Joyce Banda sworn in as president of Malawi

Interview Acronyms FTW!

With some wordplay in mind, you can nail your co-op interview!



Living in our digital age, it can feel like our language has been reduced to a series of acronyms, from LOL and OMG to BRB and GTG. But these shorthand modes of communication do make conversation simpler and, in some ways, more efficient.



So who’s to say that acronyms should stop at the text message or email? If acronyms make things easier, why not use them to help you ace your job interview?



PAWS



When it comes to interview preparation, the first key is to know yourself. Easy-peasy, you say? Perhaps. The most common first question in a job interview is “Tell me about yourself,” but students often just don’t know what to say to that! Where do I even begin? Is this a trick question? How do I know if I’ve provided them with enough information? These are questions I hear from students all the time. The first interview acronym can help you focus and develop some talking points when you’re responding to this infamous question:



P = Personal. Tell them a little bit about your areas of interest, whether professional or personal. Discuss why you chose your major as your area of study. Describe personal characteristics that make you well-suited for the position. Talk about hobbies or activities you like to do in your spare time.



A = Academic. Tell them about your academic background. What is your major? Are you minoring in a program? Do you have any additional certificates or relevant projects worth briefly discussing?



W = Work/Volunteer Experience. Briefly summarize your related work or volunteer experience.



S = Skills. This may have been covered as you discussed your academic or work experience. However, be sure to touch on relevant transferable or technical skills that make you a strong candidate.



Keep in mind they’ve called you in for an interview because they want to see the personality behind your resumé or application. Think of this question as an ice-breaker for you to introduce yourself and ease into the interview conversation.



STAR



Second to knowing yourself is knowing what is required of the position and explaining how your skills and experience match those requirements. This comes from identifying key competencies in the job posting and then practising behavioural questions related to those competencies. Behavioural questions are the ones that start with “Tell me about a time when…” or “Give me an example of a situation where…” When responding to behavioural interview questions, keep this star-studded interview acronym in mind:



S = Situation. Describe what happened.



T = Task. Describe what needed to be done.



A = Action. Describe what you did to respond to the situation. Be sure to incorporate relevant skills you utilized.



R = Result. Don’t leave your interviewer hanging and wondering, then what? Every story needs an ending, so don’t forget that positive result.



The best way to practise behavioural interview questions is to set up a practice interview with your co-op coordinator/advisor. Take advantage of this awesome co-op perk!



COMPANY/INDUSTRY ACRONYMS



These interview acronyms might take a little more research on your part. In addition to knowing yourself and knowing the position, the last key is knowing the company. Research, research, research, and be sure you’re familiar with any industry jargon or acronyms. If there are acronyms in the posting or on the company website you’re unfamiliar with, they’re definitely worth looking up. Check with your co-op advisor to see if your co-op program has any work reports from previous students who have worked in the position—they may provide you with insight into the position and any company lingo. This little bit of research can go a long way!



Last but definitely not least, now that you’ve prepared, walk in with confidence. Keep in mind that they invited you to the interview for a reason—based on your application, you have what they’re looking for in terms of skills and experience. Now all you have to do is be you.for more info, check out avant career

AskMe Grocery to expand to 80 cities by end of financial year

The AskMe Group has plans to expand its Askme Grocery business from its current 38 cities to 80 cities by this financial year. Likewise, it claims to make 20,000 deliveries every day as of now, and plans to grow that to 100,000 daily by year end. The company says that the average ticket size is Rs 1,700- 2,000, accounting for Rs 3.5-4 crore daily. As of now, it employs 1,000 people.

Earlier this month, AskMe Grocery launched AskMeFresh, a perishable grocery marketplace and AskMeMeds, an online health marketplace. These are expected to go live in 3 months. The company partners with local grocery chains to deliver to its users, without keeping the inventory.

 

A Business Standard report cites Ankit Jain, co-founder of AskMe Grocery as saying that the company’s delivery costs are very low. An AdAge India report from February states that in Delhi, the company has 24 hubs which are algorithmically selected depending on the user’s locations. Each hub ties up with 4-5 kirana stores. In May last year, AskMe acquired BestatLowest, co-founded by Jain and Amit Nigam in 2013, for $10 million.

Prior to the acquisition, BestatLowest was operational in Delhi-NCR.

Online Movie Portal HeroTalkies Raises its First Round of Funding

Founded in 2014 by V. S Aathitiyan and V. S. Pradeep, Chennai-based entertainment startup HeroTalkies.com, that provides an online streaming service of Tamil movies, has raised its first round of funding from a group of High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs). Investors who participated in the round include actor Suriya, Sanjay Arjundas Wadhwa (a movie distributor in South India), and NRI investors Balaji Panchapakesan (UK), Shankar Venkatesan (Poland), and Vasikaran Venkatesan (USA).

The raised funding will be used for content and customer acquisition across different geographies and increasing the firm’s customer base. The startup has 30,000 users who have signed up from India, and 7,500 subscribers in 55 countries including the U.S., U.K. and Canada. The firm has even forayed into Iraq, Chile and Nigeria.

Speaking on the development, Rajsekar Pandian, CEO of 2D Entertainment said, “As a forward-looking organisation we are keen on exploring several partnerships that expand our existing portfolio in the entertainment industry. With movies moving towards digitisation it was a logical step to bring into our fold an online streaming platform.”

The company is trying to battle the online piracy of Indian movies, by making them easily available for everyone in a cost effective manner.

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Chewa chiefs tell Malawians to rally support for Joyce Banda

As the country is fast heading towards the first ever Tripartite Elections, Chewa Chiefs have come forward to say that President Joyce Banda should be given a chance to rule this country, saying the two years she has been in power are  not enough for her to showcase her  real potential.
The traditional leaders revealed this in separate interviews with Malawi News Agency (Mana).
Senior Chief Lukwa of Kasungu said President Banda took over this Government when things were worse in the country and despite all these she has shown how promising she is by getting lid of most of the problems the country was in within a short period of time.
“President Banda has shown that once voted into power on May 20 she can transform this nation to the better. When she was taking over government there was crisis in this country, for example there was shortage of fuel, foreign currency and many other things to mention a few and she has put all that to a complete end,’’ Lukwa said.

President Dr. Joyce Banda speaks at a public rally–File photo

T/A Mwansambo of Nkhotakota conquered with Lukwa saying the issue is not about achieving Gender 50-50 campaign only but rather putting promising leaders into power hence advising Malawians that no matter what happens on the way to tripartite elections they should vote for JB come 20 May if this country is to develop.
On the same issue, T/A Khombedza of Salima said Malawians should not be fooled by clever sweet talking politicians who cannot fulfill their promises.
‘’Let us vote for a leader who has the welfare of people at heart, not just anybody, this country has been in poverty for so long.  So this is not the time to vote for the people who will make the poor more poorer than before, and to us, JB is the only way out,’’ Said T/A Khombedza.
On his part T/A Chembe of Mangochi said Malawi has had enough of  selfish leaders who only want to steal from the pockets of the poor and make themselves richer saying this is the time to vote for Banda who has helped to track down such kind of people hence the birth of Cash Gate Scandal.
‘’JB has shown how powerful she is by tracking down the culprits of Cash Gate Scandal of which the job is still on the way, without her sound leadership this would  not have been revealed,’’ said T/A Nthondo of Ntchisi.
According to GVH Mayande of T/A Kwenda in Nkhotakota, time has come for Malawi to try women leadership at all cost because the country has had enough of men leaders who have so far made very little difference or no difference at all.
Commenting on the development NGO-Gender Coordinating Network (NGO-GCN) Chairperson Emmie Kaliya said what the Chewa Chiefs are up to is a welcome development as far as NGO-GCN is concerned saying Malawians should not fail JB because she is a woman but they should try her on 20 May because she is competent.
However, Chairperson for Chewa Heritage Foundation (CHEHFO), Professor Kanyama Phiri said it is a 50-50 game and Chewa chiefs must be more careful on how they will go about it.
Malawi will be holding the first ever tripartite elections on 20 May this year and all political parties plus its aspirants are busy preparing for the big day hence all these developments.

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Malawi's Joyce Banda and the Rise of Women in African Politics

Malawi’s new president Joyce Banda is another proof of the strength of women in African politics. She has overcome tribulations to shoot to the top of her country’s leadership ladder.

Motherly and resplendent in rich African colours, Joyce Hilda Banda came across as the perfect embodiment of African feminine grace when the international media focused on her swearing-in as Malawi’s fourth president on Saturday April 7, 2012, in Lilongwe, the country’s capital city.

Taking office as president following the sudden death of maverick President Bingu wa Mutharika on Thursday April 5, Ms Banda has made history as Malawi’s first female head of state. After having been her country’s first female vice-president, she has now also added more feathers to her hat by becoming the second female president in Africa in modern times, after Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Although somewhat self-effacing, Banda had already made enough impact during her political and civic career to have been listed in Forbes Magazine in 2011 as the third most powerful woman in Africa, behind President Sirleaf and Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Finance Minister.

Given Banda and Sirleaf’s shared status as Africa’s only two female presidents, it is not surprising that the latter was one of the first people to congratulate Banda and welcome her as the second woman leader in Africa. “This means I no longer will be lonely,” Sirleaf said during a recent interview. “The potential for more women leadership at the highest level is now being made even stronger.”

Soon after her swearing in, the Malawian and international media were profuse in hailing Ms Banda’s smooth inauguration as a triumph for democracy. Taking the lead, Malawi’s own Sunday Times stated in an editorial that the new president’s inauguration had “helped to entrench and cement a democratic culture in the country”.

The paper then described the event as ‘a breath of fresh air after the divisive and confrontational rhetoric that characterised presidential parlance over the last few years’, and hailed the orderly transition as welcome “on our African continent, where smooth transitions are rare”.

As for Ms Banda, she spoke in conciliatory tones during the inauguration ceremony, calling for unity and a rejection of revenge. That was despite the fact that her elevation had come only two days after the death of the increasingly controversial former president, Bingu wa Mutharika, who considered her a rival and had been openly and persistently adversarial towards her in both word and deed.

True to her reputation as a peacemaker, during her swearing in ceremony Ms Banda fervently appealed for national unity. “I want all of us to move into the future with hope and with the spirit of oneness and unity,” she told her compatriots. “I hope we shall stand united, and I hope that as a God-fearing nation we [shall] allow God to come before us, because if we don’t do that then we [shall] have failed.”

Ms Banda’s placid demeanour aside, her combative personal and political history indicates that the lady president’s serene motherly looks can be deceptive. Having just celebrated her 62nd birthday, which fell on Thursday April 12, she has a well-earned reputation as a hard nut to crack when it comes to politics.

It was indeed not surprising that, having been the late Mutharika’s running mate when she stood as the vice-presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the May 2009 presidential election, Banda easily won. It was her performance at the polls that saw her serving as Malawi’s first female vice-president, a position she occupied between May 29, 2009, and the day she was sworn in as the Malawi’s acting head of state.

Before serving as the vice-president, Ms Banda had been her country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, occupying the important docket from June 1, 2006 to May 29, 2009. Earlier, she was a Member of Parliament for the Zomba-Malosa constituency, and soon became Minister of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services, before being appointed to the foreign affairs ministry by President Bingu wa Mutharika on June 1, 2006.

Community organiser

Prior to her active career in politics, Ms Banda dedicated a lot of her time to working with the community, taking particular interest in the well-being of women and children in Malawi. It was during that period that she founded the Joyce Banda Foundation, the National Association of Business Women (NABW), the Young Women Leaders Network and the internationally lauded Hunger Project.

 While Banda’s history-making ascent to the vice-presidency was hailed by many Malawians, before long her victory was to prove pyrrhic. As fate would have it, just a year after their election victory President Mutharika and his vice-president and erstwhile running mate had a spectacular political fall-out. The fierce political battle that ensued and persisted until Mutharika’s death was fuelled by vicious succession manoeuvres.

The unexpected moves to definitively ostracise Banda were articulated by President Mutharika and his cohorts in the ruling DPP, with the all-out bid to sideline Banda aimed at finally creating a family dynasty in Malawi. As things turned out, Mutharika’s intentions in elbowing Banda aside were to groom his younger brother Peter, then serving in his cabinet as the foreign minister – the position earlier held by current president Banda - to become the DPP candidate for the next polls slated to take place in 2014.

To get Banda safely out of the way well before the end of Mutharika’s second and constitutionally final term, the late president and his co-conspirators first expelled the hapless VP from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. The ouster came in a surprise move by the DPP on 12 December 2010, and also saw the expulsion of the party’s second vice president Khumbo Kachali, a Banda ally. Accused of undefined ‘anti-party’ activities, the two were consequently left party-less and for a while remained in the political cold, even as the intrigues against the prospective future president were intensified.

Banda’s enemies were not yet through with her. Soon there were increased calls, spearheaded by DPP’s spokesman Hetherwick Ntaba, for Banda to also resign as Malawi’s Vice-President, thereby leaving the coast clear for the elevation of Mutharika’s anointed kin. Ever the fighter, the battle-hardened Banda did not find that proposition palatable in the least, despite feeling the intense political heat directed at her.

ticking to her guns and emboldened by rising popular support, the courageous lady adamantly refused to give up her job, and instead went to court. In doing so she and her wide base of supporters cited the provisions of the constitution, which recognised her as the de jure holder of the position, a stand supported by a ruling made in her favour.

That done and over with, and as if to give her detractors a dose of their own medicine, Ms Banda proceeded to form her own People’s Party, and soon emerged as one of Mutharika’s fiercest critics. Implacable to the end, she persistently lambasted the president’s management of the Malawian economy, the country at the time being beset by worsening fuel shortages, rising prices and high unemployment.

It was those daunting problems that resulted in the widespread anti-government protests, marked by rising demands for President Mutharika’s resignation, whose handling by the police provoked Banda’s reaction. As for the sitting president’s dreams of a family dynasty in Malawi, an unequivocal Banda summarily dismissed them, while unleashing a flurry of ripostes that have remained memorable to this day.

“The chronic disease of third term[s], or chieftaincy, remains one of the greatest enemies of our efforts to achieve sustainable development,” she is reported to have said before caustically adding in a backhander aimed at Mutharika: “The country is constantly caught [up] in a vicious circle of privatisation of the state where one or two people hold the fate of the country.”

Undeterred by the forces pitted against her, Ms Banda became increasingly vocal as her country rapidly descended to the doldrums. After the anti-government protests broke out in July 2011, for instance, police used live ammunition to quell them, and 19 people were shot dead in the northern cities of Karonga and Mzuzu. In the aftermath of the unrest, Malawi’s health ministry confirmed the deaths, and a livid Banda was quick to express her disgust. Pointing out that Malawi could face more unrest ahead of the planned 2014 polls, she was quick to sound the alarm.

“The road to 2014 will be rough, bumpy and tough,” she warned her compatriots. “Some will even sacrifice their own lives.”

Despite her rising tribulations at the hands of the political movers and shakers of the day, Ms Banda is reported to have remained widely popular in Malawi. That notwithstanding, her odyssey during the Mutharika government’s machinations against her ensured that up to the time of her predecessor’s death she remained fired from the ruling DPP. Constantly vilified, for close to two years she did not attend Cabinet meetings.

Humble upbringing
With her origins in Malemia, a village in southern Malawi, Banda was born on April 12, 1950 in Malawi’s colonial capital of Zomba, where her father was an accomplished and popular police brass band musician. She began her career as a secretary, and when still in her youth became a well-known figure during the dictatorial era of Kamuzu Banda - no relation to her own family.

Married and having three children by the age of 25, Ms Banda in her younger years fled to Nairobi to escape what she perceived as gender-based discrimination in her home country. She consequently became a fierce critic of the practice, and after abandoning an abusive marriage later returned to Malawi and settled down with her current husband Richard Banda, the country’s former Chief Justice.

Ms Banda ventured into formal politics in 1999, when nearly 50, during Malawi’s second democratic elections. Having won a parliamentary seat through the former ruling party of retired president Bakili Muluzi, Banda’s rise to the presidency has been speedy by all indications. Coming from humble beginnings, after some years working as a secretary, she had branched out into business.

Quickly making a mark as an entrepreneur, between 1985 and 1997 Banda managed and established various businesses and organizations, including Ndekani Garments (1985), Akajuwe Enterprises (1992) and Kalingidza Bakery (1995). In the meantime she was dedicated to community work and philanthropy, and was known as an avid community educator and grassroots gender rights activist.

Totally dedicated to her new calling, her success in business moved her to assist other women to achieve financial independence and break the cycles of abuse and poverty that characterized their lives. Providence seems to have steadily steered Ms Banda to her destiny as the leader of her people, and she did not allow her lowly educational background to hold her back.

Not endowed with impressive academic credentials, she initially only had a Cambridge School Certificate, although she pursued higher education later in life, eventually obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Diploma in Management. Having courageously fought toe-to-toe with her detractors while also pursuing further education and helping her people, today she has many national and international honours under her belt.

Although according to the Malawian constitution Lady President Joyce Hilda Banda is serving in an acting capacity pending elections, she has hit the ground running, and is already making her authority felt in the landlocked central African country.

Beset by the many political, social and economic problems inherited from her predecessor, Ms Banda has been quick to lay the foundation for turning her troubled country around.

Having made it clear that she will not be vindictive or pursue revenge against those who blocked her route to the presidency, the new Malawian head of state has nonetheless pointed out the need to do some urgent housecleaning work. That task has inevitably involved getting rid of some of her former opponents inside Malawi’s political establishment, many of whom have been fervently seeking accommodation in Banda’s government..

With many of them identified as die-hard Mutharika loyalists, the die seems cast, however, and among the first ones to be sacked was one Patricia Kaliati. The ill-fated lady was the former Information Minister who publicly insisted that the late president Bingu wa Mutharika was alive more than one day after his death on Thursday, April 5, 2012.

Her being shown the door marked the rapid shake-up of the public service in Malawi that Ms Banda unveiled in her bid to purge the government of Mutharika loyalists. Particularly focusing on suspect characters formerly controlling government finances and media, the rapid purge also saw the sacking of a Mr. Bright Malopa, a Mutharika ally who formerly headed the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and was notorious for his determination to use state media to relentlessly campaign against Banda after her expulsion from the DPP.

Also sacked by Banda have been Mr. Perks Ligoya, the former governor of the Malawi Reserve Bank, and former police chief Peter Mukhito, both close allies of the late President Mutharika. While the former was earlier blamed for pursuing an allegedly rigid exchange rate policy that the International Monetary Fund has blamed for much of Malawi’s economic woes, the former police chief was implicated in acts of violence against Malawians, among them the alleged slaying of student activist Robert Chasowa.

While announcing some of the recent sackings, Ms Banda explained that urgent action needed to be taken to correct the mistakes of the past, while at the same time seeking justice for the victims of Mutharika’s intolerant regime.

“Although we are in mourning, certain decisions cannot wait,” President Banda reportedly told a news conference in the capital Lilongwe three days after taking office.

Displaying the warm motherly instinct for which she is known, she also launched an investigation into the mysterious murder of student activist Chasowa.

“As a mother, I feel for my fellow mother who doesn’t know what killed her son,” she said. “I understand how painful it is, and I will make sure we find out who killed our son Chasowa. We don’t want people to go about murdering people fearlessly.”

As for the gainers in Ms Banda’s reorganisation of the public service, they included Ms Mary Nkosi, who replaced Ligoya as Reserve Bank Governor, making her the first woman to hold the job after having served as a deputy governor for a long time.

Other gainers were Mr. Radson Mwadiwa, a career bureaucrat who was named the new secretary to the Treasury and chairman of the state-owned Malawi Savings Bank. Mr. Moses Kakuyu, a conscientious parliamentarian who pressed for reforms after breaking away from Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party, became the new information minister, while the new director general of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation is Mr Benson Tembo, a veteran broadcaster and former diplomat whose last posting was as ambassador to Zimbabwe.

Amidst the numerous changes, observers of the Malawian political scene were quick to caution against over-optimism, with the Sunday Times reminding the populace that in the past they had faced previous ‘false dawns’. Referring to Mutharika’s record in office, the paper pointed out that the former president had been widely hailed for his sterling performance during his first term, but had slipped into retrogression during recent years as he cracked down on basic freedoms and sent the Malawian economy into a tail-spin.

“The country’s previous leaders all started with a lot of promise,” the paper said, “but the trappings of power corrupted them to such an extent that they forgot the source of their power and became gods who brooked no advice, let alone criticism, regardless of whether it is constructive or not.”

Such caution aside, President Joyce Hilda Banda for now seems set to herald a new dawn for her country, and she evidently has the credentials, will and ability to do so.

Will Joyce Banda continue her commitment to women now she is President of Malawi?

Last week I had the pleasure of listening to President Joyce Banda of Malawi speak at Chatham House. She is still within her first 100 days in office after the sudden death of the previous President but all the signs point to a President who genuinely cares about the country and its people and has the lives of the Malawian women and children very close to her heart.

She spoke articulately, intelligently and with a touch of humour. She appears to be an inclusive President and certainly she has the feelgood factor. She silenced her critics at the meeting (there were only a couple) by ‘understanding’ their position but explaining very clearly and firmly why she has made certain decisions, she deferred to her Foreign Minister on some issues but also answered the same questions articulately.
The economic ‘bitter pill’

Her policies are yet to be played out and I am not entirely convinced about her strategies for wealth creation and economic recovery. Her idea to promote wealth creation through the private sector needs fleshing out and I am a bit concerned about her plans to develop Malawi’s mining industry. She wants to encourage fair trade but she doesn’t appear to have developed ideas for increasing or improving quality of production.

She is swallowing the ‘bitter pill’ handed to her by the International Monetary Fund and has already devalued the currency but she articulated why and her actions so far have attracted international confidence and support. She is already putting in place safety nets for the poorest and her government is negotiating transparently and it seems quite fairly with the unions around salary increases to cope with the sharp increase in the price of goods.
A role model for women in Malawi

A young Malawian women in the audience got up to say how excited she is that Malawi has a woman President and that  Joyce Banda is a role model for all  women in Malawi but she asked, will Joyce continue her commitment to women and girls now she is President? Coming from a women’s rights activist background this was obviously a topic Joyce felt very comfortable with and she talked about her days as a women’s rights activist.

She also mentioned a few initiatives. She has established the Joyce Banda Foundation and has initiated a project to improve conditions for market women such as improving sanitation facilities, establishing crèches and helping the women establish a revolving savings and loan scheme.
Maternal health and safe motherhood

She has also re-established a second Presidential initiative for  maternal health and safe motherhood. What is refreshing about this new initiative is that not only is she focusing on improving the delivery of health outcomes for women but she is also addressing the root causes of poor maternal health. She wants to reduce child marriage and discourage women from giving birth at home, which she says are the key contributors to maternal mortality and fistula  (of which Malawi has one of the highest rates in the world). She wants to launch a nationwide campaign to educate traditional leaders about the dangers of child marriage and early pregnancy and become advocates encouraging parents to keep their girls at school and women to give birth in clinics.
On the international stage

She has Malawi at heart but is quite pan-African in her thinking. She identifies herself as both a Malawian and an African and early on in her speech referred more broadly to Africa in the globalised world than to Malawi.