Day: March 26, 2020

5 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR STAR EMPLOYEES FROM WALKING AWAY

When you have a great team, the last thing you want to do is see them go on their way. We talk a lot about recruiting great talent, but when it comes down to it, your recruiting efforts are worthless if your company is a revolving door. You need to retain your top talent in order to make your business grow.
Below are five key ways to create an engaging workplace that allows your star employees to thrive.

1. Encourage internal movement.

When you have a top performer, it’s natural to want to keep him or her in your department. This is totally logical—why would you want to go recruit someone else, just so that the neighboring department could steal your awesome employee?
Unfortunately, the reality is that rising stars want to do just that: rise. If you want to keep top talent in your company, you need to provide opportunities for employees to rotate and experience new types of work.
This doesn’t mean that you merely have an internal posting system and allow people to apply for internal jobs. As a manager, you should make it clear to your employees that if they have an eye on another job, you’ll be supportive. Oftentimes, managers feel betrayed when an employee wants to leave for a different department, but they shouldn’t. A manager should be proud of training and developing a person enough to prepare him for a new job—not to mention rewarded for providing the company with a high-impact employee.

2. Figure out what they value.

You may really value a fat paycheck, but other people may value a flexible schedule. (Although, very few people would object to a fat paycheck.) The point is, just because you value a certain aspect of work doesn’t mean that your best employees value the same thing. Instead of assuming, ask!
You may be surprised to find out that Jane would really, truly love it if she could come in every morning at 5:00am and be done with the day by 2:00pm. And that Steve would really, truly love it if he could come in at noon, leave at 6:00pm to have dinner with his family, and then work from home every night. Katie may be perfectly happy working 60 hours a week, as long as she gets that fat bonus check.
Everyone’s needs are different. The important question is, “Is the work getting done and done well?” If the answer to that question is yes, then let your top talent do what they want when they want it. Don’t push back because you firmly believe in the 9-to-5 schedule. Let them figure out what works best for them and what they value.

3. Allow funding for development.

Even the best of the best employees need some help to move forward. Your top talent is no exception.
Make sure your employees have the opportunity to attend conferences, take training classes or even receive executive coaching. Yes, these things all cost money. But, do you know what costs even more? Turnover.
When you have employees leaving because they can’t grow and develop in your company, you pay a fortune to replace them. Recruiting and training are terribly expensive—more than an annual conference or even a coach.

4. Provide feedback—positive and negative.

Your best employees need to feel appreciated and looked out for—tell them when they are doing a good job and when they need a bit of improvement. People are often shocked with that last part—who wants to hear they aren’t perfect? Well, I’ll tell you: high performers who have ambition.
Why? Because they want to know what they need to do to get to the next step. So, speak up and tell your employees when they are awesome and when they can do something better. Don’t be a horrible, nit-picky micromanager. (“Your reports would be much better if you used Times New Roman instead of Arial.”) But, if there is a skill they need to acquire before they can rise to the next level, bring it up now.

5. Be an awesome manager.

You should always be an awesome manager, even if you have mediocre employees. When you’re a mediocre manager, mediocre employees will stick around and top talent will leave you in the dust.
This means you need to provide clear guidance and goals. You need to be fair in your management and handle problems quickly. If you have a whiny slacker on your team, you need to fire that person. Honestly. Your top talent won’t tolerate working with toxic coworkers. So, it’s critical to get rid of bad employees if you want to keep the best employees.
If you’re not a great manager, then work on improving. Commit to your own development. It’s critical that great people are managed by great people, so get yourself up to your own standards as quickly as possible.

ANALYTICS NO LONGER AN AFTERTHOUGHT: MIGRATION PROJECT ACCELERATES REPORTING AND REDUCES LATENCY

In the world of enterprise software applications, transactional processing and data analytics have long lived independently—largely because the latter was an afterthought. This separation makes the reporting process cumbersome for organizations. It also creates data latency that prevents them from using the most up-to-date data for running scenarios, making decisions and planning.
Businesses and their data analysts understand these limitations and tolerate them. But at Cornerstone, we think making decisions based on stale data is not the right way for modern organizations to operate.
To reduce data latency and accelerate the reporting process for our customers—from hours or days to just minutes in most cases—we deployed a near real-time data warehouse (RTDW) last year. This project was built on another big improvement that Cornerstone made last fall: our migration to Microsoft SQL Server 2014 AlwaysOn from Windows Server 2012 R2. This upgrade places us at the leading edge of Microsoft database technology.
Along with the upgrade, we changed our high-availability model so that we can provide even longer uptime for our customers. We can also recover data even faster than before in the event of a disaster. We completely updated our server hardware. And we’re using faster CPU and more memory.
Even more important, however, is our migration to state-of-the-art storage technology—from traditional SAN to Flash. It’s a significant investment, but well worth it. We’re seeing a five- to tenfold performance increase because of this upgrade. The end-user experience is drastically improved, as well.
Another benefit of the migration is our ability to introduce new services to our customers that help them make better use of their data. We see our new architecture as a building block for innovation at Cornerstone. As our IT architect Reza Seraji said in a case study about the upgrade, “Without this project we wouldn’t be able to provide a near [RTDW] solution to our clients.”
Another new offering that stems from the recent migration project is Cornerstone View. The solution provides interactive data visualization tools for searching, filtering and comparing talent data quickly and easily. This innovation is not something we could deliver to our customers if we had not made the move to Microsoft SQL Server 2014 AlwaysOn and deployed the near RTDW on top of it.
These changes enable our customers to finally combine their transactional processing and data analytics and generate reports based on their most up-to-date data. They can enter a transaction, pull a report and see the impact of a change almost immediately.
We’re now working to add even more reporting technology and functionality on top of our new database architecture. One project currently in development is an analytics engine that will enable our customers to perform “what if” scenarios based on rapid calculations of their data.
The database migration project, and the introduction of the RTDW, have shortened the distance for our customers between the worlds of transaction processing and data analytics from both a storage and process standpoint. So, in the Cornerstone world, analytics is no longer an afterthought.

WHY COMPANY CULTURE CAN’T — AND SHOULDN’T — BE TAUGHT: Q&A WITH CRIS WILDERMUTH

From performing day-to-day tasks to building the internal relationships necessary to thrive, new hires always have a lot to learn. Since adapting to new company culture is part of that equation, should companies actually teach corporate culture? They can’t unless they know what the culture is, says Cris Wildermuth, assistant professor of leadership development at Drake University. We spoke with Wildermuth to find out why understanding culture is the first step and how employees can turn a blind eye to certain parts of company culture.

Can employees be taught corporate culture?

Part of the difficulty of teaching culture is you have to become aware of the culture in the first place. So much of culture is hidden even to the people who hold that culture. There’s so much of our culture that we don’t know that we know. We’ve learned over time because when we did something, someone frowned at us or we received punishment of some sort, but we aren’t necessarily learning it consciously.
When I talk about culture, I use the iceberg metaphor — people are talking about things that are on the surface of the iceberg, but not everything that’s underneath. You could be saying things like, “Around here we have a strong work ethic. We arrive early and leave late.” But you may not say, “Around here you’re supposed to speak the truth unless you’re talking to a higher-up in which case you lie like crazy.”  I highly doubt anyone would want to teach that even if it’s true. The point is, the culture that we wish we had is the one that we teach rather than the one we actually have.

How can companies implement a version Company Culture 101 for new hires?

For starters, people need to have conversations about what culture means. In the workplace, learning and development professionals can organize workshops around what culture means and then employees could be sent out to identify elements of the culture that matter.
When you analyze culture you also look at other things, like hard numbers — who’s being promoted? What are desirable characteristics of employees? What questions are being asked in interviews? An organization might want to have people from the outside help because there are some things that are so obvious that we don’t see them ourselves.

Some people say company culture can’t be taught and needs to be learned through experience. What’s your response to that?

Those that are saying it can’t be taught would probably agree that it cannot be taught because you don’t know what you should be teaching in the first place, and even if you did know you would probably not want to tell the truth. The problem with teaching culture is you’re adding a vector of “should” to it. You’re not only saying this is how things are around here, but also this is the way things should be around here. Therefore if you’re going to be successful, this is what you should do.
Is the culture that you have right now the culture that will really help take your organization to the next level, that will help you adapt to new environmental conditions? If it isn’t, then you could be hurting your chances of seeing changes in culture. That’s another problem: Should we only hire people who fit in? Well it’s likely that people who fit in will be happier, but the other side of that coin is, what if the misfits are the ones who carry the seeds of greatness? 

Don’t Let Social Media Kill Your Career

Social media can kill your career. That’s not surprising, nor is it new. But right now, with recent college graduates out there job hunting and since it is an election year, this is a great time to be warned again. People are overlooked for job interviews and promotions and they get fired, all for making inappropriate posts on social media. 
“People need to be reminded,” said Deborah Brown-Volkman, professional certified coach at SurpassYourDreams.com, “just like every year at Christmas time, we remind them not to drink too much at the office party or tell the boss what they think of him.”
Because people use social media 24/7, saving your career means more than just deleting those Friday night photos. Here’s what you need to know to avoid committing social media career killers.
Employers are going to explore online and they will find you
“Present and future employers look at and monitor your social media sites,” said Brown-Volkman. “Some companies have compliance departments that monitor them and go so far as to ask for LinkedIn passwords to monitor your mail,” she added.
Everyone has a different sense of humor
What’s funny to you may deeply offend another. No employer wants to be insulted nor do they want to risk other employees or potential customers being offended. And, just because you’re simply sharing or reposting, that doesn’t mean you will be off the hook. People’s perceptions of you as a professional can change dramatically if they see you rant and rave about provocative topics.
“Don’t share or talk about anything controversial,” said Brown-Volkman. “You can be a republican or a democrat, but the point of view stuff that makes you or others respond angrily or start blaming, will get you in trouble too,” she added.
There is such a thing as over-exposure
Ever get sick and tired of hearing the same song everywhere you go or every time you get in the car? Or, what about seeing the same celebrity interview on every morning, noon and nighttime show? That’s exactly the reason you shouldn’t over share on social media. People will not only get sick of ‘seeing’ you, but they may question your credibility if all they see are things you posted all day long. When would you have had time to actually do some work?
Nothing is private! 
“People are going to look at your profile and anything you post is fair game,” said Brown-Volkman. “Even if you adjust your privacy settings, they somehow see it.” When you think you’re venting to only your closest one hundred friends, there could be one hundred more who take it out of context or share with their one hundred closest friends. And remember, there is no privacy setting for preventing someone from taking screenshots of your posts and sending them to someone else.
“Post G-rated stuff like pictures of you smiling, with your family and friends, or being active, like climbing a mountain or running a race,” said Brown-Volkman. Also, differentiate between personal and professional accounts. Use LinkedIn to connect with colleagues, clients and potential employers and to share career or business news. Reserve Facebook to give family and real friends, fun updates and information. When all is said and done

Telephone Conversation between Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and H.E. Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission

Prime Minister today had a telephonic conversation with H.E. Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The two leaders discussed the global situation in the context of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister expressed his condolences on the loss of life in the European Union due to COVID-19.   He emphasized on the need for coordination and cooperation among all the countries to fight the pandemic. The Prime Minister also dwelt on the steps taken by India for containing the spread of Coronavirus infection.

Ms. Von Der Leyenmentioned that the Prime Minister’s leadership in taking early measures has been the key to preventing a rapid spread of the disease in India.  She also expressed her appreciation for the assistance rendered to the European citizens in India in this situation.

Ms. Von Der Leyen emphasized the importance of maintaining a steady supply of essential items, including medicines and coordinated efforts for vaccine development.

The two leaders discussed possible cooperation within the G-20 framework, and the forthcoming video-conference in this context.

*****

PM calls for complete lockdown of entire nation for 21 days

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi called for a complete lockdown of the entire nation for the next 21 days beginning at midnight tonight in an effort to contain the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In a special televised address to the Nation the Prime Minister said that even those nations with the best of the medical facilities could not contain the virus and that the social distancing is the only option to mitigate it.

“All of you are also witnessing how the most advanced countries of the world have been rendered absolutely helpless by this pandemic. It is not that these countries are not putting in adequate efforts or they lack resources. The Coronavirus is spreading at such a rapid pace that despite all the preparations and efforts, these countries are finding it hard to manage the crisis.

The analysis of happenings in all these countries since the last two months, and the opinion of experts has proved that there is only one way to effectively deal with Coronavirus – Social Distancing” he said.

Cautioning of those who are careless, the Prime Minister said, “carelessness of a few, ill-conceived notions of a few can put you, your children, your parents, your family, your friends, the entire country in grave jeopardy. It will be impossible to estimate the price India will have to pay if this carelessness continues.”

He also urged the people to take the lockdown imposed by the State Governments in several parts of the country, in the last few days with utmost sincerity.

The Prime Minister announced that from midnight tonight onwards, the entire country shall go under complete lockdown, a total ban is being imposed on people, from stepping out of their homes for a period of 21 days.

He said this decision was taken from the experiences of health sector experts and experiences of other countries and that 21 days is essential to break the chain of infection.

He added that this will be a few levels more than Janata-Curfew, and also stricter. He said this decision is vital in order to protect the country, and each of its citizens against Corona Pandemic.

Discussing the economic impact owing to the Pandemic, the Prime Minister said, “The nation will have to certainly pay an economic cost because of this lockdown. However, to save the life of each and every Indian is our top most priority. Hence, It is my plea to you to continue staying wherever you are right now in the country.”

The Prime Minister explained that if the situation is not brought under control in the next 3 weeks, the country could go back 21 years and that several families would be devastated forever. Hence, he urged the people to do just one thing in the next 21 days – to stay inside their homes.

The Prime Minister said the experiences of those countries that have been able to contain Corona offer some ray of hope.

He said that those countries that observed lockdown and where people adhered to the rules are able to surmount the pandemic.

The Prime Minister said,  “India is at a stage where our current actions will determine how much we are able to minimize the impact of this disaster. It’s time to consistently keep strengthening our resolve. It’s time to exercise caution at every step. You have to remember that Jaan hai toh Jahaan hai. This is the time for patience and discipline. Until the lockdown situation remains, we must keep our resolve, we must keep our promise.”

The Prime Minister said the Central and State Governments countrywide are working swiftly to ensure that citizens do not face much inconvenience in their daily life. He said that provisions have been made to ensure supplies of all essential items continue smoothly. He added that along with the Central and State Governments, individuals from civil societies and institutions are constantly striving to reduce the problems of the poor during this period of crisis.

Shri Modi announced that the Government has provided Rupees Fifteen Thousand Crore (Rs 15,000,00,00,000) for strengthening the medical infrastructure and treatment of the Corona infected patients.

He appealed to the people to beware of any kind of rumors or superstitions circulating during such times. He requested the people not to take any medication without consulting doctors if you are showing any symptoms of this infection. He expressed confidence of every Indian abiding by the instructions of the Government and local authorities during this crucial hour.

The Prime Minister praised every Indian who came together in the hour of crisis and contributed with full responsibility and sensitivity to ensure the success of Janata Curfew. He added “Through one day of Janata-Curfew, India proved that at the time of crisis befalling our nation, at the time of crisis befalling humanity, how each and every Indian comes together to put forth united efforts to deal with it.”

The Prime Minister concluded though 21 days of lockdown is a long time, but it is equally essential for your safety and that of your family. He expressed confidence that every Indian will not only successfully fight this difficult situation but also emerge victorious.

***

PM greets people on the occasion of various festivals across the country

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on occasion of various festivals across the country.

In a series of tweets PM said, “We are celebrating various festivals across India and also the start of a New Year as per our traditional calendar. Greetings on Ugadi, Gudi Padava, Navreh and Sajibu Cheiraoba. May these auspicious occasions bring good health, happiness and prosperity in our lives.

We are marking these festivals at a time when our nation is battling the COVID-19 menace. The celebrations will not be like they are usually but they will strengthen our resolve to overcome our circumstances. May we keep working to fight COVID-19 together.”

Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

सभी देशवासियों को नववर्ष विक्रम संवत 2077 की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। यह नववर्ष आप सबके जीवन में समृद्धि और उत्तम स्वास्थ्य लेकर आए।

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Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

ಯುಗಾದಿ ಹೊಸ ವರ್ಷ ಬಂದಿದೆ!

ಈ ವರ್ಷ ಆಕಾಂಕ್ಷೆಗಳನ್ನು ಈಡೇರಿಸಲಿ, ವಿಪತ್ತುಗಳಿಂದ ಹೊರಬರಲು ಹೊಸ ಚೈತನ್ಯ ತರಲಿ ಎಂದು ನಾನು ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ.
ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೂ ಸಂತಸ ಮತ್ತು ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಮಿಗಿಲಾಗಿ ಉತ್ತಮ ಆರೋಗ್ಯದ ಆಶಿರ್ವಾದವಿರಲಿ.

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Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

ఉగాదితో  కొత్త సంవత్సరం ఆరంభం అవుతోంది.
ఈ సంవత్సరం ప్రజల ఆశలు ఆకాంక్షలు నెరవేర్చి, కష్టాలను అధిగమించే నూతనశక్తిని ప్రసాదిస్తుందని ఆశిస్తున్నాను.
ప్రజలందరూ సుఖ సంతోషాలతో, ముఖ్యంగా ఆరోగ్యంతో వుండాలని ప్రార్ధిస్తున్నాను.

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Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

महाराष्ट्रातील लोक आज गुढी पाडवा साजरा करत आहेत. मी त्यांना यश, आनंद आणि उत्तम आरोग्य लाभो अशा शुभेच्छा देतो.

या वर्षी त्यांच्या सर्व मनोकामना पूर्ण होवोत.

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Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

Sajibu Cheiraoba greetings to my sisters and brothers of Manipur. May everyone be blessed with peace and prosperity. Special prayers for the good health of the people.

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Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

Navreh Mubarak!

May this festival fill everyone’s life with good health and happiness.

May we all come together to win the important battle that the nation faces against COVID-19.

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Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

आज से नवरात्रि शुरू हो रही है। वर्षों से मैं मां की आराधना करता आ रहा हूं। इस बार की साधना मैं मानवता की उपासना करने वाले सभी नर्स, डॉक्टर, मेडिकल स्टाफ, पुलिसकर्मी और मीडियाकर्मी, जो कोरोना के खिलाफ लड़ाई में जुटे हैं, के उत्तम स्वास्थ्य, सुरक्षा एवं सिद्धि को समर्पित करता हूं।

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***

PM interacts with the people of Varanasi on the menace of Coronavirus

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi while interacting with the people of his constituency – Varanasi through video conferencing said that as the MP of Varanasi, he should have been among them in times like this but it could not be possible due to the things which are going on in Delhi. He added that despite being busy, he has been taking regular updates about Varanasi from his colleagues. It was the Prime Minister’s first interaction with the people of Varanasi after the outbreak of Coronavirus.

The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the people of Varanasi for performing rituals & offering prayers to Goddess Shailputri to give us all the strength to fight the country’s battle against Coronavirus. He said “At times, people don’t pay attention to things which are important, the same is happening in India.” He also urged people to understand facts & not believe in rumours. He added that Coronavirus doesn’t discriminate between rich & poor and it will not spare anyone. He expressed his condolences to the families of all those killed in the terror attack in Gurudwara in Kabul.

The Prime Minister announced that the Government has formed a help desk, in collaboration with WhatsApp to seek correct information about Coronavirus. He said it can be accessed through the WhatsApp number 9013151515 by texting ‘Namaste’ to this number, in either English or in Hindi. He said that the Mahabharat war was won in 18 days and it would take 21 days for India to win the war against novel coronavirus.

The Prime Minister appealed to all the citizens that if they notice any incident where professionals, such as doctors & nurses, are ill-treated, then they should take an initiative to make such people understand that they are wrong. He said that he has asked Home Ministry & DGPs to take strict action against those who are not supporting or not co-operating with doctors, nurses & other professionals who are serving us in this critical time. He added that this country’s common man believes in taking the right step at the right time. He said that on 22 March, it was clearly seen how all the citizens supported Janata Curfew and then at 5pm, expressed gratitude for the professionals fulfilling their duties in essential services. He added that healthcare professionals working in white uniforms in hospitals are like God for us today, they are saving us from the disease, they are saving us by risking their own lives. He also replied to queries and doubts of people from various walks of life, in his constituency.

 

***

PM to participate in G20 virtual summit tomorrow

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi shall participate in G20 virtual summit tomorrow to discuss on the issues related to Corona virus.

“The G20 has an important global role to play in addressing the COVID 19 pandemic. I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at the G20 virtual summit, being coordinated by the Saudi G20 Presidency,” PM said in a tweet.

 

Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

The has an important global role to play in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at the , being coordinated by the Saudi G20 Presidency. @g20org @KingSalman

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Telephone conversation between PM and President of the Russian Federation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation today with the President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr Vladimir V. Putin. The two leaders discussed the global situation in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

PM Modi
PM Modi
The Prime Minister conveyed his good wishes for early recovery of all those suffering from the disease in Russia and expressed the hope that Russia’s efforts, led by President Putin, to fight the disease would be successful.
President Putin conveyed to the Prime Minister his good wishes for the success of measures adopted in India to combat COVID-19.
The two leaders agreed on further consultation and cooperation in adequately addressing all challenges faced by this major global crisis, including those pertaining to health, medicine, scientific research, humanitarian matters and impact on global economy. They stressed the significance of international cooperation for unitedly fighting COVID-19, including within the framework of G20.
The Prime Minister appreciated the cooperation of Russian authorities in ensuring well-being of Indian students in Russia and hoped that the same would continue. President Putin assured all help in this regard. The Prime Minister told President Putin that Indian authorities concerned would continue to facilitate in all possible manner the efforts for ensuring the well-being and organised return of Russian nationals, as and when required.
The two leaders also agreed to continue their close cooperation for maintaining the excellent momentum and the warm of the cordial and time-tested bilateral relations. They reiterated that they looked forward to several opportunities for their interaction in person during the course of the year.
*****

BOOKMARKED: GET TO KNOW JEFFREY PFEFFER, ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR EXPERT AND PROFESSOR AT STANFORD’S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business may be an organizational behavior expert today, but for some time, he envisioned himself becoming a corporate executive, such as a CEO. So what inspired him to study organizations instead of leading them?
Pfeffer answers that question in his Q&A below, discusses what enables him to continue learning well into his career and shares who inspires him.
Get to know him below.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Glaciers in Sikkim are losing mass faster than other parts of the Himalaya

Scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun an autonomous research institute for the study of Geology of the Himalaya under the Department of Science and Technology, have found that glaciers in Sikkim are melting at a higher magnitude as compared to other Himalayan regions.

 

The study published in Science of the Total Environment assessed the response of 23 glaciers of Sikkim to climate change for the period of 1991-2015 and revealed that glaciers in Sikkim have retreated and deglaciated significantly from 1991 to 2015. Small-sized glaciers in Sikkim are retreating while larger glaciers are thinning due to climate change.

 

Compared to other Himalayan regions, the magnitude of dimensional changes and debris growth are higher in the Sikkim.  A major shift in glacier behavior has occurred around 2000. Contrary to the western and central Himalaya, where glaciers are reported to have slowed down in recent decades, the Sikkim glaciers have shown negligible deceleration after 2000. Summer temperature rise has been prime driver of glacier changes.

 

To understand the various parameters of Sikkim Himalayas glaciers such as length, area, debris cover, snow-line altitude (SLA), and how they respond to global warming Scientists from WIHG selected 23 representative glaciers from this region. A detailed and rigorous literature survey related to the study was carried out to assess the existing knowledge in the subject. Thereafter, representative glaciers well spread over the study area were selected based on multiple criteria such as size, length, debris cover, slope, aspect, and so on. Then, the multi-temporal and multi-sensor satellite data covering selected glaciers was procured. The team analyzed the results and compared with existing studies, and the impact of various influencing factors was systematically explored to understand the glaciers state.

 

The behavior of glaciers in the region is heterogeneous and found to be primarily determined by glacier size, debris cover, and glacial lakes. Though a generalized mass loss is observed for both small (less than 3 km square) and large-sized glaciers (greater than 10 km square), they seem to adopt different mechanisms to cope with the ongoing climatic changes. While the first adjust mostly by deglaciation, the latter lose mass through downwasting or thinning.

 

The Sikkim glaciers have been poorly studied till now, and field-based mass balance measurements have been limited to only one glacier (ChangmeKhangpu) and for a short period (1980-1987). The studies are regional in nature and do no give emphasis on individual glacier behavior. Besides, most of the existing measurements in this region have been focused on length/area changes only. Velocity estimations have also been extremely rare.

 

This study, for the first time, studied multiple glacier parameters, namely length, area, debris cover, snowline altitude (SLA), glacial lakes, velocity, and downwasting, and explored interlinkage among them to present a clear picture about status and behavior of glaciers in the Sikkim.

 

Accurate knowledge of magnitude as well as the direction of glacier changes, as highlighted in the present study, can lead to awareness among common people regarding water supplies and possible glacier hazards, particularly to those communities that are living in close proximity. The study can provide ample baseline data on glacier changes and systematically explore the causal relationship between glacier parameters and various influencing factors. A clear understanding of glacier state will help orienting future studies as well as taking necessary measures.

 

 

Figure- Example of lake changes on two glaciers in the Sikkim during 1991–2015.

 

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SNC/KGS(DST)

ARCI develops technology to improve fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines

International Advanced Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), has developed ultrafast laser surface texturing technology, which can improve the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines.

Laser surface micro-texturing, which offers precise control of the size, shape and density of micro-surface texture features has gained momentum as a way to control friction and wear. In this technology, a pulsating laser beam creates micro-dimples or grooves on the surface of materials in a very controlled manner. Such textures can trap wear debris when operating under dry sliding conditions and sometimes provide effects like enhancing oil supply (lubricant reservoir) which can lower friction coefficients and may enable reduced wear rate.

The texture surfaces were created on automotive internal combustion engine components, piston rings and cylinder liners using 100 fs pulse duration laser. The micro dimples of 10-20 μm diameter and about 5-10 μm deep which have been created with laser beams had a regular pattern.  The created textures were tested in an engine test rig under different speeds and temperatures of coolant and lubrication oil, and it was observed that there was a 16% reduction in the lube oil consumption with the use of texture on the piston rings. The 10-hour lube oil consumption test shows that the blowby substantially reduced with textured rings.

Fabrication of a pattern of micro dimples or grooves on the surface of materials results in a change in surface topography which generates additional hydrodynamic pressure, thereby increasing the load-carrying capacity of the surfaces. Hence these become useful for trapping wear debris when operating under dry sliding conditions and sometimes provide effects like enhancing oil supply (lubricant reservoir) which can lower friction coefficients and may enable reduced wear rate.

In order to control the friction, it is important to understand the mechanisms which occur during the conformal or non-conformal contact in dry and lubricated conditions. Ultrafast lasers create micro or nano features without vacuum conditions.  These features are smaller than the diffraction-limited laser focal spot diameter – a unique property of ultrashort duration laser-matter interaction. The process is a thermal, and pulse durations are orders of magnitude smaller than thermal diffusion times.

Fig. 1: Femtosecond laser surface texturing (a) dimples, (b) grooves and (c) cross-hatches

 

Fig. 2: (a) Ball-on-disk test of different textured samples and (b) Engine test of textured piston rings

 

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MHA issues an Addendum to the Guidelines regarding Nationwide Lockdown to fight COVID-19 Additional essential Goods and Services included in the Exempt List

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an addendum to the guidelines to all Ministries/Departments issued yesterday (https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1607997), regarding the Nationwide lockdown to fight Corona Virus.

This addendum lays down additional categories of essential goods and services exempted under the Disaster Management Act, with respect to the 21- day lockdown.

 

Original Guidelines Document

Addendum to the Guidelines

 

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PFC extends support to fight COVID-19 in Rajasthan

Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), the Central PSU under Union Ministry of Power and leading NBFC in power sector has agreed in principle to provide a financial assistance of Rs. 50,00,000 (Rupees Fifty Lakh only) to Indian Red Cross Society.

Under the CSR Initiative, the financial aid provided by PFC will be used for distribution of Health Masks and Sanitizers, as a part of preventive measures against COVID-19, in the Sate of Rajasthan through Indian Red Cross Society. This move of PFC is significant because Jaipur in Rajasthan has emerged as one of the epicenters of coronavirus in India.

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