Paris meet Ben: Hello guys.

Before getting into the details of the nature of summit I would like
to put forth some information of it. It was attended by nearly 200 nations and discussed
regarding the control of global average temperature growth under 2 degrees centigrade.

Andy: To achieve it the rich countries are to facilitate the poor and middle economies to achieve
the Nationally Determined Contributions, which also known as ‘Differentiation’. It is to be
updated every 5 years and the updating is to be more ambitious than the previous year.

Dave: The recent bilateral announcements of US, China and India’s goal of reduction of
emissions by 33% by 2030 compared to the levels of 2005 are some of these IN DC’s
announced.

[4:25 PM, 12/31/2018] Dikshant Lal: Ben: I think these announcements are too ambitious to
achieve and negate the purpose of the summit.

Charles: As my friend said, I think the Paris Agreement, a 12-page agreement, is a futile step
towards saving the world from further degrading just as similar to Kyoto protocol where every
nation was set some goals to achieve by which were not achieved.

Emma: Moreover this IN DC’s are going to be barriers for the growth of the developing nations,
which need to safeguard their interests when it comes sustainability. A collective effort of both
North and South blocks is needed to mitigate the risks of the environment degradation is
necessary.

Andy: I would like to disagree on this, as there has been immense amount of research of
alternative energy generation, solar power has become cheaper and more efficient and
innovative schemes like carbon credit scheme could enable many nations to achieve the IN DC’s

Emma: It is like we are living in a room with limited resources if we are exploiting the nature in
such a rapid way it will create a self led extinction event of human race. We can’t just thrust the
whole onus of the environment over the developed nations. Even the developing and under
developed nations should also enlighten their people about the negative effects of global
warming and facilitate them to take initiatives in a manner that could help reducing GHG
emissions.

Dave: The capping of the increase of the temperature below 2 degree centigrade almost
requires every nation in the world to shift completely from fossil fuels to eco friendly ways of
energy generation by 2050. This seems to me as an impossible dream under the present day
free fall of oil prices. There must be some kind of enforcement mechanisms to the declared
contributions to be achieved. Otherwise they will be non-binding statements that are never
going to be fulfilled.

Ben: The Paris COP21 may be a step closer to better environment but its goal of safeguarding
the mankind of the ill effects of global warming is a sure question that the world leaders need to
ask themselves.
Emma: If we see the natural calamities that occur every year are the signs of extensive global
warming. I think along with the ecology conservation mankind should consider the disaster
management as one step further.

Andy: Even it is an ambitious deal that every country has entered into it needs to be achieved.
As a just 1 degree rise of average temperature would raise the sea level to 1 meter high, which
could have immense effect over small islands and coral reefs.

Charles: Just imagine the course that the earth goes if the average temperature is above 2
degree. There would be a significant effect on the agricultural seasons in many Asian countries.

Ben: I think it’s a sure shot no for the Paris COP21 to be a step closer to better environment. And
more effort needs to be put for a better environment. May be alliances like Solar Alliance that
was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President François Hollande could
push countries that are part of the alliance towards a better effort of GHG reduction.

Conclusion

It is impossible for the countries to achieve such an ambitious goals set, which could result into
another failure such as Kyoto. This failure could lead to rise of global average temperature that
could have ill effects on agriculture, marine beings and smaller islands. This further degrades the
environment that is stuck in a never-ending loop. This democratic way of setting limits should
stop and more stringent ways should be coming into picture as our race is on the brink of
collapse.

social media: Today, social media has created new styles of communication for us, which made
huge impact on everyday lives of the people. Social media has brought people with common
interests together and expanded the horizon of ideas worldwide. However, there has also been
an impact of social media on human behaviour and society. Human behavior changes more
when we dabble with technology especially with social media. The daily use of social media by
people has increased so much that it is slowly injecting an inflection into our behavior.

The bad impact of social media:

1. Face-to-face interactions which are necessary for developement of personalities, learning

social skills and communication skills, have been removed from the lives of people,
especially younger generations. Children are having a difficult time interacting with
others, which might lead to unsociable behavior.
2. Comparison with other lives has been made easy by social media. People become
unhappy with their current circumstances, leading to problems with self-esteem and
depression.
3. Social media use has also been associated with cyberbullying and cyber abuse by
anonymous users online, which leads to problems of self-esteem, privacy ,etc.
 4. Most studies have shown that, social media’s violent games result in increase in violent
tendencies and behaviours in children.
5. Social media has also been used as tool to spread negativity and rumors online which
has lead to increase in the instances of violence in the society. For instance - Recently,
the rumours of kidnappers over WhatsApp have led to deaths of innocent people in
various parts of India.
6. With social media it has become nearly impossible to avoid bad news and the negative
influences on our lives. This can lead to long-lasting psychological repercussions and
ultimately lead to thoughts of our world falling apart, stress and anxiety.

The good impact of social media:

1. Social media can add creativity to our thinking as people can share their views and work
with others.
2. It allows people to explore and become actively involved without the fear of rejection.
3. While no one advocates spending hours after hours gaming, social media games can
build social connections, improve a person’s self-efficacy, boost their cognitive flexibility
and self-control. They can teach students how to deal with successes and failures in real
life.
4. Social media connectivity with families, friends and some government safety
organizations, has resulted in people feeling safe while moving out.
5. LinkedIn is one of the greatest example of how networking over social media has helped
people in finding the jobs in domain of their interests.

Retirement: A Retirement home: Place the key facts first

A retirement home is a privately owned facility designed to accommodate individuals in their

senior years.These housing projects are not similar to run-down old-age homes, where the
elderly and abandoned live in a deplorable state. These retirement homes are vibrant spaces
that take care of food, housekeeping, health care and security, allowing senior citizens to enjoy
their old age.

Retirement Homes are good: Advantages

1. Due to the changing demographics, migration of children for work to metropolitan cities
or to other countries becomes inevitable. Under such circumstances retirement homes
become effective solutions to a carefree life for elderly.
2. Isolation can be detrimental for a person's health and can push him/her into depression.
Living in a residential complex, where neighbors are in constant touch, can be enriching.
The residents in a retirement complex may not exactly be family, but they provide the
much-needed company that seniors look for.
 3. Safety and security is also important concern, especially because of the rising crime
against senior citizens in cities. Many retirement homes provide 24-hour security and
some even have the CCTV facility.
4. One of the main advantages of a retirement community is that residents do not have to
worry about maintenance, cleaning and other related work. These types of services are
typically included in the cost of living in a retirement community.
5. Retirement home provides a chance to elderly to remain as independent as possible.

Retirement homes may not be so good: Disadvantages

1. Retirement communities are not found in every neighborhood. Their presence is limited
to specific areas which may be far away from the places of relatives or friends.
2. Moving out of own home to an independent living facility can be emotionally stressful.
At such an age people usually get attached to the places where they have lived for years,
moving out to a completely new locality becomes difficult.
3. Old age parents always see for love and care from their children. Though retirement
homes provide basic amenities required for old people yet they may feel lonely and
dejected there.
4. Retirement homes are not for everyone. Their affordability is a huge factor to consider.
The cost of the services will rise every year and since old people have only their savings
with them to invest so many of them cannot afford retirement homes.
5. A lot of developers rebrand their project, claiming these are for senior citizens just
because the land is situated in a far-off location and is not selling. So such type of
projects lacks the facilities that seniors need.
6. With the life expectancy increasing in India, the country's overall population is growing
at 1.8% annually, but the number of senior citizens is growing at a much faster rate at
3.8% every year. Sensing the opportunity, several large corporate groups, such as the
Tatas, LIC Housing Finance and the Max Group have forayed into the development of
these complexes. These apartments are built for mass catering. Many prefer these
Retirement homes for a peaceful and independent life but many old aged people look
for individual care and attention.

Accordingly, the Indian society is not like the western social structure where old aged people live
a retired life enjoying on their own with all the social security available still there are many
retired people in India who prefer retirement home living. So despite all the amenities available,
Retirement Home living is more a matter of choice than a compulsion.
Technology: Technology intervention is inevitable in any sphere. It does raise the bar of
productivity, efficiency and safety to a level which is not achievable by humans. Adoption of
technology, global reach and faster communication has overhauled manufacturing, servicing,
product delivery and also employment associated with these sectors. But, this is not the first time
the world has experienced significant shifts in employment due to new technology.History states
that technology has been a creator of jobs and has augmented new avenues. The course this time
will be same or not is a debatable issue. The prominent technologies that are likely to bring
disruption are: Artificial Intelligence: Artificial
intelligence (AI) or Machine Intelligence (MI) is an area of computer science that emphasizes the
creation of intelligent machines that work and reacts like humans. Artificial intelligence includes
programming computers/Robots for certain traits such as: Knowledge, Reasoning, Problem
solving, Perception, Learning, Planning, Ability to manipulate and move objects etc.
Arguments supporting that technologicaladvancements will lead to Job loss

Industries across the globe are adopting new technologies for higher efficiency and performance,
lower manufacturing. Machines can reduce risk and increase effectiveness. This could lead to
elimination of a vast number of semi or unskilled jobs, who make a substantial portion of the
workforce in manufacturing and agriculture sector.

Automation isn’t just for blue-collar workers anymore. Computers are now taking over tasks
performed by professional workers, raising fears of massive unemployment.

Researchers at MIT foresee dismal prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful new
technologies are increasingly adopted not only in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in
professions such as law, financial services, education, and medicine.

“Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: workforce transition in a time of automation”; a research report by
Mckinsey Global Institute, provides states that: By 2030, 75 million to 375 million workers (3 to 14
percent of the global workforce) will need to switch occupational categories. Moreover, all workers
will need to adapt, as their occupations evolve alongside increasingly capable machines.

The pace of modern technological change is so rapid that many workers, unable to adjust, will
simply become obsolete.

According to Joel Mokyr, a leading economic historian at Northwestern University,“The current

disruptions are faster and more intensive.” Mokyr says “It is nothing like what we have seen in the
past, and the issue is whether the system can adapt as it did in the past.”

Arguments that Jobs will not be lost due totechnological advancements

According to research firm Gartner, more jobs will be created than lost by automation. The firm
stated thatthough 1.8 million jobs will be eliminated by 2020, but 2.3 million new jobs will be
created by then.

It is widely suggested that that workers will have greater employment opportunities if their
occupation undergoes some degree of computer automation. As long as they can learn to use
the new tools, automation will be their friend. For example; when ATMs automated the tasks of
bank tellers and when barcode scanners automated the work of cashiers: Rather than contributing
to unemployment, the number of workers in these occupations grew.

With advent of new technologies industry experts see the need for skilled workers increasing in
the short run and persisting for at least another decade. The experts call for training programs
with a new curriculum and certifications to standardize emerging job classifications.

Enabling more people to harness the benefits from technological advancements is in the best
interest of any business or country. Continuous investment in technology without considering the
impact on existing workforce could result in a host of other problems. For a smooth transition
from current skepticism towards new technology to skilled workforce initiatives like improved
retraining for workers who have lost their jobs to automation, and increased financial protections
for those seeking new careers, are the recommended steps.

#MEETOO: Back Ground: Where it all Started

In 2006, Tarana Burke founded the ‘Me Too Movement’ to help survivors of sexual violence,
particularly non-white young women who were not so well off to find ways to make them come
out of the aura that they had suffered

The idea of “Empowerment through Empathy” was behind the Me Too Movement. It was
ultimately created to ensure survivors know they're not alone in their journey.

In 2017, the trend re-gathered the fame after #MeToo was tweeted by the actress Alyssa Milano.

Key Facts

The "silence breakers" refer to any man or woman who come forward to say that they had been
the victim of abuse.

The phrase "Me too" was tweeted by Milano around noon on October 2017, and had been used
more than 200,000 times by the end of the day, and tweeted more than 500,000 times within 24
hours.
On Facebook, the hashtag was used by more than 4.7 million people in 12 million posts.
Positive Impact of the Movement

This movement empowered the women to form a community and help each other in talking about
the bitter truths of sexual abuse in the world and has helped the victims better fit in the society

It raised awareness among women about their rights as an individual in the work place or outside
and helped men understand the consequences of the same.

This has helped bringing out the buried truth about Harvey Weinstein and many other men like
him and brought them to justice in the eyes of the world.

It helps individual’s suffering regardless of the sex, race or religion.

Criticism

The movement holds an undefined purpose which raises a few questions like 'whether the
movement is meant to inspire change in all men or just a percentage of them', and 'what specific
actions are the end goal of the movement'.

It could cause possible trauma to the victims as it publicizes the assault and harassment of the
victims which in turn can re-trigger their trauma and anxiety.

This movement does not take into account the sexual assault and harassment faced by the Sex
Workers who face this devil on a regular basis.

The movement does not check the facts which can lead to false rape accusations. According to a
study, the estimated number of false rape accusations can go beyond 10% of the reported cases.