile?

Sometimes referred to as a professional summary, a profile is a detailed synopsis of your skills and expertise. Depending on your preference, it can be written in paragraph form or a bullet point list.

1. Change the intro

Firstly, change the title of your “Objective” section to “Professional Profile”, “Career Summary”, or “Qualifications Summary”. It doesn’t matter which one. Objectives are viewed as outdated.
The content of that introduction section will also need to change. What you’ve written — “To search for a position that will allow me to improve my current programming” won’t inspire anyone to interview or hire you. After all, everyone applying to those positions wants that. So how can you stand out?
Tell the company why you would make a good fit for the job opening you’re applying for. It seems like you’ve got a lot of relevant skills to offer as a software engineer. How many positions are you applying for? Do these positions emphasize having familiarity with the same programming languages and scripting, or different ones?
Target your Professional Profile to reflect how you’ll fill the requirements needed to succeed and excel at the job. Don’t talk about the benefits that you’ll get by being hired.


2. Education comes next

Since you’re currently in school, your education section is more relevant than your professional experience (which currently only consists of volunteer work.)
Your education section looks great otherwise.

3. Next, volunteer experience

Your bullet points are phrased a bit awkwardly. Ideally you’d list more than one responsibility (you have it labeled “responsibilities”).
Maybe be more specific about how you assisted Year 7 students. Begin your bullet points with action verbs. (Try this Longest Action Verb List in the Universe) “Tutored struggling Year 7 students in algebra and reading comprehension” would be better and more specific, for example.
Instead of listing your skills gained, try to develop bullet points that convey how your communication skills improved, and how you demonstrated leadership skills.

4. Change “communication & teamwork” section to “Projects”

Writing a resume without much work experience is tough, so I understand the impulse to create this section.
First, rename it to “Projects”. Next create subheadings denoting individual projects you worked on (go for the major ones you’ve accomplished so far.)
Under those subheadings, create bullet points reflecting tasks that prove your communication and teamwork abilities, and also your skills.
Remove the part about struggling with a team programming task. At least rework it to sound more positive. Try to frame it in terms of working together to solve complex problems, rather than being given a helping hand.

5. Skills: The harder, the better

Right now, your skills section is filled with “soft” skills like teamwork, communication ability, keenness to learn, etc.
As a software engineer, your hard skills are most important. (It’s best to prove that you have soft skills in the bullet points of your Professional Experience / Projects section. They’re more convincing that way.)
Although you listed your skills at the top of your resume in your Professional Profile, I would re-list them. If your resume is read by an Applicant Tracking System (resume reading software), having more relevant skills keywords on your resume will give you a higher chance of getting through the robotic guardian.


Thursday, October 8, 2015

Article Writing

Freelance Writing Advice: Writing Descriptive Articles for Editors by Helen Vaux



 One of the most in-demand areas of freelance writing is supplying editors with descriptive articles. If a writer with good writing skills is attentive, discriminative, and has a "flair" for topical articles, he or she has the characteristics for producing such work. 

The field of the descriptive article is very wide. A few of the most popular subjects of descriptive writing include: 1) careers and professions in all industries; 2) arts, crafts, and handicrafts; 3) natural history and Nature with her curious and freak phases; 4) the objects of common or uncommon life; 5) beautiful or unusual scenery, cities, scenes of life, and so on— You can find nearly any subject—great and small—to write descriptive articles.

 The first step in descriptive writing is to choose the most interesting points of the subject. This is not difficult to do. The process is intuitively adopting the natural order of observation and noticing the most important points. The habit of accurate observation is a most desirable skill to have. 

You need to learn how to discard instinctively the dull and dry features of your subject, keeping in mind that: 1) a proper number of minor details adds interest and clearness; and 2) too many details serve to render the whole obscure.

 If properly selected, and presented, minor details add much to the beauty or usefulness of a description. If strung together in jerky short sentences, the effect may tire and confuse the reader. Often a single adjective adds an element of description more effectively than what you can do with an entire sentence. 

The effectiveness of descriptive writing depends largely on the right choice of words. It is not enough to depict the memorable points of the subject tersely and vigorously: you must do this attractively, picturesquely.

 As in every branch of the literary art, you can improve your writing style with skills that you've developed, strengthened, and refined by practice. But you should never sacrifice truth of presentment for picturesque effect. Facts and strict truthfulness form the heart of descriptive writing. Having a unique vocabulary and eccentric phrasing can aid you in securing the attention of your readers. 

Using comparison and imagery serves a purpose equally great. You can acquire all the literary devices for making vivid pictures rather easily. Such aids not only help to make the subject of your article clear and vivid, but they also can add flavor and spice to the language, which counts for much in the potency and beauty of description. 

The effectiveness of a descriptive article—such as one covering a ten day journey through Africa—is determined more by the impression it makes on our feelings than by the vividness and succinctness of the details. A peculiarly worded phrase, a simile, or an appropriate remark can evoke a powerful feeling. 

The aim of the descriptive writer is not embellishment, in spite of its appropriateness; rather it is toward simplicity and lucidity, both in ushering details and impressions and in setting them forth. You should strive to use the right details, and skillfully combine them—in the briefest possible space—into a strongly vivid picture, or series of smoothly-running little cinematographic pictures.

 In instances of articles dealing with travel, conditions of life and living, and the like, including photographs are essential. They help to sell good work. If you are writing about a familiar theme, then photos are a requisite if you want to impress the editor. The value of a descriptive article is enhanced fifty percent when you include photos. You can examine the many publications that demand articles of this class, and review the most popular subjects that they publish. To find publications that publish descriptive articles, search our free Writer's Guidelines Database. © Freelance Writing - View all Feature Articles - View all articles 

Read more at: http://www.freelancewriting.com/articles/FF-writing-descriptive-articles-for-editors.php
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Sunday, October 4, 2015

Twitter Revolution

Twitter Revolution


The term Twitter Revolution refers to different revolutions and protests, all of which were coordinated using the social networking site Twitter to plan the protests, mobilize the demonstrators and update the news to all around the world:

Characteristics

In the "Twitter revolution", the relationship between the new media and social movement has three distinct characteristics: 1) The Twitter streams represent the interaction mechanism of ecological network 2) The Twitter streams embedding or be embedded into different types of control process; 3) The Twitter streams reflect the change of social movement ecology.[1]

Positive influence

According to the study of the Egyptian revolution, American Scholar Linz put forward that there are four ways affect collective action:
  1. Make the disgruntled citizens more coordinated take some public action;
  2. through the information cascade (information cascades) to improve the predictive chance of success
  3. accelerate the cost of the repression of the union movement.
  4. Through information dissemination increase the other regional and global public attention.[2]

Negative influence


Twitter revolution also has its negative influence to the social movement. Gladwell defined the SNS activity as weak ties and low level organization structure, and put forward that the social relations which constructed through the Internet is very difficult to have the collective action. Additionally, It is a challenge of the social practice of using social media for political information construction and dissemination of democratic consultation, therefore, political culture, and social participation of ideological discourse problems created by the social media becomes very important.Twitter played an important role in getting word about the events in Iran out to the wider world. Together with YouTube, it helped focus the world's attention on the Iranian people's fight for democracy and human rights. New media over the last year created and sustained unprecedented international moral solidarity with the Iranian struggle—a struggle that was being bravely waged many years before Twitter was ever conceived.[5] Thirdly, as the restrictions of the technical and social capital, minority voice are easy to be ignored and thus, the discourse right of ordinary audience was again put on the agenda.

Case Study: Twitter Revolution in Iran

“Twitter revolution” is distinguished from other forms of activism because of the means by which the cyber activists communicate and aggregate through Twitter. It is an example of how social media facilitates communication among people globally in political revolutions. It challenges the traditional relationship between political authorities and popular, allowing the powerless to “collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns”. [3]
During 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Twitter and other similar websites succeeded in spreading the information and let people know around the world what was going on in Iran, while the mainstream, western media such as CNN failed to cover the news. According to Evgeny Morozov, a scholar at Stanford and a blogger for Foreign Policy magazine, the widespread belief that Twitter was the major platform of Iranian youth to plan mass scale protests online lacks sufficient supporting evidence, because in this way the authorities would be able to monitor and suppress the movement. Instead, Twitter is mainly “used to publicize protests that are already going on—and bring the world's attention to the acts of violence committed by the regime”. [7] Here Twitter had played a role beyond its intended function as social media where people get connected to their acquaintances and friends online. “Without Twitter the people of Iran would not have felt empowered and confident to stand up for freedom and democracy,” Mark Pfeifle, a former national-security adviser wrote. The contribution of Twitter in disseminating news from Green Revolution is recognized by Obama administration. On June 15 afternoon, the State Department official Jared Cohen sent Twitter an email, requesting it to “delay scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran”. [8] Iran government also chose to block websites Facebook and Twitter roughly a month prior the June 12 presidential elections.
However, some scholars also doubt the significance of Twitter’s role in the political upheaval. Golnaz Esfandiari wrote in Foreign Policy magazine that the majority of Twitter posts concerning demonstrations were products of Western users: “It's time to get Twitter's role in the events in the Iran right. Simply put: there was no Twitter Revolution inside Iran.” She claims that bloggers like Andrew Sullivan, who was famous for his twitts about Tehran revolution, misunderstood the situation.This journalist argues that activists who were opposed to the main political power tended to use Internet sources like text messages, email, and blog posts for communication in organizing of protest actions. Meanwhile,"good old-fashioned word of mouth" was most influential medium for coordinating opposition, as she writes. Also Esfandiari added that social media tools like Facebook and Twitter were not ideal for rapid communication among protestors.[10] “Western journalists who couldn’t reach—or didn’t bother reaching?—people on the ground in Iran simply scrolled through the English-language tweets post with tag #iranelection,” she wrote. “Through it all, no one seemed to wonder why people trying to coordinate protests in Iran would be writing in any language other than Farsi (referring to Persian.” [11] So the voice of native Iranian writing tweets in Persian about the situation in their country is nearly absent. Moreover, Evgeny Morozov affirms stress the importance of covering the events by bilingual Iranian bloggers. In his opinion only people who are deeply involved into process can comprehensibly describe the current situation. Wherethrough western commentators don't clearly understand the real situation because of language barriers and only the small percentage of curious and demanding "Internety gurus" tryied to use automatic translators and somehow approximate to the root of the problem. [12] David Rothkopf proposes that the idea of “Twitter revolution” is an overstatement. Even though it raised political awareness and increase participation through retweeting and reposting, there is no involvement of sacrifice, courage, physical confrontation and risk that real revolutions and real changes require. [13]

Case Study: Twitter Revolution in Egypt

In Egypt Revolution of 2011, the oppositional movement against the ruling of Mubarak was active on various platforms of social media. For example, “the hashtag #Jan25th was used to mobilize protesters on Twitter” to join the demonstration on Jan 25th on Tahrir Square. Along with other methods such as text message, flyers and words of mouth, it drew a crowd of 80,000 to the street of Cairo on that day. Similar to its Iranian correspondent, Egypt government shut down the access to Twitter in the afternoon on the day of gathering. [14] The connection was not restored until February 2. [15]
Moreover, Twitter was applied to communicate with the audience outside Egypt to “globalized the movement and win international support to protect and sustain the uprising”. The worldwide audience was also able to have constant update with the situation in Egypt, besides simply listening to the State’s point of view.[4] As consequences, the revolution succeeded in the resignation of Mubarak in February 11, ending his dictatorship lasted for over 3 decades. An article in the magazine Wired states that social media did not cause the Egypt revolution. Rather, Twitter and Facebook were more like “a spark and an accelerant”, “catalyzing pro-democracy movements”. They have had the most potent impact in “what has shocked most observers of the current Egyptian scene: the sheer speed with which the regime fell — 18 days”. [16]

Case study: Twitter Revolution in Ukraine (Euromaidan)

After president Viktor Yanukovich rejection to sign the EU-Ukraine agreement on November 21, 2013, a mass protest took place on the ‘European square’ in Kiev.[17] The event was massively spread through Twitter with the hashtags #euromaidan, #євромайдан and #евромайдан.[18] The political situation in Ukraine increased the Twitter subscribers from 6,000 new accounts in November 2013 to 55,000 in January 2014. Average amount of daily tweets grew from 90,000 in 2012 to 130,000 during the protests. It reached a peak the 20th of February 2014, when dozens of protesters were killed. The same day 240,000 tweets were written.[19] Although many of the tweets were written in English, according to geotags analysis, 69% of them were tweeted from Ukraine. This indicates that those tweets were posted mostly by Ukrainians themselves.[20] On the 27th of January, 2014 a ‘Twitterstorm’ was launched in order to attract global attention to the protest itself and to initiate sanctions towards the president at the time Viktor Yanukovich. Ukrainian Twitterati addressed tweets with the hashtag #digitalmaidan to foreign media, politicians and international organizations. The hashtag then topped worldwide Twitter trends.[21] Ukrainians might have been influenced to use Twitter under the Euromaidan because of the impact Twitter had for other protests.[20]

Case study: Twitter Revolution in Tunisia

The Tunisian Revolution was sparked in December 2010 due to a lack of political freedoms and poor living conditions. “The protest was driven by the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, an unemployed university graduate whose informal vegetable stall was shuttered by the police."[22] Due to these conditions many of the Tunisian people took to social media sites, such as Twitter, to spread their messages about the revolution. One of the messages spread through Twitter included a popular hashtag #sidibouzid, which was important in highlighting the Tunisian Revolution through a hashtag.[23]
In a survey conducted about social media use in the Tunisian revolution, “many of the respondents named Twitter, Facebook, Skype, and cell phones as social media platforms they were using. Prior to the revolution most of the respondents stated that they were using social media to exchange information, stay in contact with family, and receive uncensored news. During the revolution, the respondents expressed an increased use of social media.” [24]
Furthermore, the Tunisian people spread videos and photos of violence taking place in the country at the time. This allowed for people outside of Tunisia to understand what was taking place in Tunisia during the revolution. This led to increased coverage of the events from outside the country, which helped spread awareness and ultimately help the people of Tunisia see their former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia