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India-Africa Partnership in the Era of Globalization

By
Syskool
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0

India and Africa are two ancient civilizations. They both share a com¬mon colonial past and ideological orientation. India’s engagement with Africa in modern times goes back to the pre-colonial period. Since the British colonial rule was also esta¬blished in many African countries, they became instrumental in initiat¬ing the interactions between the two peoples. For the purpose of colonial exploitation the cheap labour from India was brought in many African countries to work as plantation workers. It was in this context that many Indian workers were brought to South Africa as plantation labour. As the British government followed the policy of racialism in South Africa, the Indian labourers were subjected to various forms of racial discrimi¬nation. It was in this background that Gandhi went to South Africa in 1893 and launched his non-violent Satya- grah against the racial policies of the white regime. This became the inspiration for future struggle against colonialism and racialism in South Africa in future also. It is not a chance that the symbol of fight against racialism Nelson Mandela is known as African Gandhi.
India was one of the first colo- nialized countries to get indepen¬dence from colonial rule. The second phase if India’s engagement with African countries started with India’ persistent efforts to resist colonialism and racialism in Africa and else¬where. The new foundation of Afro- Asian countries was laid down by Bandung conference 1955, which later led to the development of NAM in 1961. As the leading member of NAM, India came at the fore front in the fight against colonialism and racialism in Africa. India was the first country to raise the issue of apartheid in the UN. In 1964 alone, many African countries became indepen¬dent from colonial rule. The NAM became a popular and natural choice for the people of Africa. Next was the issue of development. India suppor¬ted the cause of the New Inter¬national Economic Order (NIEO), 1974 which aimed at developing a just and equitable global economic order. India also launched various development programmes in African countries under the rubric of South- South Cooperation.
The relations with African coun¬tries became lukewarm in 1990, as India was recovering from the econo¬mic crisis and the disintegration of Soviet Union presented new global conditions before India. As India gradually emerged from the condi¬tion of post-cold war uncertainties, she tried to renew her development partnership with African countries. The process of globalization has not worked well for the benefits of African countries. The socio-political conflicts hamper the process of development in African countries. It is in this context that India has strengthened her efforts to develop mutually beneficial partnership with countries of Africa. This continues to be the cornerstone of India’s present policy in Africa. While, IBSA was formed in 2003 to address the collective problems of South-South Cooperation, India has intensified bilateral efforts to strengthen deve¬lopment partnership with African countries. The two India-Africa Forum Summits in 2008 and 2011 should be seen in this perspective.
It is not only that India has helped African countries in their development efforts, but india has received their valuable support on many regional and international issues. India is in search of the energy security and Africa provides a good opportunity to ensure that as it is rich in energy resources. India has expanded her economic engagement with Africa to include investment and development assistance as major policy ingredients.
A. Political and Strategic Co-operation
Africa has 14 per cent of the global population and contributes 53 members in the UN. Out of 53 countries, 34 fall in the category of Least Developed Countries or LDCs. For a long time it has suffered the worst form of colonialism, racialism and exploitation of human and physical resources by colonial powers. The independence after the World War II gave new ray of hope for better future. In spite of the best efforts for its modernization and development, it has been suffering from many ills like ethnic conflicts, political instability, various forms of authoritarian rule, poverty, hunger and disease and poor infrastructure for development. However, it is rich in natural resources. Of late, many countries have shown the promise of progress. In last decade there has been satisfactory economic growth in some countries. In general, the globa¬lization has not produced desired benefits.
India and Africa have many common grounds to forge political and strategic relationships. Imme¬diately after the World War II, India and Africa stood together to fight colonialism and racialism under the common platform provided by NAM. India supported the freedom strug¬gles in African countries. After their independence, India forged mutually beneficial partnership with African countries. India, with the help of bilateral as well as multilateral measures, strived for the peace and development of African countries. Also, both shared a common pers¬pective on a large number of global issues. Both came to hold similar perspective on various regional and international forums, United Nations was just one of them. India received valuable political support to her external policies and programmes
from African countries. India has been elected record seven times as the non-permanent member of Security Council only with the support of African countries.
However, with the end of cold war and the disintegration of Soviet Union in 1991, a new global environ¬ment has emerged, which forced both to review the existing paradigms of interaction. The globalization pro¬vided new opportunities and chal¬lenges for both. In the initial phases of globalization, Africa was left to her fate. However, the new challenges of our time like terrorism, climate change, energy and food crisis, human rights, trade and development imbalances, poverty provide new opportunity for strengthening their partnership. At present, if Africa needs India for her development and growth, India needs Africa for a number of factors. India has provided substantial development assistance to African countries, contributed in the human resources development, made substantial contributions to food aid and peace-keeping personnel through multilateral institutions, especially the United Nations. There are many strategic attractions for India in Africa. First, India needs the political and strategic support of African countries to perform a larger role in global affairs. India’s global profile has been raised in last few years. Such areas of common interest are the reforms on the UN and other finan¬cial institutions, climate change nego¬tiations, international trade negotia¬tions and so on. Second, India is a fast developing economy and, it needs new markets for the continuing growth. Third, India is in search of assured and safe sources of energy supply and Africa has ample energy resources. Thus, both are poised to develop strategic partnership in future. In 2003, India helped to establish IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) forum, which is fast emerging as a potential mechanism for South-South Cooperation.
India has shored up her foreign policy priorities in all parts of the world in the changing global condi¬tions. In a policy statement issued in 2007, the Prime Minister of India outlined India’s priorities in Africa. He emphasized that there is a need to share experience on effective strate¬gies for sustainable development, poverty alleviation, healthcare facili¬ties and universal education. There is also a need for more cooperation in agricultural research, water manage¬ment and food processing.
India-Africa Forum Summit
A new mechanism for high-level consultation between India and Africa is India-Africa Forum Summit. The first India-Africa Forum Summit was held in April in New Delhi. This was to some extent motivated by China’s increasing presence in Africa. China held similar Summit of African countries few years back with good response. Fourteen African Heads of State and the leaders of all eight African regional groupings participa¬ted in the first India-Africa Forum Summit. The Summit concluded with the adoption of the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, which contained measures to elevate the scope of Indian-African partnership of mutual benefit. The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, announ¬ced a ‘Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme’. Under this scheme, India will unilaterally provide preferential market access for exports from the Least Developed Countries, including 34 LDCs of Africa. India also com¬mitted over $ 500 million in African development grants and announced to double India’s lines of credit to $ 5-4 billion to African countries by the year 2013.
Second India-Africa Forum Summit: May 2011
The Second India-Africa Summit was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia on May 24-25, 2011. The two day Summit advanced the pro¬cess of high level consultation initiated in 2008 for developing mutually beneficial partnership bet¬ween India and Africa. The Summits are to be held after every three years. The Second Summit produced two documents : the 32 point ‘Addis Ababa Declaration’ and the ‘Africa- India Framework for Enhanced Cooperation.’
Addis Ababa Declaration—The
main points of this Declaration are :
(a) It reiterated that the partner-ship between India and Africa shall be based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and historical under-standing among peoples.
(b) It recognized the ongoing changes in Africa as a good platform for partnership and India’s contri¬bution in the development in Africa in recent years.
(c) On global affairs, it calls for the cooperation on common global challenges like climate change, Millennium Development Goals, South-South Cooperation, Doha round of trade negotiations, the reforms of the UN Security Council, fight against poverty and terrorism and universal, discriminatory and verifiable disarmament.
(d) They hoped that this Summit would help in realizing the vision of self reliant and economically vibrant India and Africa. The next Summit would be held in India in 2014.
Africa-India Framework for Enhanced Cooperation—It is a four year partnership programme between India and Africa. The programme identifies seven areas for enhanced cooperation between the two sides, as given below—
1. Economic cooperation with focus on agriculture development and small scale industries;
2. Political cooperation in the area of peace and security, good governance and human rights;
3. Cooperation in the field of science and technology, research and development;
4. Cooperation in the field of social development and capacity build¬ing;
5. Cooperation in health culture and sports;
6. Cooperation in the field of tourism and media; and
7. Cooperation in the fields of infra-, structure development, energy, and environmental protection.
The Framework for Enhanced Cooperation proposes to establish 21 capacity building institution in various countries of Africa.
B. Economic Partnership
The economic cooperation between India and Africa has long history and has expanded over the years in the post-cold war period. It has become diverse and covers all parts of the continent. It includes trade, investment bilateral and multi¬lateral development cooperation, human resource development pro¬grammes, credit lines and conces¬sions in debt and imports and so on.
1. Trade and Investment—There are three broad features of India’s trade and investment relations with different parts of Africa : increasing volumes of trade and investment both; state support for the private sector; and the increasingly diverse nature and profile of India’s state-led and private sector economic engage¬ments with Africa. It is estimated that trade between India and African nations grew from a value of $ 3-39 billion in 2000 to $ 30 billion for the year 2007. It was less than $ 1 billion in 1991, when India initiated her economic liberalization programme. The trade between the two sides was $ 36 billion in 2010 and has reached to $ 60 billion in 2012.
In order to boost trade volume, the high-level business conclaves are being organized by the Confederatibn of Indian Industry and the Export- Import Bank of India in association with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the African Development Bank. At the first conclave in March 2005 the ‘India-Africa Project Partnership’ was launched and over $ 14 billion worth of projects discussed. These conclaves were repeated in Novem¬ber 2005, October 2006 and March 2008, 2009 and 2010. Many projects have been finalized in these con¬claves.
Indian investment in Africa has also grown and diversified in recent years. India investments are made by both the public sector and the private sector. India has recently adopted the policy of encouraging private sector investment. The Indian investment ranges from the small family firms and small and medium enterprises to the large-scale bids by Tata, Essar and Bharti Airtel and Mahindra.
2. Development Partnership—
After its South Asian neighbours, the African countries have traditionally been the second largest recipients of India’s development assistance and cooperation. The main instrument of this cooperation is the Indian Tech¬nical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, which was launched in 1964. ITEC focuses on providing short training programmes in areas as diverse as small and medium-scale industries, rural credit programmes, food processing, textiles and women’s entrepreneurship; IT and computing skills. The scheme runs in 159 countries and majority of them are African countries. Indian government offers about 3000 place¬ments under this scheme, of which more than 1000 are offered to African governments. More than $ 1 billion funds have been channeled through ITEC so far and majority of it going to African countries. At present, India offers the assistance of ? 500 crore per year under this programme.
ITEC has six components, viz., Training (civilian and defence) in India of nominees from ITEC partner countries; Projects and project related activities such as feasibility studies and consultancy services; Deputation of Indian experts abroad; Study tours; Gifting /Donation of equipment; and Aid for Disaster Relief. The training programmes have contributed to capacity building and human resource development in many parts of the world.
In Africa, another Indian deve-lopment programme is the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Programme (SCAAP), which also offers project bound development assistance. This programme covers only Commonwealth countries of Africa. The notable feature of these programmes is not the colonial mentality of imposing the assistance. Instead, India asserts the claim of ‘partnership for mutual benefit.’ It is implemented as need based pro-gramme of African countries, assisted by India. Another facet of India’s development cooperation in Africa over the last few years has been the growing provision of concessional Lines of Credit, which are managed by India’s EXIM bank. So far India has provided $ 7642 million as Lines of Credit and majority of it is directed to African countries. India’s develop¬ment assistance also includes debt write-offs. India recently cancelled $ 24 million of debt from Mozam¬bique, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Zambia. China has also written off debts in Many African countries at much higher scale.
3. Capacity Building and Human Resource Development—The focus on skills and training in part reflects that human resource development is one of the priorities of India deve¬lopment assistance in Africa. India has earned huge goodwill in Africa because of her human resource development programmes. African leaders remark that though China is doing more in terms of trade and investment, India is doing better. But this role also reflects the expertise and high quality provision available in many Indian universities, training centres and institutes. India initiated the Pan-African e-Network in Africa in 2004. This scheme aims to provide facilities for tele-education, tele¬medicine and network video con¬ferencing for heads of state in all 53 members of the AU. The network will also connect 53 learning centres, ten superspecialty hospitals (three of which are in India), 53 other hospitals and five universities (two in India). In 2009, this programme has been exten¬ded to cover all 53 African countries. In these endeavours, India provides expertise in creating ‘knowledge eco¬nomies’ for sustainable development in Africa. India has also stepped up the production and supply of cheaper pharmaceuticals and ‘Triple a tech¬nology’ (affordable, available, adapt-able) that is better suited to African peoples than offered by western competitors. India is now focusing on the small scale industries develop¬ment programme, which involves schemes of skill development also.
C. Cultural Cooperation
Both India and Africa share long cultural contacts. In the modern history, Gandhi’s stay in South Africa provided an important link between the two. Besides, the India Diaspora in African countries has contributed to the growth and development of Africa and earned goodwill. India’s cultural objects like dance, drama films are very popular in African countries. Indian films are very popular in East African countries. India has been providing a large number of educational scholarships to African students for study in India. At present, both continue to maintain regular cultural exchanges at various levels. The Indian council for cultural
relations organises may cultural exchange programmes to promote better understanding between the people of India and Africa. As a push to her public diplomacy, India has opened cultural centers in some African countries. India enjoys huge cultural attraction and soft power advantage in Africa.
Challenges and Opportunities—
Africa constitutes 14 per cent of the global population, but its share in global trade is just 2-5 per cent. Africa also suffers from poverty, lack of infrastructure and technology, food insecurity and social and political conflicts. India has been a political, cultural and economic partner of Africa since the days of colonialism. India’s ongoing development co¬operation in Africa assumes signi¬ficance in view of the above facts. Africa is also rich in energy resources. It suits in India’s search for energy security. At present India imports 75 per cents of her energy requirements. India’s present focus on energy sector in Africa may’ be viewed in this background. On the other hand Africa needs India’s development assistance to face the challenges of globalized world. African countries as members of African Union place focus on the economic integration of
Africa. They emphasize on the African-owned and African-managed development process. India can be a useful development partner of Africa in this regard. African Union’s Golden Jubilee Summit was held at Addis Ababa on May 19-27, 2013, where India was represented by its Vice-President Hamid Ansari. In his address, Ansari cited India’s role in the elimination of colonialism and apartheid in Africa in past years. India’s role at present in the human resource development in African countries is well appreciated by all.
Again, Africa contributes largest numbers of members in the UN. It may help India in her support for her claim for permanent membership to Security Council. However, India is facing challenges from the other actors in Africa, particularly China. In recent years, China has also stepped up its presence in various economic areas like trade, investment in Africa. In comparison to the volume of operation, China is much ahead of India. However, India’s engagements enjoy edge in the area of human resource development. India has to assess the development requirement of African countries and employ a country specific approach to develop a meaningful development partner¬ship with African countries.

Political Science Article

By
Syskool
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0

Nationalism and nation building which led to creation of nation-state is one of the main characteristics of the history of modern Europe. The process of nation building was completed in two phases. The first phase was completed by the begin¬ning of 16th century. It saw emer¬gence of nation states in England, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal. The second phase belongs to 19th century and during this phase nation building took place in Central Europe. Its main products were the unifications of Italy and Germany.
The First Phase
The first phase saw emergence of a new type of state. This type of state was different not only from J an empire, but also from city states and regional states. In words of historian C.J.H. Hayes, “It was kind of state which hardly existed in ancient times and which had evolved only slowly and dimly during the middle Ages. It was the medium sized ‘national’ state, the political entity which was to become the unit of the modern state system of Europe.”
By year 1500 such political states had come into existence in France, England, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Poland etc. These states were created by unifica¬tion of small feudal units and, “Each of them possesses a population, the core of which is a single nationality, with distinctive language, literature and self-consciousness.” The hundred year war (1337-1453) played an important role in the creation of nation states in France and England. The war resulted in England being pushed back from Europe. It became a well defined island state. The war enabled France to achieve its natural frontiers and become a well defined geo-political unit. The Crusades, emergence of middle classes, coming into existence of professional state armies and propagation of the ide¬ology supporting the creation of national state were contributory factors which helped in the emer¬gence of national state. Machiavelli in his famous work Prince (1513) argued in a convincing manner that national monarchy as a form of government is preferable to any other form of government.
“All the factors which have just been described cooperated to produce in sixteenth century a group of powerful national states which were politically independent of Holy Roman Empire and of each other, and which, under ambitious and frequently unscrupulous monarchs, were uprooting feudalism, under-mining the church and paving the way for a modern political regime very different from that of previous centuries. They heralded the rise of modern nationalism and the advent of divine right absolute monarchy” (Hayes). By the end of 15th century, England had become a real national monarchy and the king was becom¬ing more and more powerful with the passage of time. At the same time, on the continent of Europe, the national monarchy of France was consolidat¬ing itself, territorially as well as, politically. This process of consoli¬dation of national monarchy was very slow and painful. But, by the year 1500 France had become a national monarchy. It had created its own national literature and develo¬ped feelings of national patriotism which centered in the king. The people of France had become con¬scious of their distinct identity. The king Louis XI (1461-1483) played an important role in making France a national monarchy. National monar¬chies of Spain and Portugal deve-loped overcoming the divisive forces and conflict between Christianity and Islam. In Portugal, a line of competent rulers and a series of discoveries played important role in creating national state. By the year 1500 Portu¬gal had a language and literature of its own. In Spain national monarchy had not matured by the year 1500 and it was still passing through the process of becoming a national monarchy. In the North West Europe the national states of Denmark, Sweden and Norway were built during the Middle ages. Similarly, some small national states had emerged in the East Europe. The emergence of national monarchies fostered the growth of national patriotism and spirit of nationalism. “Altogether, there were more than thirty nationalities in Europe. And by the year 1500 some of them were developing a self consciousness and a National patriotism which boded ill both to the petty medieval divi¬sions of feudalism and to the older unity of Christendom.”
The Second Phase
The second phase of nationalism and nation building belongs to 19th century. The Central Europe was the center stage of this process and the unification of Germany and Italy were its main achievements.
There were a number of factors which contributed to emergence of nationalism and nation building in 19th century. The great French revo¬lution of 1789 had bequeathed the principles of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity. The principle of fraternity referred to common bond and the spirit of brotherhood which inculca¬ted national patriotism and unity. The revolutionary era was followed by that of Napoleon. Napoleon’s armies when they conquered or invaded countries of Europe, they carried with them and spread the principles of French revolution. The loot, plunder and humiliation caused by the presence of French armies on their soil energized the people of that country against the alien foe and roused and consolidated spirit of national patriotism. Finally, Napoleon by redrawing political maps of these countries, particularly of Germany and Italy, and by destroying a 
number of smaller political entities and creating larger political units, prepared ground for geo-political unification which is a must for nation building and creation of nation state. Napoleon created kingdom of Italy which united North and Central Italy. This fostered desire of Unification of Italy. To quote C. J. H. Hayes “Napoleonic empire was comparati¬vely short lived. But it had trem¬endous importance in spreading throughout Europe, directly or indirectly, certain novel principles which it inherited from the French revolution.” He goes on to say, “Of all the lessons which Europe learned from France during the Napoleonic era the most common and impres¬sive was nationalism.”
Nationalism and nation building in 19th century was not simply the result of ideas of French revolution and the policies of Napoleon only. As a matter of fact greater contribution was made by philosophers, ideo¬logues and men of letters of these countries.
If the principle of nationalism evoked quick response in Europe “In part, this was the result of indepen-dent agitation of intellectuals in various countries who, like the French revolutionaries themselves, have been given a nationalist turn of mind by their reading of eighteenth century philosophy and literature.”
In Germany, the three great philosophers Fichte, Hegel and Kant gave a new direction to idealist philosophy. Kant was a pioneer in the romantic thought of 19th century. His political ideas were influenced by ideas of French revolutionaries and Rousseau. Fichte used his idealist philosophy to rouse national patrio¬tism against Napoleonic imperialism. Hegel, too, was an idealist who gave the Germans idea of German national spirit. He evoked a sense of pride by telling them that third stage of deve¬lopment of mankind was the German state. The three great philosophers, in their own inimitable way, made important contribution to growth of German nationalism.
In the Central Europe nationalism was in harmony with philosophies of Romanticism and Liberalism. The nationalist “displayed patriotic emotions and sentiments; usually they extolled the common people of their respective nationalities; and frequently they ransacked historical records to find evidence of their nation’s glorious deeds in the past. All these nationalist attitude and endeavours harmonized nicely with romanticism.” Romanticism is looked upon as reaction against rationalism of 18th century. The 18th century relied on reason. But the romantics of 19th century put their faith in emo-tion. Thus, romanticism put emphasis on individualism and individual’s creativity. But “at the same time, by stressing the inheritance of attitudes, it also celebrated the past. And that celebration was its link with nationalism.” The author of World Civilization goes on to write, “Romanticism and nationalism were connected by their common belief that past should be made to function as means to understand present and planning for the future.”
This notion was in full bloom in Germany in early decades of 19th century. Johann Von Herder (1744- 1807) was one of the earliest and the most influential romantic thinkers of Germany. He insisted that a nation must be true to its heritage. He believed that civilization was the product of the culture of common people. Herder was followed by Schiegel (1772-1829) and Savigny (1779-1861). Both of them advocated the theory of organic evolution of society and state. This concept of organic evolution was fully develo¬ped by Hegel. “These theories of history ,ind historical development articulated by the romantics relate directly to idea of nationalism for-mulated during the same period” (World Civilization). The German philosopher Fichte (1762-1814) adopted Herder’s idea of volkgeist i.e., the spirit of the whole people represented in its traditions, customs and history. As the author of World Civilization writes “the humiliating French occupation of Prussia com¬bined with the growing sense of national destiny exemplified in the addresses of Fichte resulted in a drive on the part of Prussian intellectuals and political reformers to bring their country once more to its former position among European powers.”
Nationalism, thus, derived from romanticism expressed itself in many ways. The poet Schiller’s dramas roused national consciousness of the German people. Even the music reflected the spirit of nationalism.
In Italy, J. Mazzini (1805-1872) was the harbinger of the spirit of nationalism. He was for some time a member of the revolutionary secret society Carbonari. But, later on he founded another organization Young Italy. The declared goal of this orga¬nization was unification of Italian peninsula. The organization, accord¬ing to historian Ketelby, raised the slogan of “God, nationalism and Italy.” A staunch republican Mazzini launched scathing verbal assault on the royal house of Sardinia. But, later on, he concentrated on propagandiz¬ing the cause of Italian nationalism and republicanism. “Italian nationalism was primarily a middle class liberal phenomenon.”
Throughout the age of Metter- nich, notwithstanding the right reaction unleashed by him and the German kings and princes, spirit of liberalism was alive and kicking in all walks of life. The German patriots wanted unity of Germany. There was unrest among the youth and students who formed secret societies. Metter- nich and the rulers of various German states were able to chain the spirit of nationalism and unrest through measures, such as, Carlsbad Decrees, but they could not wipe it out.
In Italy also the dictates of Metternich ran, but here, too, “beneath the surface, liberalism seethed.” The Italian middle class, intelligentsia and urban population were under the influence of liberalism and “demand for constitutional government and national indepen¬dence grew louder gradually. As in so many other countries the Italian liberals employed underground means of agitation, and such secret societies as the Carbonari and Freemasons conducted a good deal of revolutionary propaganda.”

Personality Development Be Ready to Seize Opportunity

By
Syskool
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0




This is where luck seems to decide to some extent who will get promoted. But you can make your own luck. When a job has to be filled by promotion, some employees are not even considered because their abilities are insufficient. Or it may be because they have not yet had enough experience in their present jobs to go up.
Make yourself ready for promotion so that at any rate you will be in the race. You work with promotion in mind, not waiting until the vacancy comes.
It is difficult to get promoted if you are either too young or too old. Many employers like to see senior people occupying the leading position because maturity helps in the control of staff.
If you feel that young age is working against you, be patient. Get as much experience as you can by taking opportunities to different kinds of work.
The variety of experience is more important than length of experience. The man who complains that he has been passed over again despite his ten years’ service may overlook the fact that he has had only one year’s service ten times over.

Broaden your experience. Your turn will come.
A harder situation arises when a man is old. For example, the job of assistant manager may become vacant. If the manager is only a few years from retirement, then the person appointed assistant will almost certainly have to be someone young enough to move up in time to be the manager.
The top management of any go- ahead concern looks for future leaders. Thus, it will help you get the promotion if your superiors can see in you the potential to go higher still.
These are all long-term ideas and attitudes. What can you do day by day to improve your promotion prospects ?
Keep adding to your knowledge and of the industry of which you are a part. Study for the examinations that you give your formal paper qualifications. Support that basic general knowledge by developing an enquiring mind, becoming inquisitive about the things around you.
Show interest in the business as a whole, not just in your job. Observe what others do and how your activities fit in with theirs. Be sure you have a clear idea about what the aims are of the business and study carefully how they are attained.
Increase your capacity. Do each day as much as you possibly can, not just enough to get by. The people who make the most progress in their career regard their jobs as exciting adventures. Those who make a least progress usually look upon the day’s work as a necessary evil to go through as painlessly as possible.
Work with energy, resolution, and enthusiasm. Identify yourself with the firm’s objectives, not just your particular function. Help others and show interest in the success of the whole job.
Be willing to do extra work. Take on without complaint the additional task that comes your way. Figure out ways to fit it in. You can always work more efficiently. Cut out time-wast¬ing habits.
People who get promotion first build a reputation of reliability, of responding well in times of crisis or pressure, of rising to the occasion when staff is short or something has gone wrong.
The man seeking promotion gets himself known as someone to depend on in times of troubles.
Whenever you have a problem or a query for your superior, put forward at the same time, a possible solution. Ask him if that would be the proper way to tackle it.
You will not always be right. But often you may. Often you will be asked to go ahead with your own suggestion. You will build a picture of yourself as a person of ideas and resourcefulness, a man who finds solutions, not one who only brings problems.
Use initiative. Do not continually wait to be told what to do. At the same time, accept and carry out orders without a hitch. Do not resent when you are overruled.
Even at more humble levels, as soon as you progress beyond the bottom rung, there will be someone below you whose work you may have to direct. You need to know how to give orders, how to supervise work, how to guide, how to select which employee shall be given a particular work.
Your relationship with other work people provides the key to progress in your job. Your experience will*tell you of brilliant people whose careers have been held back by an inability to get along with their colleagues.
The ultimate distinction of those successful in their career does not lie in talent, brains, an ability to knowledge. It lies in the way one person can take the lead, gain sympathy, get others to do things willingly, while another fails to inspire confidence or rubs people the wrong way.
Your final and most important daily task is, therefore, to work at improving your skill with people. Develop the characteristics of friendliness, tact, loyalty, reliability all the good qualities in those at present holding their jobs senior to yours.
Do all these things and in time you will deserve the promotion. The chances are that you will get it, for leaders do not come a dime a dozen. It is easier to fill many vacancies at low levels than the few senior posts with high salaries.
Must Read:

Career

By
Syskool
-
0

Selection of career is not an easy decision to make, it is largely dependent on your choice and interest. But, at the same time, you will have to assess your limitations and resources, strengths and weaknesses.

Don’t Miss: Career Path of an IPS Officer

Try to answer following 9 questions

  1. If I could choose one friend to trade jobs with, I’d choose _______, because _______.
  2. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to do _______. It’s interesting to me because ______.
  3. If I had the right education or skill set, I’d definitely try ________, because _____.
  4. If I had to go back to school tomorrow, I’d major in _______, because _____.
  5. My co-workers and friends always say I’m great at _______, because ______.
  6. The thing I love most about my current job is _______, because _______.
  7. If my boss would let me, I’d do more of _____, because ______.
  8. If I had a free Saturday that had to be spent “working” on something, I’d choose ____, because _____.
  9. When I retire, I want to be known for ______, because ______.

Don’t Miss: Career Path of IAS Officers

If you are not sure about few statements try to re-think over it and come up with the most suitable answer as per your desire.

As soon as you will finish answering all these questions you will realise that you have figured out which is the most suitable career option for you. But wait, right now it is not your ultimate career objective. Now it’s time to make a career objective and then achievement plan. Suppose you want to become a scientist and known for your inventions. The objective must be defined as “doing Ph.D. from XYZ University”.

To meet your career objective you will need to make a rough plan (let’s call it mission) and you will also need to accomplish it in time.

While preparing a plan first thing you need to assure is how much maximum time you have in your hands. Suppose you want to become an IAS you will need to do it within prescribed age limit (32 for general candidates).

Assess your responsibilities and requirements, like if you want to earn 5 lakhs a month to meet the needs of yourself and your family, choosing Civil Services is not a good idea because here salary is quite less than that. You should go for management job after completion of MBA from an international university of great repute.

Don’t choose a career that doesn’t fascinate you.

Don’t make this decision in urgency, give yourself enough time to decide rethink and then conclude. But once you make a firm decision don’t change it every now and then because any external influence.

Every hobby is can not be translated into your career but it is the best way to know what you want. If you love to collect coins, especially old coins, it can not be directly translated into your career as the curator that easily but it certainly gives an idea that you are interested in history. So you can say that you are somehow interested in history.

Also Read: How to Crack IAS Exam? 10 Tips for IAS Preparation

IMPORTANT DAYS National Days

By
Syskool
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IMPORTANT DAYS
National Days




August 9 Quit India Day
August 15 Indian Independence Day
August 29 National Sports Day
International Days
August 3 International Friendship Day
August 6 Hiroshima Day
August 8 World Senior Citizen’s Day
August 9 Nagasaki Day
August 18 International Day of the World’s
Indigenous Peoples
August 19 Photography Day

Also, Read:
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