Gender discrimination persists in every layer of our society. Whether it is workplace or home, gender bias has posed several challenges in women’s life. Moreover, it has become a barrier to career development for women in India.

The survey conducted by LinkedIn has released The Opportunity Index 2021 report. The survey focused on how women perceived opportunities and challenges in their career.

More than 10,000 women from all walks of life surveyed across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, and 2,285 respondents were covered in India. The report said, “85% of working women in India believe they missed out on a raise and promotion because of their gender.” When compared, this is higher than the Asia Pacific (APAC) region’s average of 60%.As per the findings, 1 in 5 women believes that favourable bias towards men exists in the workplace. But 66% of professionals think that gender equality has improved in India. 70% of working women and working mother think that familial responsibilities become a hurdle in their career development, and as many as 37% of women feel that they are given fewer opportunities and are paid less than men due to gender difference.

Meanwhile, 9 in 10 women stated that they were negatively impacted by COVID-19. “Women have been disproportionately impacted amid COVID-19, and the expectations to juggle home and work life have wreaked havoc in their lives,” the report added. The report further revealed the top three job opportunities sought by both genders are job security, a job that they love and a good work-life balance. Despite having similar goals, 63% of women feel that a person’s gender is important to get ahead in life.

Lack of professional guidance through networks is other barrier in the career development of working women. Robust maternity leaves, flexibility, reduced or part-time schedule and other new opportunities can help women to move further in their professional life.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will arrive in Tirupati on a two-day visit to Andhra Pradesh today. Mr Naidu will participate in an interactive session with the students and faculty of IIT Tirupathi and will inaugurate a Hospital.

The Vice President will offer prayers to Lord Venkateswara Swamy at Tirumala tomorrow.

In cricket, England were 45 for 3 against India on the opening day in the fourth and final Test match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, when reports last came in. From the very beginning, the game of dust bowl started as left-arm spinner Axar Patel scalped two wickets and put the visitors on back foot.  

Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat first. India made one change, Siraj replaced Jasprit Bumrah. Skipper Virat Kohli’s team need a win or a draw to book a slot with New Zealand in the inaugural World Test Championship final.

An England win would put Australia into the decider at Lord’s in June. In that case, Australia will face its trans-Tasmanian neighbour New Zealand.

In Myanmar, it was the most violent day yesterday in the ongoing protest against the military government. United Nations Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener said in New York that since the coup happened in Myanmar on 1st of February, it was the bloodiest day as 38 people died in a single day.

She said, in conversation with the Myanmar Deputy Military Chief Soe Win, she warned him that the military was likely to face strong measures from some countries for the coup. In response, he told that they were used to sanctions and have survived.

In Yangon, at least eight people were killed. Seven of them were killed in the northern part of the city when security forces opened fire last evening.

In Mayowa in Central Myanmar, the local media reported that six people were killed in the firing. Other deaths happened in Mandalay, Northern town of Hpakant and the central town of Myingyan among others. While the ASEAN countries could not issue a unanimous statement calling for the restoration of democracy and return of the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, it called for restraint in Myanmar.

The US State Department spokesperson said that the US is appalled by the increase in violence. The European Union (EU) said that shooting unarmed civilians and medical workers was a breach of international law.

There are reports of continuing protests from several towns across Myanmar including Naypyitaw and Mandalay.

More than one crore 66 lakh 16 thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the country so far.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry today informed that a total of nine lakh 94 thousand 452 doses of vaccines were administered in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate presently stands at 97.03 per cent with a total recovery of more than 14 thousand patients within 24 hours.

The Ministry said, more than one crore eight lakh 26 thousand patients have already been recovered from this disease so far and there are one lakh 73 thousand 413 active cases in the country which comprises 1.55 per cent of the total positive cases. A total of 17 thousand 407 new cases were reported in the country in the past 24 hours taking the cumulative number of positive cases to over one crore 11 lakh 56 thousand.

The Health Ministry said, 89 deaths were reported within 24 hours taking the toll to over one lakh 57 thousand across the country.

Various laboratories conducted more than seven lakh 75 thousand tests of Coronavirus samples in the last 24 hours taking the total number of tests to more than 21 crore 91 lakh.

A three-day Combined Commanders’ Conference will begin today at Kevadia in Gujarat. Theaterisation of armed forces, self-reliance in defence sector and evolving threats in the region will be the focus areas during the three-day annual event.  

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address the top commanders of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force tomorrow.

During the conference, the setting up a new air defence command and maritime command is likely to be discussed at length. Implementation of the air defence command timeline is also likely to come up for discussion.

The formation of theatre commands will synergise the capabilities and combat potential of the three forces during war and peace.

Air defence command and maritime command are part of the restricting plan of the Indian armed forces as was announced by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat last year.

The newly created Department of Military Affairs is working towards the creation of joint military commands along with theatre command for the last one year.

India will commemorate Chabahar Day today on the margins of the Maritime India Summit-2021. The event will be held virtually. Ministers from Afghanistan, Armenia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan will participate in the event.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will address the Ministerial Level opening session. Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya will deliver the keynote address.

The Ministerial level opening session will be followed by two webinar sessions on the Development of Port Infrastructure: Unleashing Opportunities and Boosting Business through Trade Promotion and Regional Connectivity.

Indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin has demonstrated interim clinical efficacy of 81 per cent in its phase three trial. The trial involved 25 thousand 800 participants across 21 sites.

The first interim analysis is based on 43 cases of which 36 cases of Covid-19 were observed in the placebo group versus 7 cases observed in the Covaxin group resulting in vaccine efficacy of 81 per cent.

The vaccine is developed by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Director-General of Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr. Balram Bhargava said that the journey of completely indigenous COVID-19 vaccine in less than eight months’ time showcases the immense strength of Atmanirbhar Bharat. He said, it is also a testament to India’s emergence as a global vaccine superpower.

Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech said that Covaxin demonstrated high clinical efficacy against Covid-19 and significant immunogenicity against the rapidly emerging variants. 

Government has allowed round-the-clock COVID-19 vaccination in order to expedite the immunisation drive. In a tweet, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government has lifted the time restriction to increase the speed of vaccination.

He said people can now get vaccinated 24 by 7 according to their convenience. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands the value of health as well as the time of citizens.

Easing restrictions, all private hospitals were on Tuesday allowed to give the vaccines if they adhere to the laid down norms, while the 9 am to 5 pm timing was also done away with.

Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind was administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at an army hospital in Delhi yesterday.

On Monday, Prime Minister Modi was administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS, New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed the need for the education system to overcome linguistic barriers so that talent from rural areas gets the opportunity to flourish. He said, the new National Education Policy will be implemented on a mission mode towards this purpose.

Addressing a webinar on effective implementation of the provisions in the Union Budget for the education sector, Mr Modi said academics and experts of every language should make available the best content in the country and the world in Indian languages.

He said, it is necessary to produce content in Indian languages for every area of expertise, be it medical, engineering, technology or management.

Asserting that there is no dearth of talent in the country, Mr Modi said those living in villages and the poor, who do not know any language other than their local language, have no shortage of talent. We should not let the talent of our villages, our poor die due to language difficulties, he said.

Prime Minister said, the second biggest focus after health in this year’s budget is on education, skill, research and innovation. Mr Modi pointed out that to build a self-reliant India, confidence of the youth is equally important. 

Every year since 2009, 4^th March has been designated as World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation. Although there are exceptions, sexual exploitation overwhelmingly involves women and children, and it is a problem of worldwide proportions. It has been estimated that every second of the day an average of eight women, girls and often young boys, are trapped by international criminal networks where the sole aim is to sexually exploit them, traffic them and enslave them.

This process obviously robs them of their basic human rights, including their right to freedom, their dignity, their right to live where they choose and the right to control their own bodies.

Although the problem is a worldwide one, some places are more vulnerable than others. These include areas in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and some Latin American and Caribbean countries. Trafficked women from these areas are generally taken to destination countries in the so-called developed world for the purposes of prostitution.

Although older teenage girls can be involved in this traffic, younger girls and boys who are involved in sexual exploitation will generally stay close to their region of origin. UNICEF estimates that more than 3 million children worldwide are affected by prostitution and that children make up more than a third of all sex workers in Asia.

Often this situation arises when poorly informed and ill-educated parents, who have no resources, are unable to raise their children under acceptable conditions. They are approached by shady characters who give them assurances that if the children are voluntarily entrusted to them they will be guaranteed a bright and better future away from their present impoverished environment.

Once they are cut off from their families and friends, the children lose their identity and become the easy prey of crime syndicates who exploit them by forcing them into sex work.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that nearly a million people are trafficked every year for purposes of sexual exploitation. Although 98% are women and girls, this number also includes a significant number of boys and young men.

The major international crimes are trafficking in drugs and weapons, but sexual trafficking follows closely behind and is now a highly lucrative international criminal industry. According to the ILO, human trafficking for sexual exploitation makes between US$ 7 billion and $12 billion a year on the initial “sale”. However, once the victims of trafficking arrive in the destination country and are exploited, a further US$32 billion will be generated by the “industry”.

Although huge sums of money are made, the victims rarely receive any of this, making human trafficking a modern form of slavery.

Prostitution is just one element in the sexual exploitation industry. Another is sexual tourism. In some countries, notably in Southeast Asia, restrictions have traditionally been less restrictive than in other parts of the world. This encouraged the growth of an industry where tourists, chiefly men, would travel to countries where they could indulge in sexual activity with under-age boys and girls.

In October 2012 the BBC reported that the problem of sex tourism was getting worse, with Child Protection charities warning that worldwide an estimated 250,000 people travel abroad every year for the purpose of having sex with minors. Sexual tourism is increasingly responsible for child prostitution around the world.

In the past many paedophiles were helped to escape justice by a lack of cross border legal co-operation, but in recent years there has been a crack-down on this problem as charities, the travel industry and international law enforcement agencies have been increasingly working together. In many cases it is now possible to prosecute paedophiles in their home countries for offences that have taken place overseas.

Yet another issue is child pornography. Depiction of pornographic acts involving minors is universally considered to be a major form of child abuse and for this reason it is considered to be immaterial whether the pornographic act is forced or consensual.

In most countries it is illegal to use the Internet to access material showing images of certain sexual acts, particularly those involving children or young people. In addition to its abusive nature, the bulk of this material would only have been produced following some form of coercion. Whenever such material is viewed, producers are encouraged to produce more, which in turn results in more children being abused.

World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation sets out to draw attention to this major worldwide problem. As so often happens with matters that thrive in the darker parts of society and teeter on the brink of illegality, sexual exploitation often goes unnoticed.

Even rich countries are affected. A report published in 2001 suggested that in the United States 300,000 children were running the risk of sexual exploitation that could be considered as commercial.

The sad truth is that this unpleasant trade is capable of destroying the lives of countless people every year, but it is a trade that can only function as a result of the perverse demands of others. The answer is to eliminate these demands and there will no longer be any need for supply, but that is a very uphill task.

At least by having a special day there is a chance of raising the international profile of the problem and that surely is a step in the right direction.