sounak, Author at Adamas University

Career prospects post pandemic in criminal law specialization

A career in law provides a wide variety of work prospects that include litigation attorneys, law firms, legal assistants, and many other legal executives. One of wishes to make a successful career in law, must begin from an undergraduate degree like B.A. LL. B, BBA LL. B, B.COM LLB, BSC LL. B, and then the postgraduate degree for example LLB, LLM.

This law field deals with the offense which is happening against society or state. It is one of the oldest branches of law and therefore, an incredibly thrilling one. It mostly involves terrorism, hate crimes, personal offense, international criminal law.

In India, during the harsh time of Covid 19 pandemic the crimes have increased at a very fast rate which included white collar crimes, crimes against women, cyber crimes and other cyber crimes.

White collar crimes are the most influential criminologist of the 20th century and also a sociologist, Edwin Hardin Sutherland, for the first time in 1939, defined white collar crimes as “crimes committed by people who enjoy the high social status, great repute, and respectability in their occupation”.

One of the emerging trends is increase in cyber-forensic in recent times. Cyber forensics is defined as “the collection and analysis of data from computer systems, networks, communication streams and storage media in a manner that is admissible in a court of law”

Cyber forensics per se involves the utilisation of knowledge of computers, computer systems, computer networks and the Internet i.e., it is primarily technical in nature.

Another violence that has been committed on women is the problem of Domestic violence One in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence mostly by an intimate partner. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified.

Criminal Law is just like a roller coaster ride when it comes to the point of work, it deals into interacting and interrogating the accused, witnesses, working around forensic reports, post-mortem reports, things found at the scene relating to the crime and more. As a Criminal law you can opt for private practice or work as a public prosecutor.

Criminal law is not only confined with Indian Penal code 1860 but it includes a wide range starting from penology and victimology keeping in mind Criminology and the best of all criminal psychology.

Penology is concentrated mainly with the concept of what sought of punishment should be imposed in case a person commits any crime within India.

Victimology is a subject mainly with the intention of compensation the victim in India and the sought of remedy they should get if any crime is committed.

Criminology is subject concentration mainly with studying of crime in India and analysing the reason for Commission of crime in India.

Criminal psychology is a subject which mainly focuses on understanding the psychology of the criminals and what goes around in the mind of the Criminals when they commit any crime.

Criminal law has become the need of the hour to flourish in India and it is only possible if post graduate courses are persuade in India

Criminal Law Specialization

1) Criminology and Forensic Science

2) Cyber Crime

3) Domestic Violence

4) Human Rights

5) Sexual Abuse

6) Crime against Women

7) Criminal Trial & Criminal Appeal

8) Murder, robbery, theft, and kidnapping

9) Bail (Anticipatory & Regular)

10) Criminal Revision and Criminal Quashing

11) Anti Hijacking Matters & Anti-Terrorist Matters

Criminal Law Scope in India

Due to the increase in criminal cases, opportunities in the field of criminal law are wide. The job of a criminal lawyer is basically to represent or defend his/her client who is accused in criminal cases. Criminal defence lawyer employed by the government is known as public defenders. They can also work as a private criminal lawyer. In public practice, the lawyer can work either for the Public Defender Service (PDS) or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Criminal lawyers initially start their careers by assisting a professional and renowned criminal lawyer. One can start working individually after gaining some experience.

A criminal lawyer plays the role of both advisor and advocates the clients. The work profile of a criminal lawyer in India is not so easy, it requires lots of patience to work on a case for long hours. Criminal Lawyers’ jobs mainly revolve around communication with the clients, collecting evidence & actual facts by interviewing the witnesses. They also interact with the police & research in detail about the case. After giving the Bar Exam, criminal law graduates can join a legal firm or they can start their own practice. They can also work at the session court, trial court, or the high court.

Criminal Law in India: Job Prospects

1) Government Advocate

2) Government Pleader

3) Additional Public Prosecutor

4) Criminal Law Practitioner

5) Lecturer

6) Standing Counsel

The scopes are unlimited and hence the scope has to be chosen very careful and thoroughly.

Recent amendments also open ways for a career in the field. On March 28, 2022, the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Identification of Prisoners Act of 1920 is being replaced by this bill. The bill broadens the types of data that can be collected, the people from whom it can be gathered, and the authority that can authorise such collection. It also stipulates that the information be stored in a central database. Resistance or refusal to provide data will be considered an act of impeding a public worker from performing his duties under both the 1920 Act and the 2022 Bill. Here the need for data science professionals will be needed for collecting and storing of data of several persons. So, here also the scope expands for the professionals.

The emerging trend of blended learning – artificial intelligence and tech merged with law. Here, now a days after pandemic, as the crime got increased in higher rate, the artificial intelligence and technology is being used to control the crime and catch the criminals. So, here also with the criminal specialisation, many persons can join those institutions.

CONCLUSION

Building a career in the field of law necessitates an abundance of knowledge, abilities, and zeal. It necessitates social awareness. Over the course of a few months, the world has changed, and there’s no ignoring the fact that with those changes come changes in law, particularly in areas of law that are more significant than ever.

Because the workplace has evolved, employment law will expand to incorporate additional situations such as workplace conflicts over working from home capabilities, safe working environments in the office, and the employer’s duty of care in the event of future pandemics. There will be new definitions for flexible working and how businesses will decide what is appropriate. Over the course of a few months, the world has changed, and there’s no ignoring the fact that with those changes come changes in law, particularly in areas of law that are more significant than ever.

Legal tech, with a new need for digital solutions, litigation, with many companies in conflicts with customers over cancellations and delays, insolvency, with the inevitable economic downturn, mental health law, and family law might all experience development.

Clinching a Gleam of Optimism in Pharma Domain during Pre and Post Covid-19 era; Silver Lining in Dark Cloud

Prologues

The shadowy coronavirus eruption in the Chinese city Wuhan by December 2019, now called as COVID-19, and its reckless blowout to several other countries, jeopardizes thousands of lives, led to a medical emergency all over the world. The pandemic has catalysed the development of novel coronavirus drugs or vaccines across pharmaceutical, biotech companies and research organisations. Currently, there are no definite vaccines or treatments. However, there are numerous clinical trials by several pharmaceutical companies is ongoing to achieve a potential treatment.

Outbursts

“From an economic perspective, the key issue is not just the number of cases of COVID-19, but the level of disruption to economies from containment measures”

-Ben May, Head of Global Macro Research at Oxford Economics.

The virus outburst has transformed as one of the prime threats to the worldwide economy and financial markets. Several outbreak effects are:

Global stocks of hit
Declining crash of oil prices
High recession risk
Turn to advanced and fruitful technology
Hardest hit in tourism throughout the world
Visibility of lockdowns mere consequence
Unemployment of a large section of common people

Governments around the world have admonished workforces to continue from home whereas possible. The travel industry has been dreadfully damaged. Stockholders dread that the outbreak of the coronavirus will extinguish the economic growth and that governmental authority may not be enough to halt the decline.

Pharmacists and Pharmacies; the Frontline of Public Health

As an increasing number of countries and towns are in lockdown condition, millions of public are in isolation and are maintaining social distancing inside their homes. It has indeed observed all over the globe that the pharmacy professionals are acting frontline roles enormously. Pharmacists are a fundamental element of healthcare providing extraordinary services in the earlier pandemics and health calamity also.

Community pharmacists and their teams remain on the front of public health during the outbreak by serving as direct access for patients, keen-sighted patients and reducing the patients’ load on health practices. Community pharmacists also endure to play their uninterrupted action for consistent supplies of medication as well as other needful supporting. The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has dispensed a pack of 10 synopses for guidance on COVID-19. Other pharmaceutical association has also providing guidelines and needful documents for the solidification and attentiveness of the community pharmacies as front line health care workers in the global health crisis.

Pharmacies around the world are one of the few places that are kept open for public service even during the strict lockdowns.

A Wakeup Call for Pharma Industry Globally

As economies around the world are suffering from the impact of Covid-19 and many business faces the challenges but pharmaceutical businesses captivating step in the Covid-19 fight. Such as Eli Lilly and Gilead are farsighted growth on the market and a novel torrent of invention in the communicable disease scenery as the treatment approval for a Covid-19 cure takes off. Other pharmaceutical companies also following ensemble during the Covid-19 pandemic and using their individual proficiencies to alleviate the cargo of coronavirus. As more clinical trials are performing, novel therapies may achieve. However, during this financial regression and global health fears, the contribution of pharmaceutical firms is on the mark and their impression on the competition against the virus will not be simply forgotten. The perception of large revenues coming from newly established drugs will face amplified inspection in a time of global pandemic as an outcome of communal and competitive pressures.

Pharmaceutical scenario in India

India is a chief provider of low-priced drugs all over the world and is truly recognized as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’. It ranks 3rd, worldwide for pharmaceutical production by volume, 13th by value and accounts for about 10% of the world’s production by volume and 1.5% by value. 50% of the United States’ generic drug needs are met by India. The Indian pharma industry aspires to become the world’s largest supplier of drugs by 2030. All major pharma industries have come all together to aid with knowledge and sharing information to safeguard production of medications critical to tackle coronavirus. Alembic is operating at 80% formulation capacity and its API plant is operational at around 60-70% capacity. Similarly, Zydus, a foremost manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has already augmented its capacity to produce both the API and the other formulation manifold. Additionally, other reputed and other companies is also prioritising the manufacturing of drugs that are in high demand now, like azithromycin. A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared HCQ supplies from India to countries like the US, Brazil and Israel.

Rays of Hope Amidst

The role and necessity of pharmacist is reshaping its approach towards society. Now Their true value is exposed due to their services towards masses including utmost care, psychological support etc.

There are substantial global exertions proceeding to diagnose, cure and avert infections from the virus. Pharmaceutical firms are working universally to battle Covid-19 from scientific data gained from eras of knowledge with comparable viruses and undertaking novel inventories of research to identify additional potential treatments for R&D.

References:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
https://thebluecircle.co/2020/05/04/covid-19-a-wakeup-call-for-indias-pharma-industry/
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51706225 Bukhari, Nadia, Huma Rasheed, and Bismah Nayyer. “Pharmacists at the frontline beating the COVID-19 pandemic.” (2020): 1-4
https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/comment/covid-19-pharmaceutical-companies-impact/

Millennials Studying Political Science/International relations from a Liberal Arts perspective

Critical thinking and understanding a wide array of subjects is a necessity for the millennials due to the ever changing world scenario. As rightly stated by Jan Ludert, the ‘liberal arts skills’, ‘serve as stepping-stones … for a wide range of possible careers’ (Lüdert 2020).

What is Liberal Studies? An area that encompasses knowledge from a wide array of disciplines be it core subjects of Humanities and Social Sciences, this includes disciplines like Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Creative Arts, History, Literature, etc. A knowledge in such varied field had proven to be a boon for the experts and for the International representative at national and international forum and committees. Similarly, “A discipline in International Relations has grown over the years and so are the opportunities. Varied professions such as Area Studies, Peace Studies, Conflict resolution, think tanks etc. have also emerged and the need for skilled professionals with expertise in international politics is on a rise,”

Understanding Political Science/International Relations:

The interconnectedness between Political Science and International Relations explore the concept of sharing and shaping of power at different levels. An understanding of these liberal disciplines provides an edge over the systematic understanding of the world scenario and provide a better solution to the world problems. Students learning and exploring the subject from an interdisciplinary perspective provide them a holistic approach of the subject. These sort of knowledge gathering and learning at college and university level provide them to become more pragmatic and problem solvers at a very early stage of their academic career. They tend to become an effective and ‘ignited’ minds to contribute towards policymaking/suggestions for issues pertaining to national and International issues.

Interconnectedness of the Liberal disciplines:

Subjects like Political Sociology, Political Economy, Political Psychology, Geo-psychology or Psephology have evolved over the period of time and gaining expertise in these fields along with the core papers of Political Science and International relations are opening up news avenues for a secured and better career prospects. These areas of expertise provide a better working environment as a policy think tank representative, decision makers for national and International bodies, NGO’s, NPO’s, Government institutions, etc.

‘The subject knowledge of these Liberal disciplines not only gives an insight into world politics but also enhances their critical thinking. A better understanding of international relation helps to mitigate world problems’.

What next?

Be the problem solver, and become the part of the world which is going through tremendous world problems, be it fight for land and resources for national interest, struggle to keep the environment clean and from understanding of economic issue with cross boarder challenges. You can learn the world and can provide a better solution for a better future. You join the process to Learn more, unlearn a few and to relearn Political Science and International relations from a liberal perspective that will make the world a better place and to solve ‘wicked problems’.

Post-pandemic professions in Cyber Security

The epidemic caused significant employment losses and layoffs across a variety of sectors, with few or no new positions being filled. However, recruiting has started up again in some industries, which is a sign that the world has moved on from the pandemic.

“The pandemic helped us understand how important it is to digitise our records. Everything, from the job roles itself to the hiring process itself, has been shifted into the virtual platform. According to Ashutosh Seth, founder of Risebird, an edtech company that assists recruiting teams in completing the technical interviewing process, as a consequence, positions have evolved to deal and manage the enormous amount of data that has transferred on cloud platforms.

“There is a significant shortage of qualified candidates for tech positions such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cyber security (CS), data analyst (DA), and coding developers (coders).” In addition to this, there is also an increase in the demand for people who work in the medical field as well as pharmacists, says he.

During the epidemic, there was a halt to any new employment, and there were even reductions in workforce size and layoffs. It was anticipated that once the pandemic was declared over, there would be an increase in the number of people getting jobs. According to Kamlesh Vyas, Partner at Deloitte India, “unfortunately, we have not seen that happening.” [Citation needed]

“This could be due to a number of factors since a number of businesses have incurred damages that are beyond repair and are unable to backfill their positions.” There aren’t many sectors that are still operating in the watch-and-wait mentality before investing in people. Because of the epidemic, many organisations have gained the ability to function with fewer employees as a result of automation, rationalisation, restructuring, multi-skilling, and other such practises, and thus do not see the need for aggressive hiring. However, according to Vyas, occupations in high-end technologies, such as artificial intelligence, analytics, cyber security, augmented reality/virtual reality, robots, cloud computing, and so on, would continue to be in demand during this period.

The epidemic has also brought to light the significance of developing automated systems. As a direct consequence of this, there is a greater demand for hardware engineers to automate the gear and devices that are already in use. According to Balasubramanian A, Business Head, Consumer and Healthcare, TeamLease Services, the professionals who will be working in the world after the pandemic would need to get themselves ready for the digital world and the more automated sector.

In addition to the obvious desire for IT expertise or occupations driven by technology, he notes that there is a demand for entry-level positions in field sales. These individuals are responsible for bringing the meal to the table. During the shutdown, a large number of businesses were severely disrupted, and many found it difficult to reach their ultimate goals. Now that a lot of businesses are attempting to get back on their feet, make up for any losses, and enhance their market share, those businesses are placing a strong emphasis on employing frontline sales employees.

According to a survey compiled by TeamLease, the average growth in salaries for sales profiles was found to be 7.41 percent, while the growth in salaries for R & D Analyst positions in the Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals industry was reported as 9.39 percent. The report went on to state that the increase in pay for the position of Automation Engineer in Information Technology and Knowledge Services was registered at 10.71 percent.

According to Balasubramanian A., in the world that has been left behind by the epidemic, businesses are now delivering professionals concrete benefits in the form of flexibility in regard to both time and location. Compared to a couple of years ago, when it came to giving in to the expectations of the employers, the businesses have been a lot more accommodating in recent times.

MA Education as a Career Option in Post pandemic era

Education the word has a different meaning. To a saint, it is to feel the presence of God, to an artist, it is to excel in the field of art, to a student it is the acquisition of knowledge. This is how it has been taken by the common man. But to the people from the stream, Education, it is somehow different from that. A thorough analysis of the Western and Indian concepts of Education says that it is a man-making process. It aims to develop the whole personality of the individual.

In the present context when everyone is running after excellence, the system of Education becomes more and more specific. So there are different streams, different subjects, and different specialties. Nowadays “Education” is being considered an independent subject. The students from the humanities stream can choose it as either a Honours or a Pass subject at their graduation level. After passing out graduation level with more than 50% in the subject, students are eligible to take admission to MA in Education.

MA in Education is a specialized Master’s Degree program that deals with the different aspects of Teaching and Learning. It equips the students with the necessary skills and techniques which are essential to know the learner and the learning process. It provides an opportunity to do research work to supplement and solve as well as to enhance the process of learning. It also provides scope to get direct experience by involving students in different field visits and project works.

School of Education, Adamas University, provides different types of student engagement plans to the MA, Education students.

Covid-19 has destroyed the general lifestyle of the people. It has a drastic impact on each and every sector of society. Many people became homeless and jobless and many have lost their lives so also the Educational system and the organizations. The students suffer a lot. Some institutions changed to the virtual approach immediately and some shifted gradually. So staying indoors with all kinds of social breakups developed depression among the young learners. Now anyhow society became stabilized. All are trying to be normal.

During this time there is a big question among the students regarding the career option. Which course they will choose? Which organization they would like to enter? What are the prospects in the present career?

In this situation, the students who will choose MA in Education, moreover in School of Education, Adamas University, will have greater career prospects.

MA in Education leads to Post Graduate degree in Education. So it is a door to enter higher education. The students after passing out MA in Education will have the following career options-

After completing the course the students will be able to appear for the NET/ SET examination in Education.
NET/SET examination will help them to try for Assistant Professor in any Government or Private Colleges or Universities
NET with JRF will help the students to do innovative and creative research work in the field of Education and to contribute various areas of theory and practices.
MA in Education with B.Ed. will help the students to appear School Service Examination for the Post Graduate Teachers.
Students with MA (Education), and a B.Ed degree can be a Post Graduate teacher in any Private Higher Secondary school under the West Bengal Board of Higher Secondary Education.
MA in Education with B.Ed. can appear for the School Inspector Service Examination under West Bengal Public Service Commission (Education Service)
MA Education and B.Ed. students can act as career counsellors in the Educational domain. They may start their own counselling service or they may attach themselves to any educational organizations.
As a start-up the students may start playschools of their own.

In a post-pandemic era, when everybody is running after to settle themselves and to grow and choose a perfect career according to their abilities, aptitudes, interest, and intelligence. It is a great challenge for them. So, for those who want to join MA in Education, there is an exciting career ahead of them. A number of facilities are open. More specifically School of Education, Adamas University along with providing a good teaching-learning atmosphere, course content, and faculty support, also provides international exposure through different faculty exchange programs, peer teaching different fall programs, and spring programs in collaboration with foreign universities, to boost students’ self-confidence and upgrade their knowledge. It also provides remedial teaching for slow learners.

So MA Education in School of education, Adamas University is a good career option for the students.

Biochemistry: An Integral Part of Drug Discovery

The on-going pandemic situation gave humanity a hard lesson- life is uncertain. Before the pandemic, we never seriously thought about this type of disease which could lead to such a global health crisis. Now, Covid-19 is a reality and it taught us that as the virus changed itself we must constantly change ourselves and be prepared for sudden battles. Humanity has a long history of fighting against deadly diseases like plague, malaria, polio, cholera, etc. and in all those battles our greatest weapons are drugs. In this article, we will see how biochemistry is an integral part of a drug discovery process.

Biochemistry is the amalgamation of chemistry and biological sciences. It brings together all of the sciences to study the chemical and physical processes that occur in living organisms. It truly is the science of life. Students of biochemistry learn various classical as well as modern subjects like stem cell biology, immunology, bioinformatics, genetic engineering, and many more. These subjects give them ample knowledge about the basic processes of life and that gives them the scope to explore properly a particular phenomenon in a living system. The mixture of chemistry and biology is a tremendous weapon for students for understanding the complex design of a disease-causing bacteria or virus. Applying these knowledge life-saving drugs can be developed by biochemistry professionals.

A drug is a chemical substance that, when administered to a living organism produces a biological effect. Drugs are also called medicine as it is used for treatment, cure, prevent disease, and promote good health. Drugs can be taken via different modes like inhalation, injection, ingestion, absorption via a patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue. So, recently discovered vaccines against Covid-19 are also part of modern-day drugs.

There are several phases of drug discovery and its commercialization; 1) Basic research for lead development 2) Preclinical studies 3) Clinical studies (different phases) 4) Review by regulatory authorities and approval 5) Pre and post marketing monitoring. In all these phases major roles are played by biochemistry people.

The first step of basic research consists of lead molecule discovery and its target identification which is totally done by biomedical scientists. During lead discovery, an intensive search ensues to find a drug-like small molecule or biological therapeutic, typically termed a development candidate, that will progress into preclinical, and if successful, into clinical development and ultimately be a marketed medicine. Generally, drugs are very specific in nature, i.e., they work in a specific manner on a specific type of cell or exo or endotoxins. So, first, to discover the lead, one has to find the type of cell or chemical substances on which the drug is going to affect, what’s the nature of the target.

The next step is the preclinical trial, which is a stage of research that begins before clinical trials (testing in humans) and during which important feasibility, iterative testing, and drug safety data are collected, typically in laboratory animals. This step requires multiple types of studies/tests like screening, tests on isolated organs and bacterial cultures, tests on animal models, general observational tests, confirmatory tests and analogous activities, mechanism of action, systemic pharmacology, quantitative tests etc. that are all done by Biochemistry people. The main purpose of preclinical studies is to accurately model the desired biological effect of a drug in animals [non-human primates] in order to predict treatment outcomes in patients (efficacy), and to identify and characterize all toxicities associated with a drug in order to predict adverse events in people (safety) for informed—preclinical testing analyses the bioactivity, safety, and efficacy of the formulated drug product.

After a proposed drug has gone through premedical trials, the next step is clinical trials. The main difference is while preclinical research answers basic questions about a drug’s safety, it is not a substitute for studies of ways the drug will interact with the human body. The biomedical persons design clinical trials, develop a study plan or protocol and follow them to answer specific research questions related to medical products. Before the trial begins, they decide who qualifies to participate (selection criteria), how many people will be part of the study, how long the study will last, whether there will be a control group and other ways to limit research bias, how the drug will be given to patients and at what dosage, what assessments will be conducted, when, and what data will be collected, how the data will be reviewed and analysed. Clinical trials follow a typical series of early, small-scale, Phase 1 studies [20-100 healthy/diseased volunteers], Phase 3 studies [Several hundred people with the disease], Phase 3 studies [300-3000 volunteers with the disease], and lastly, late-stage, large scale Phase 4 studies [Several thousand volunteers with the disease].

The next step is, review by regulatory authorities and approval of the drug. Drug approval processes are designed to allow safe and effective drugs to be marketed. Drug regulatory agencies in various countries attempt to rely on premarketing scientific studies of the effects of drugs in animals and humans in order to determine if new drugs have a favourable risk-to-benefit ratio. The manufacturer must provide the concerned authority review of all the test and study reports with detailed information about the proposed drug including usage of the drug to be effective, all the possible risks, and how to use it. Physicians and scientists of the concerned authority then review the drug research and the labelling information on how to use the drug. If the findings show the drug’s benefits outweigh its known risks — and that the drug can be manufactured in a way that ensures a quality product.

After the drug gets all the certification, the last step is Post-marketing monitoring. Post marketing drug surveillance refers to the monitoring of drugs once they reach the market after clinical trials. It evaluates drugs taken by individuals under a wide range of circumstances over an extended period of time. Such surveillance is much more likely to detect previously unrecognized positive or negative effects that may be associated with a drug. The majority of post-marketing surveillance concern adverse drug reactions (ADRs) monitoring and evaluation. Therefore, biochemistry people always get an edge in these type of drug developmental industry.

POST-PANDEMIC PROMISING CAREER PROSPECTS IN OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR TECHNOLOGY

Optical fiber is one of the medium and the technology which is mostly linked with the transmission of information signal. More than 90 percent of the world’s long-distance traffic is passed over optical fiber cables now a days as it offers high-performance data networking. Verizon and Google have explored fiber optics in their Verizon FIOS and Google Fiber services which is providing gigabit internet speeds to users. Another emerging area is optical sensing by optical fiber, with countless opportunities spanning many fields including environmental detection, biomedical sensing, and structural monitoring.

Photonics: A sub-discipline of Physics introduce the science of creating, sensing and monitoring photons or light particles

Photonics is the subarea of Physics where light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments. Most significantly, whenever career opportunity on Photonics is point of interest, the other sub-component such as lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics and sophisticated systems is very important. In brief, learning of optical fibersensor technology is sort of diverging your job opportunity in India, Europe and USA.

Optical fiber sensor Industry & Academic sector

Worldwide top ranked companies of optical fiber sensor technology are Organic Robotics, Aerodyne research, Interdisciplinary consulting, NKT Photonics, NP Photonics, Eagle etc. Techno-savvy world demands scientists, engineers and technicians with relevant qualification and experience of photonics. Making a career in optical fiber sensor field is stable and rewarding. Students of Photonics and Optoelectronics are fascinated as sales or service engineers in high-tech equipment industries; High scope as researcher or professional officers in universities, government and industry-research laboratories. There is opportunity as optical communications network support engineers and managers; and also, in defence research and development organizations.

Are you surprise! There are surveys during the past several years portrayed that European workers in the photonics industry are generally satisfied with their jobs, enjoy prolonged vacations and earn a better-than-average living with their highly specialized, technical knowledge.

Global Start-ups Venture of Fiber Optic Sensors2021-2027

Post-pandemic global market of Fiber Optics Sensor is reported in Research and Market.com (Fiber Optic Sensors – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics).Intrinsic Fiber Optic Sensors, is projected to record 8.6% CAGR and reach US$910.3 Million by the end of the analysis period. After an early analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Extrinsic Fiber Optic Sensors segment is readjusted to a revised 6.9% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

he Fiber Optic Sensors market in the U.S. is approximated at US$227.7 Million in the year 2020. China, the world`s second largest economy, is estimated to reach a projected market size of US$328.4 Million by the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 12.1% over the analysis period 2020 to 2027. Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 4.3% and 7.1% respectively over the 2020-2027 period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 5.1% CAGR.This market growth will accelerate the job opportunities in the optical fiber sensor field.

Why this growth is expected? will it fetch career prospects!

COVID-19, the pandemic, restricted human life within their home, millions of people compelled to work from home and stuck to their computers than ever before. Eventually, now a days, without the help of internet life is difficult. Vodafone already declared in a recent article that data traffic increase by 50% in some markets. Online services are being obstructed, broadband downloading speed becoming low and FWA has limitation. So, continuous demand of optical fiber in telecommunication starts the growth of optical fiber industry.
After pandemic, demand of optical fiber sensor is expected to become more intense, particularly for applications in extreme environmental conditions in which electrical sensors fail to function as effectively. Examples of such applications include the oil & gas and manufacturing sectors.
The strong demand is expected in exploration of unconventional energy resources across the world. Ultra-miniaturized and power-efficient sensors promotion is predicted to contribute significantly to market growth. The market is also driven by applications such as crack monitoring in concrete-based structures.
Advancement of Fiber optic sensors in current scenario is faster and efficient means for identifying structural damages in civil constructions and aircrafts. Sensing intrusion in secured premises, identifying presence of oil in oil reservoirs etc. are the significant applications so far with optical fiber sensor.

These are the reasons why optical fibersonsor technology will continue to remain in focus of global R&D and commercialization efforts in these segments. Post-pandemic era will be demanding for more effective cleavers, low-loss splicers, multi-port couplers, intra-fiber devices, and mode-area transformers etc. Consequently, the associated companies, R & D sector of government and private sectors will create promising career prospects for the students.

Career as a Machine Learning Engineer in the post-pandemic world

The entire globe has been facing an unprecedented challenge from the Novel Coronavirus, which has made the physical world come to a standstill and the world economy has been holding onto a thread due to this fatal pandemic. But the brighter side of this gloomy situation is that companies are finally appreciating and understanding the significance of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in the practical world. More and more brands are now taking up Machine Learning solutions for their business problems. Not only Machine Learning is used to combat the global pandemic but it has also come out as an important tool in constructing a better world post-COVID. Machine Learning has the capability of providing an understanding and early analysis of problems and prompt resolutions. This technology is used by the doctors and health practitioners to track the virus, identify potential threat to patients and predict the possible cure from disease. These reasons indicate that Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, both are here to rule and this can be an interesting career option for the aspirants who are passionate about data and numbers. Machine Learning has been at the forefront for all the advanced programmers who intend to develop intelligent systems that learn and apply knowledge. These programmers, better known as Machine Learning (ML) engineers, train systems with the help of complex datasets and algorithms.

Machine learning brief explanation

Machine Learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence, which combines Statistics and Computer Science to predict using different mathematical models. The predictive model can be based on like whether an image contains cat or dog, predicting credit card fraud detection etc. The main objective of Machine Learning is to take decisions based on predictive modelling. Hidden patterns across the datasets are extracted and useful insights about data are found out to drive important decisions, improve customer relationship based on feedback patterns or launch new business.

What are the pre-requisites for becoming a Machine Learning engineer?

A Machine Learning engineer requires to be proficient in a bunch of technical skills for building predictive models.

Below are given some of the primary components of the Machine Learning engineer role:

Data: The Machine Learning engineer has to understand the importance of data in predictive modelling. The data pre-processing is one of the important steps for constructing a Machine Learning model. Data has to be analysed and described in terms of the problem requirement. Good quality data is a necessary requirement in building efficient Machine Learning model.
Predictive Models: Machine Learning engineers need to construct the models designed by the data scientists, understand the model validation in order to get an essence of the estimation of value addition to the business and understand how to fine-tune these models to optimize them for the consumption by end users.
Software Engineering: They need to be efficient in coding back-end so that the models can be made available to users through a user-friendly API.
Efficient Scaling of Infrastructure: They need to keep the system prepared for scaling of infrastructure so that the system may not collapse when multiple number of users start operating their models.

Where is Machine Learning used in real life?

Machine Learning is being used in real life in many fields, industries or domains. Some of the application areas of Machine Learning are listed below:

Image Recognition: It is a popular and widely used application area of Machine Learning. This is used to identify an object from a digital image.

Some of the use-cases of Image Recognition:

Photograph-tagging in social media
Hand-writing recognition by segregating a single letter into component images
Speech Recognition: Machine Learning has the capability of translating speech into text.

Some of the use-cases of Speech Recognition:

Voice-based digital assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Home etc.
Search based on voice
Dialling based on voice
Symptom analysis in healthcare domain: Machine Learning can help the medical practitioners to ascertain symptoms in diseases by leveraging the capability of chat bots. This is called symptom analysis which utilises the power of Natural Language Processing and text mining etc. to analyse the disease symptoms and predict the next steps to be taken as precautionary measures or remedial measures.

Primary objectives of a Machine Learning Engineer

Primary responsibilities of a Machine Learning engineer lies in creation of Machine Learning models and re-training models as and when required. Some of the common responsibilities of the role relate to:

Machine Learning system design
Implementation of Machine Learning algorithms and tools
Dataset selection and dataset representation methods
Verification of data quality
Accomplishing statistical analysis
Executing Machine Learning tests
Improving Machine Learning models by tuning of models by proper selection of hyper-parameters
Constructing Machine Learning apps as per requirement

Now, let us see the skill sets that are important for a Machine Learning Engineer.

Skill set of a Machine Learning Engineer

For becoming a Machine Learning Engineer, an aspirant should have the following skills:

Mathematical and statistical skills relating to subjects such as Calculus, Linear Algebra, Statistics etc.
Advanced degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics or a related degree
Master’s degree is desirable in Machine Learning, Deep Learning or related fields
Coding in programming languages like Python, R etc.
Skills pertaining to Software Engineering, Computer Architecture, Data Science and the like
Working experience with Machine Learning packages and libraries etc.

References:

Rise in the demand for Machine Learning & AI skills in the post-COVID world, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spotlight/rise-in-the-demand-for-machine-learning-ai-skills-in-the-post-covid-world/articleshow/75464397.cms
Machine learning engineer (ML engineer), https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/machine-learning-engineer-ML-engineer#:~:text=Machine%20learning%20engineers%20design%20and,data%20engineers%20and%20data%20architects.
AI/ML Remains The Most In-Demand Tech Skill Post COVID, https://analyticsindiamag.com/ai-ml-remains-the-most-in-demand-tech-skill-post-covid/
AI, Automation and In-Demand Skills for a Post-Pandemic World, https://www.sigconsult.com/blog/2021/03/ai-automation-and-in-demand-skills-for-a-post-pandemic-world?source=google.co.in
Artificial Intelligence in a post-pandemic world of work and skills, https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/news/artificial-intelligence-post-pandemic-world-work-and-skills

Career Opportunities in Economics Research and Development Consulting in Post Pandemic

The career opportunities in economics and development consulting is rather growing in the post-pandemic period. As this pandemic has brought economic slowdown, reduction in sales and consumption expenditures across the regions and nations. This has prompted for wider scale research and market study to assess this phenomena. The development consulting sector was also affected during the pandemic period and this workload needs to be carried further in the post pandemic period. In this blog I am going to enumerate career opportunities in above mentioned sectors in further detail.

The undergraduate courses in Economics and Business Economics discipline provide sufficient training and insights among students to start entry level jobs in market research, data driven analysis and scoping assessment provided by various companies, research wings of manufacturing companies and non-government organizations. The development consulting sectors open the door for entry in Business Development Area, Research Assistant, Assistant Manager Project and Project Associate. Similarly, the post-graduate courses in Economics and Management enable our students to challenges in these sectors as Research Manager, Project Manager, Project Fellow, Project Coordinator, and Research Consultant roles. Master’s in Business Administration students can explore specific research projects in their specialization domains of Human Resource, Marketing and Finance related researches. Policy based research and research think-tanks also provide job opportunities to post-graduate candidates in economics and management. Further, the nature and specifications of these jobs are different from traditional job opportunities.

In an ordinary search of “Market Research Analyst” to popular job portal lists 18,236 job openings across geographical regions and specialization domains. This search is dominated by 6,419 jobs in data science and 4260 in software engineering followed closely by Sales and Business Development (1552), BFSI, Investment (971), Marketing & Marketing Research (642), Consumer Support (522), Finance (516), Project Planning (425), Human Resource Management (378), and Project Management (352). Foreign Multinational Companies like; Accenture, Spice Work, BNY Mellon, IBM and others.

In development consulting sector, career opportunities for economics and business graduates are available at three levels; a) International b) National and c) Regional. There are 2600 live job opportunities are currently available for economics graduate at regional level in north Indian states. Students can start their career right after undergraduate degree as project assistant, Field Investigators, Data Analyst, and Program Manager in various development consulting projects. Post-graduate students can start their career as research assistant, research fellow, project coordinator and Data Manager. Students with Accounting and Finance major can also support project activity in their accounting and audit processes. Companies like KPMG, PWC, Ernst& Young, Boston Consulting Group, Grandthorton and several others are working in the are area of execution, planning and evaluation of development activities financed by respective government agencies along with national and international development financing units. These development finance units could be Asian Development Bank, DFID, USAID, UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank, IMF and similar such organizations.

What are the skills required in Market Research and Development Consulting Projects?

The skill sets required for career in these domains are slightly different from a regular and traditional careers. In almost all the market research projects and development projects persons are required with thorough knowledge of deductive and inductive reasoning as they would be required to apply it quite often at their work place. Let’s understand the inductive and deductive in a much simpler way. Students belonging to Medical Courses require four meals in a day and students belong to Para Medical Courses require only two meals in a day and at the max three meals in a day. If this information is given what logic one can deduct from it? There can be multiple inferences drawn from this information of two sentences. Now the challenge is who would get the most relevant inference out of these two sentences. If you are aspiring a career in market research you brain stimulus should be acting in planning the requirements of two sets of markets these two sets of students belong too. It’s not just about four meals in a day and three meals in a day it is complete different sets of goods they would be consuming given the pattern of food preferences. If someone is looking a career in development she would be deducting the economic class of these two sets of students. Their career choices are not determined by their cognitive abilities but incomes of their respective families. You would also identify the challenges of exceptions of economic class in these sets.

The second most sought after skill in both the career domains are networking skills. These networking skills are different from usual networking skills as one would require to place networked persons according to requirements and upgrade with their utility. Here is an example; most of the dataset required for market research are not easily accessible and even for easily accessible data sets the validity and reliability is a big issue for customised sample based researches. One would like to be networked with right set of people to address such issues.

Besides these skills, writing, comprehension and affinity to detail are must in these career domains.

Preparation for the market research and development consulting

The preparation for such kind of skills begin with school days and it gets consolidated with higher education. Students opting for economics, statistics, social work and business studies are getting better comprehension in these career domains relative to other subjects. Students from Engineering and Medical fields are are also required in Development consultancy as well as market research. This field is challenging as well as exciting for such persons who are looking to upgrade themselves with the changing context. The concept of lifelong learning is appropriate for such career domains as every new project open afresh canvas for learning and growth. Business consulting, Investment consulting are relatively more rewarding than the development consulting however, for the early career students development consulting can act as a Launchpad. Further, advancement in skills can lead to other consulting jobs.

For greater understanding in development consulting one must visit the websites of donor agencies.

Career Prospects in New-Age Journalism: Deconstructing the Need for News Content in the Post-Pandemic Era

Over the past one decade or so, we have been hearing about it, talking about it and experiencing it as well. Indeed, digital is the way forward in journalism. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, new media had emphatically established itself as the primary journalistic platform. If at all there was a tinge of doubt vis-à-vis the primacy of online news content, the pandemic sealed it for once and all.

However, we are not here to talk about digital journalism. Enough has been said about it and to the extent that anything in the given domain would prove unabashedly repetitive. Instead, what would be an infinitesimally better discourse is to talk about the changes that we are experiencing in the world of digital journalism over the past two years and how the changes have uncovered newer opportunities for prospective journalists. More particularly, we are talking about journalism career opportunities. Without any further ado, let us take a closer look:

YouTube Journalism: Many reputed and mainstream journalists including the likes of Barkha Dutt and Faye D’Souza have opened their YouTube channels that are constantly streaming news and views. In fact, going by the sheer content quality, it would not be an overstatement if we were to say that these YouTube channels are likely to replace the mainstream news channels very shortly. Owing to the fact that these YouTube channels are largely independent, the news that are being transmitted through these channels are largely unbiased and censorship-free. Given the scenario, young and bright journalists can think about opening their own YouTube channels instead of following the beaten track. One also needs to consider that the amount of investment that one needs to make to open such a channel is minimal.
Vlog and Podcast Journalism: Industry veterans often talk about how vlogs and podcasts are gaining in popularity with each passing day. Topical vlogs and independent podcast sites could be a great way for an upcoming journalist to leverage their knowledge and expertise. As alternative media is pushing its envelope, the content quality of these vlogs and podcast sites is improving at an exponential rate.
Freelance Mobile Journalism (MoJo): There have been umpteen discussions on mobile journalism or MoJo and the discussions keep getting intense. However, what everybody seems to have forgotten is the growth potential for freelance mobile journalism. Mobile news content has the capacity to make journalism a lot more encompassing that what is currently the case. As we are trudging through an economically depressed post-pandemic time, journalism of tomorrow will be largely mobile. Cheap technology and easy navigability of content will create all the difference.
Data Journalism: Moving ahead, data is set to be the key. Surfing through data and making sense out of it will become the most important skill for a journalist. Therefore, technology and numerical skills would distinguish a successful journalist from a not so successful one. When we talk about data, we also talk about the seamless and palatable representation of data.
Journalism through Infographics and Animation: In a world that has seen the unbelievable growth of technology, it is only natural that the traditional modes of news content delivery would cease to be effective. Therefore, text, photographs and videos are no longer enough to impress and hold audiences. One also needs infographics and animation clips to make a news package more incisive and consumable. Journalists who can create meaningful and impactful infographics and animation would be in high demand in the next few years.
Spatial Journalism: Before we discuss the possibilities in spatial journalism, we need to understand what it exactly is. Spatial journalism can be loosely defined as a novel form of journalism that juxtaposes the concepts of place, space and location into traditional journalistic practices. The location can be physical, augmented or virtual. It involves new storytelling formats such as the ones that include Augmented Realities (AR), Virtual Realities (VR) and Mixed Realities (MR). What is clear though is the primordial role of technology in the entire process. Subject to the fact that immersive storytelling has better chances of retaining news consumers, spatial journalism can be safely considered to be biggest thing in journalism.
Modular Journalism: Modular journalism is the practice of looking at a story not as a monolith but as a collection of bits and parts. The process of crafting a story by including only those parts that are consumable and interesting is called modular journalism. At a time when the attention time among news consumers is consistently shrinking and content creation is becoming increasingly difficult, modular journalism is set to be a panacea. Therefore, journalists who know the pulse of their audience and can accordingly create a story without bothering much about the older traditions in journalism are destined to be more successful than the rest.
Human Interest Journalism: Over a period of time, young and aspiring journalists have been made to believe that stories that encapsulate the pulse of the common people do not create much public interest. However, recent trends in journalism has proved it wrong. Therefore, empathetic storytellers who understand the finer nuances of humanity would be in demand. The pandemic has shown the vulnerability of the human race in the face of natural adversity and hence people throughout the world have started understanding the importance of documenting human frailties. This is a marked opportunity for young and sharp minds in journalism to explore storytelling with humanity at the core of it.
Health Journalism: With the pandemic having changed the dominant global discourse, health journalism and health journalists would continue to become increasingly more relevant. Therefore, young scribes who are interested in health journalism can ride the tide and become successful in practically no time.
Technology Journalism: With technology set to become even more encompassing in the days to come, journalists who understand technology have a greater chance of making it big in the news content market. In very simple terms, reportages that concern technology would become the norm.

Journalism, as we know it today, would significantly transform in the next few years. The most important thing is to comprehend the pulse of this change and act accordingly. If a prospective journalist can do that, there will be no looking back for her/ him.

This blog encompasses the changing lens of digital journalism and tries to provide information pertaining to career prospects in the broader domain of journalism for upcoming and aspiring scribes. Just in case you find this blog useful and relevant, please make it a point to share it with as many people as you like for them to know the contemporary nuances in journalism and related career opportunities.