If you look closely at the work of the government of any country in the world, you can easily find some activities such as to provide services for the citizens, to ensure rule of law, to ensure the security of the country, to deliver public goods to the people, etc. Here, management, policies, and regulations as well as their proper implementation are required to provide these services and this implementation is done by public administration. Governments are responsible for creating policies and implementing those policies is the responsibility of the public administration. But indirectly, public administration also influences how policies are made. So, it is said, where there is a government, there is public administration. What value does studying public administration have today? Public administration education has a long history in the area of government and state management. The context of risk management and development activities has expanded in the modern era as a result of their linkage to public administration. Development management is a major challenge in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. In this regard, specialized manpower is required. Students are being taught in public administration to learn these skills. It is the responsibility of public administration to find answers to numerous questions, such as how the state and government are run; what constitutes good governance; and how services can be delivered to people's doorsteps. When a student learns about these things, he develops a mindset about serving people. Students are inspired by a desire to serve in the Bangladesh Civil Service. Here, students know so much about government and administration that it puts them ahead in various competitive exams in this area. Basically, the adoption of government policies and the implementation of policies by delivering services to people's doorsteps is public administration, which is directly and indirectly involved in government management. Students have to learn about both theoretical and practical subjects in this area. After learning about theoretical economics, sociology, government, information technology, accounting, and financial institutions, students have to learn about the country and political context, comparative discussion of national and international administration, administrative law and ethics, social research-based studies, industrial-labour relations, government revenue-expenditure policy, public policy, business policy and administration, environmental disaster and risk management, analysis of government activities, various practical aspects of governments’ recent activities and their discussion-criticism. Job opportunities for students of public administration are increasing day by day in the country and abroad. There are job opportunities at different levels of government and in the private sector in Bangladesh. There are areas of advanced research in this field overseas. Besides, students are encouraged to explore research, and teachers go abroad for higher degrees. For those who want to make a career as a university teacher, public administration can be easily kept on the ambition list. *The writers are fourth year students of Public Administration and Governance Studies department under Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University.

As the race to succeed Boris Johnson as the leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the UK starts to take shape, one extraordinary fact has emerged: More than half the contenders in the initial stages are from immigrant, non-white, ethnic minority backgrounds including one (Nadhim Zahawi) who was not even born in the UK, but came to the country as a nine-year-old fleeing persecution in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Rishi Sunak, whose parents immigrated from East Africa and are of Indian origin, and who is married to the daughter of Narayana Murthy of Infosys fame, is an early frontrunner and has received the backing of several heavy-weight Tory MPs. If he (or any of the other ethnic minority candidates) wins the Conservative Party’s mandate in early September, we could witness the astonishing spectacle of a non-Anglo Saxon child of the colonies becoming the most powerful person in the UK, just over seven decades after the British Empire started its messy retreat from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The fact that the next British PM may be brown or black is by itself perhaps not that remarkable. The last two decades have seen Barack Obama, whose father is Kenyan, being elected as the first black President of the United States. Kamala Harris, born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, was appointed the first black and woman Vice-President of the United States, and Leo Varadkar, whose father is Indian, become Prime Minister of Ireland. The UK itself has had several senior members of government who are not white going back to the days of Paul Boateng and Shriti Vadera when the Labour Party was last in power under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in the 2000s. And beyond politics, the UK has seen several black and brown people gain prominence in sports, media, arts, medicine, and to a lesser extent in business. Nasser Hussain, born to a Tamil Muslim father in Chennai, captained the English cricket team as far back as 1999. What is truly remarkable about the ongoing Tory party leadership contest, however, is how little comment there has been on the skin colour of the slate. The British political classes, media, and public at large seem intensely unconcerned about the next occupant of 10 Downing Street being non-white. In a country that is inextricably linked in many Indian minds with an ugly history of racism, this is nothing short of astounding. What is even more surprising is that there is virtually no discussion of the fact that the runners and riders left include a Hindu, a practising Buddhist with Hindu-Catholic roots, and, incredibly for a Tory party which has in the past revealed a nasty seam of Islamophobia, a Muslim. The contrast with the sham controversy in the US over Barack Obama’s allegedly secret Muslim faith could not be starker. Even the whiff of the possibility that the hidebound Conservatives might embrace as the next head of the UK government a complete “non-native” in terms of skin colour, ethnicity, but also, importantly, religion, is a truly stunning development for a country moulded by its Protestant religion, Anglo-Saxon ethnicity, imperial past, and bitter history of racial tension. Even if in the end a white English candidate is elected PM, the sheer make-up of the Tory leadership race reflects a further maturing of the British public’s views on race, religion, and even nationality, just like the appointment nine years ago with little fuss of a complete foreigner (the Canadian Mark Carney) as the Governor of the Bank of England (imagine if the next RBI Governor is from Malaysia or Mauritius). This increasingly relaxed attitude towards identity, I would argue, has emerged as a key source of the UK’s soft power. This small island punches well above its economic and military weight in terms of global influence in a way that, say, Japan or Germany or Italy do not. British universities attract the brightest from around the world. The British media and the British culture at large exert disproportionate appeal while Brits are legion in the corridors of multinational companies and global institutions. While colonial history and the worldwide spread of English are powerful foundations, it is the successful redefinition over the past two decades of British identity as inclusive and multicultural (by contrast, for instance, to another former colonial power such as France) that provides the continued impetus to Britain’s global sway. Even the success of English as a language — relative to French, for instance — has been attributed to its mongrel-like ability to absorb and transform words and usage from other languages.   There is a lesson for India. Since independence, India’s strategic posture has relied on soft power to make up for its relative lack of economic and military power. We exerted disproportionate moral authority on the global stage by dint of the world’s appreciation of our millennia-old culture and traditions, the impact of Gandhi and the uniquely non-violent nature of our independence movement, and our policy of non-alignment and non-interference in the affairs of other countries. A key dimension of India’s influence was that it was seen as a society that while fractious and riven by hierarchy and inequality, was also open and accommodating of multiple faiths and traditions and largely peaceable in orientation. This last dimension has badly eroded over the past decade as the world sees us becoming increasingly chauvinistic and asserting an aggressive and intolerant Hindu identity and pressuring our minorities. While this has been portrayed as payback for historical wrongs and a revival of Hindu India’s strength by the right-wing, the world sees it more as the ugly preening of the schoolyard bully — beating up on the weak (read Muslims, Christians) at home to cover up insecurities and weakness when faced with the real world (read China, the West) outside. The knock that India’s soft power is taking, as a result, is all the more serious in the context of the growing threat from China. India’s global moral and cultural influence is perhaps the only dimension of power where we vastly outperform our northern neighbour. This is not just about Bollywood and cricket. The number of foreign-born CEOs of leading Western companies who are of Indian origin is next only to Brits, and the same is likely true of academics in the top American and European universities. But even as Britain is gradually embracing a multifaceted identity to its global advantage, India is moving in the opposite direction, away from its heritage of inclusiveness towards a narrow, religio-cultural nationalism that even excludes fellow Indians whose forefathers gravitated towards other faiths many centuries ago. Source: The Indian Express.

The successful launch of South Korea’s homegrown space rocket Nuri, officially the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II, on Tuesday added the country as the seventh nation in the world to have developed a space launch vehicle that can carry a satellite of more than 1 ton. The list begins with Russia, the US and France. China, Japan and India later joined the exclusive club of spacefaring nations. Since initiating its first space rocket development mission in the early 1990s, it took nearly 30 years for Asia’s fourth-largest economy to prove its capability to develop and a launch space vehicle a carrying homegrown satellite. The progress in the country’s space technology is expected to further boost its ambition to land on the moon by 2031. The complete success comes eight months after the partial success that was made with the first attempted Nuri rocket launch, which flew to a target altitude of 700 kilometers but failed to put a 1.5-ton dummy satellite into orbit as its third-stage engine burned out earlier than expected. But this marked an important turning point for South Korea, as the entire process including design, manufacturing, testing and launch were carried out with pure domestic technology.  With the investment of 1.96 trillion won ($1.52 billion) in the development of Nuri since 2010, more than 300 domestic companies, including Hanwha Aerospace, have participated in developing and assembling the rocket. A latecomer South Korea is a relative latecomer to the global space development race.  The country’s rocket development program had been restricted by 1979 bilateral missile guidelines from the US, which were reiterated in 1990. In 1999, the US scrapped limits on the range for private rockets not used for a military purpose. Through a summit in May, the two allies agreed to completely scrap the restrictions, allowing full autonomy in South Korea’s efforts to develop a space launch vehicle. As quickly as 1993, South Korea was able to launch its first domestic rocket, but the first-stage solid-fuel rocket failed to reach orbit. In 2002, the first liquid-engine rocket, the KSR-3, was launched. In 2013, after two failures and four delays between 2005 and 2010, the Naro rocket was successfully launched, settling the Naro Science Satellite in low orbit around Earth. Naro relied on Russia for major technologies, but the experience accumulated in the development process became the basis for technological independence. In 2018, the launch of a test launch vehicle was successfully completed, verifying the performance of the 75-ton engine that would be used for the Nuri rocket. In October last year, the first launch of the Nuri rocket was carried out. The Nuri, a three-stage liquid-engine rocket developed from domestic technology, successfully separated the first stage, fairing, and the second stage, but it failed to settle the satellite simulator on its orbit path. The second trial was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but it was delayed to Tuesday as a technical glitch was found right before the launch. What’s next  The country is also planning its first lunar orbit project, titled Danuri, slated to blast off on Aug. 2 from Florida. Danuri’s objectives include identifying potential landing sites for future lunar missions, demonstrating and verifying space internet technologies and conducting scientific investigations of the environment, topography and resources on the moon.  After the launch, the Danuri team will cooperate with NASA to follow a ballistic lunar transfer to enter the moon’s 100-kilometer orbit by December. If Danuri’s launch and missions are completed, South Korea will also become the seventh country in the world to have carried out a successful lunar probe mission. Market experts also viewed that with the successful launch of Nuri, the government’s plan to develop the Naro Space Center located in Goheung, South Jeolla Province -- 473 kilometers south of Seoul -- will get a boost. In 2009, the Naro Space Center was established in Goheung for active, independent space development research, making it the 13th country in the world with a space center. By 2031, the government intends to inject 892 billion won across 21 projects in seven sectors, such as the establishment of space development infrastructure, a space launch vehicle R&D center and a space theme park. It plans to land on the moon in the same year. Kim Da-sol ([email protected]) Courtesy: The Korea Herald  

The landscape of human civilization is changing with the advancement of information technology. Conventional ideas and strategies have also changed in the field of journalism. The challenge of journalism as a profession is increasing day by day. However, there is ample opportunity in journalism to contribute to the welfare of the society and the state, which will keep you ahead of other professions. Earlier, journalism was mainly under the control of 'Rban Journalists'. A journalist of the last century, has been established with innate talent. Today, they are shining in their glory as pioneers in the history of journalism. But in order to be a smart journalist of the present generation in the changed world reality, the first condition that has to be fulfilled is that he has to be ‘computer literate’ regardless of his university degree. He will have to move forward step by step by acquiring practical skills by acquiring adequate education and training at the institutional level. Until now, our country had to be satisfied with the news sent by the regional correspondents depending on the phone, fax or postal department. But now, thanks to the Internet and satellite telecommunication system, the professionalism of journalists has increased from town to village. With the advent of satellite technology and fiber optical communication systems around the world, it is possible to take electronic journalism further in the near future. The question may arise, how safe is journalism as a profession? Or how comfortable can this profession be in the personal and surrounding life of a young journalist? However, at present there is no security system to guarantee these questions. However, young people of this generation are interested in choosing journalism as a career. And the big proof of this is the various magazines and TV channels. Journalism is truly a great profession. An honest and professional journalist plays a significant role in the progress of society, country and nation. He never calculates his just reward.

The dark horse of India's battery race is pulling away from the pack, but can it beat the bookies' favorite? Ola Electric Mobility Pvt., a Bengaluru-based startup, will get state support to manufacture EV batteries that can store a total of 20 gigawatt-hours of power, the government said on March 24. Reliance Industries Ltd., the country's largest conglomerate, will get subsidies for five gigawatt-hours. The upstart is getting 40 per cent of the total capacity covered by New Delhi's $2.4 billion in battery incentives over five years. The plan is to shave off $33 billion from the country's fuel-import bill. Paying firms to play has a checkered history in India: Favored companies invariably ask for protectionist cover. But with Brent crude oil at $120 a barrel, this particular gamble has some merit. Consumers are already shelling out too much at the pump because of high domestic taxes on gasoline and diesel. However, cutting the levies will only make the government's pandemic-strained budget creak and groan. Hence, the desperate policy pushes to EVs. There's another goal behind giving money to battery makers, something that can't be articulated in a government press release. The idea is to keep the nascent EV adoption as far away from Chinese technology and raw materials as possible so that India's hydrocarbon dependence doesn't metastasize into a different kind of geopolitical liability in the future. "Today 90% of global capacity is in China," Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal said on Twitter after winning state support. "We will reverse that and make India a global hub for EVs and cell tech." That's a lot of chutzpah for a startup valued at $5 billion, based on its last $200 million funding round in January. Ola Electric, backed by SoftBank Group Corp. and Tiger Global Management, is tiny compared with Reliance, which is 45-times bigger in public markets. The conglomerate is controlled by Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest man, who also owns the world's largest oil-refining complex. Last year, he pirouetted to clean energy by announcing plans for everything from solar panels and batteries to green hydrogen and fuel cells. He committed $10 billion, but has already raised the investment target to $76 billion. There's unlikely to be a bigger national champion of India's bold pledge at the COP26 climate summit. Yet, New Delhi is backing the lesser-known newbie. Aggarwal won incentives for the maximum 20 GWh that any one company was eligible to receive. Reliance also applied for the full quota, but was put on the waitlist for 15 GWh. Unlike Reliance, which recently bought a U.K. company with patents in sodium-ion cells - cheaper than lithium-ion, and therefore, potentially more attractive to buyers in emerging markets - Ola is yet to drop a hint about its technology. It wants to research and develop its own batteries, and fill the gaps with investments like the one it made recently in Israel's Store Dot, whose silicon-dominant anodes claim to provide rapid charging. To show his commitment to R&D, Aggarwal has roped in Prabhakar Patil, a former chief executive of LG Chem Power Inc., the U.S.-based research arm of the world's No. 2 EV battery maker, to the Ola Electric board. Like Ambani, Aggarwal too has made a pivot. In 2011, three years after graduating with a computer science degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, he cofounded Ola Cabs, a ride-hailing app that competes in India with Uber Technologies Inc. But as the pandemic sucked the wind out of transportation services, Aggarwal jumped on to the EV manufacturing bandwagon. Last year he built - in record time - a "Futurefactory" that would be the world's largest producer of electric scooters at full capacity, run entirely by 10,000 women and 3,000-plus robots. It's had a bumpy start. The first product - the two-wheeler S1 Pro - initially got delayed, and then ran into bad press. "In its hurry to launch a product, Ola Electric hasn't given the battery enough time in the development process to evolve and mature, resulting in breakdowns that are potential safety hazards and could be Ola Electric's undoing," the Morning Context, a news portal, wrote last month based on user feedback. Still, consumers appear to be keeping their faith. In February, Ola delivered 7,000 scooters, garnering a market share of nearly 9% among high-speed two-wheeler EVs, according to the research arm of Haitong International Securities Group. This month's target is 15,000. Ola even bagged a slice of a separate $3.4 billion pool of incentives that New Delhi has set aside for auto and parts makers. India is at the cusp of an EV revolution. It won't start in cars but in the scooters and motorbikes that are usually the first vehicles owned by a middle-class family. Electric two-wheelers, which cost roughly $1,400 apiece, will see faster adoption in India than smartphones, according to Goldman Sachs Groups. Inc., whose base-case scenario is for EV penetration in the segment to swell to 38% by 2030 from 2% this year. Still, Indian automakers don't seem terribly interested in cell manufacturing. Indeed, the only established vehicle brand to have qualified for India's battery subsidies is South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. Which makes tiny Ola Electric the big exception - and in more ways than one. China's ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. has become an unwitting poster child for Beijing's crackdown against the tech industry. Grab Holdings Ltd., Southeast Asia's Uber slayer, has diversified into financial services. Its rival Gojek reduced its reliance on mobility by merging with Indonesian e-commerce platform PT Tokopedia to become GoTo Group. But they all stuck to the consumer-data business - none of them hit the shop-floor to get into EV and battery manufacturing. The path ahead for Aggarwal is guaranteed to be a potholed Indian road, but as long as he can keep private-market investors, consumers and - above all - policymakers hooked to his vision, he can clock the miles. Writer: Andy Mukherjee Source: NDTV