ranjan

Growth of service sector in India is a unique example of leap - frogging traditional models of economic growth. Since independence, the contribution of service sector in India to the country's GDP is a lion's share of over 60%. Since it employs only 25% of the labor, agriculture and manufacturing has not yet risen to its full potential.   The service sector in India becoming the mainstay of not only for growth in GDP but also a  key vehicle for employment generation. This sector is of soft parts of the economy such as activities where people offer their knowledge and time to improve performance, productivity, potential and sustainability. India's service sector has been the powerhouse of the country's economic growth.                Services contribute massively to India's integration with world markets through trade and FDI flows. Growth has been rapid in Software, Business, Communications and Financial services among others. The s...

The two self-governing countries of India and Pakistan came into existence at the midnight of 15 August 1947. The British system of political control hinged on identifying groups willing to collaborate, a governing style described as "Divide and Rule". The prospect of losing this protection as independence drew closer worried at around 25% of population (Muslims), first in parts of northern India and then, after World War II, in the Muslim majority provinces of Punjab and Bengal. In 1945-46, All India Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah won majority of Muslim votes in provincial elections. This strengthen the party's claim to speak for a substantial portion of, but never all, the subcontinent's Muslims.   The biggest problem after partition was the division of a rupees 55 crores payable as the latter's share of assets. The second was Refugee problem. India was hopelessly poor as a result of steady de-industrialization by Britain. The abject poverty and sharp ...

Agriculture is central to the Indian economy. In India, about 80% of farmers are smallholders -which is generally considered to mean that they have two hectares or less of land. More is needed to be done since crop yields in India are still 30% to 60% of the best sustainable crop yields achievable in the farms of developed and other developing countries. Poor infrastructure and unorganized retail means India has one of  the world's highest levels of post- harvest food loss.  It is now a time for change. We must be prepared to face long outstanding issues and new realities. Natural resources on which agriculture is based - Land and Water, above all, are being degraded and there is growing competition for their use. Climate change is already severe and aggravate this situation, making agriculture more risky, will have even greater impact in future.  In such context, public-private partnership (PPP) model be the game changer India's agriculture sector needs.With the Governme...

Google has an Adsense site offering the  public to have a blog on the same and start writing on it. They also have stated of a system of payment to the subscriber. But after a certain time, they disable the blog account. No intimation is sent to the subscriber to inform him of the same.    No system exists as how the publisher should approach them for getting the blog activated. As per practice, they do not bother even to reply to the requests made by the subscriber .  Purpose of this is only to know the facts for information so that one can think of whether to continue or close the blog.                                                     ***************

Since the beginning of mankind, Pandemics and Epidemics have had a profound economic and societal impact. But if there is one thing that stands out through all of this, it is that human resilience and adaptability is outstanding, knowing no bounds and various examples from history are a testament to that. From the Black Death to the Spanish Flu and the recent SARS outbreak, the response and impact of entire economies hold valuable lessons.Though different in magnitude, past can give some profound knowledge and guidance with indicators about the performance of the world economy and the resulting impact due to the coronavirus outbreak.  PAST EPIDEMICS - The Black Death -1348 -1350 - Casualty - 50 million  The Black Death arrived in 12 ships in the port of Italy in 1347. Increasing modernization and stability in Europe led to extensive trade between East and West Europe itself. Cities like Venice and Geneva, located at trading docks became wealthy. The epidemic spread rapidly thr...

It is to be noted that two cells- Goblet cells and Ciliated cells are two kinds of cells where the entry mechanism of SARS CoV2 takes place and the virus begins to attack. Goblet cells are those that produce mucus within the nose and are found alongside the respiratory tract. On the other hand, Ciliated cells are hair like cells that help sweep mucus or dust to the throat.  Now what happens that virus has a lock and key effect. This particular virus has a fatty envelope containing a spike protein on the surface. This protein unlocks another protein (ACE2 ) that is present on the human cell. After this is unlocked, virus enters the human cell. When the virus enters in the cell, it will open up so that its DNA and RNA will come out and go straight to the nucleus. They will enter a molecule, which is like a factory, and make copies of the virus. Thee copies will come out of the nucleus to be assembled and receive protein, which protects their DNA and RNA. There it uses a second protei...

As India begins to open up after a prolonged lock down, it should understand that India's growth story is basically a consumption-based one. India has a multi-layered economy with the rural-urban economy on the one hand and the organized-unorganized one on the other. Hence, solutions should also be multi-layered and ones that can be linked into another solution best suited to the need of the Indian economy.  At now, there are two stories that we are hearing on India recently. first that if a vaccine or treatment is not developed soon, the number of Covid 19 cases will increase sharply and second is about pick up on economic activity following the relaxation of a nation-wide Covid induced lock down.      Many people have lost their jobs due to lock down and many have experienced salary cuts. This situation might lead to a structural change in the business  because we may face a situation where consumers start spending on essential items only. Besides, even the ma...

In recent years, there has been an increased realization that the tourism growth potential can be harnessed as a strategy for Rural Development. Rural tourism exhorts tourists to spend quality time in a nuanced by engaging them in different ethnic, indigenous and aesthetic practices in rural areas. The stresses generating from urban life, detachment and distance from urban life and natural environment occasionally provoke the urbanites to escape from their monoculture city life. In such case, rural locations seem to be an ideal place to release stress and peace for certain time.   With 70% population living in rural India, and about 6.5 million units spread across the country, India foresees itself as a strong platform for harnessing tourism. With increasing level of awareness, growing interest in heritage and culture, improved accessibility and environmental consciousness have shifted trends towards rural tourism. Besides culture and heritage, it will also generate employment...

The Aviation sector contributes significantly to the Indian economy. It provides the only worldwide rapid transportation network, which makes it essential for global business. It generates economic growth, crates jobs and facilitates international trade and tourism.     This industry including Airline and its supply chain, is estimated to contribute directly or indirectly of 72 Billion Dollars of GDP to India.  Aviation is among the worst effected sectors amidst the COVID 19 crisis that has taken the scale of a pandemic. In India, 29.32 lacs jobs in the Aviation sector are at risk. Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region may see the largest revenue drop and Indian aviation sector, among the Asia -Pacific countries will be worst hit by COVID 19 crisis.  Further, the periodic shutdown has eroded the capital of most airlines. The cost of maintaining aircraft on ground is extremely high, and with nil revenues, this is a sure-shot recipe of disaster. Airlines in India ar...

In 1947, India was not engaged in trade and had no external borrowing, so it was not possible for Rupee to be equal to Dollar. India had a very low growth of less than 1% at that time, so it was not possible for the INR to have the same value as equal to USD. Before the Dollar became the standard global currency, INR was measured against the British Pound.   In 1966, USD was equal to INR 4.76 and after devaluation when it was pegged to USD,  it was equal to INR 7.50. Devaluation happened because India was facing big financial crisis. This crisis effected the foreign currency reserves adversely and INR became unacceptable overseas.  India was unable to pay for imports and the option left was to borrow money from abroad.  There were several factors which contributed  to the depreciation of Indian rupee against the Dollar like the Capital flows, Crude oil prices, Govt. debt, Current account and balance of payments, Currency war, Dollar index, Inflation rate, P...

After India gained Independence in 1947 it basically had to rebuild its economy from scratch. The leaders of those times had to pick the type of economy India would be and also outline economic planning as well. This is where the five year plan was born. The concept of economic planning in India is derived from Russia (now USSR). Since 1951 to 2017 India has launched 12 five year plans.  From 1947 to 2017, Indian economy is committed to the concept of planning. This planning was carried through the Budget and five years plan developed, executed and monitored by Planning Commission (1951-2014) and Niti Aayog (2014 -2017).   It is due to the following basic facts about Indian economy, five year plans acquired more significance: 1. Country's savings were very low and could only be raised substantially if the Government follows totalitarian methods (form of Govt. which includes control of everything under one authority and allows no opposition). This is against the principles...

The Indian economy has had the distinction of being one of the fastest  growing economies in the world over the last three decades. Yet today, there is a sense of economic malaise in the air.  The young are feeling frustrated as there are too few god jobs on the horizon for them.   About half of the households of Indian population are living in rural areas and more than 70% of the household does not have means of assured income, work as agricultural laborers as they do not own any land and are poor. The Govt. of states and Union should stop pampering the employees employed by them for massive pay increases by periodic pay commissions and direct the money accrued out of austerity into capital infrastructure to provide viable employment like dairy, farming machinery and provide means of poverty alleviation by Aadhaar based direct transfer of funds and scrap the corrupt public distribution system.  As the Govt. run on public money, they have no mandate in running l...

Following are issues which highlight the major problems of Indian economy. 1. Low level of National Income and per Capita Income -      After 70 years after independence, India not only has a low per-capita income, but Indian economy also has great inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth. The logical corollary of this inequality is mass poverty.      2. Macro economic stability - The present Government has been putting efforts to maintain the fiscal moderation. India still runs a deficit of about 2% of GDP and successive governments have not done enough work to eliminate it. A top priority for credible macroeconomic performance will be to target a low current account deficit and a small but positive revenue surplus.     3. Predominance of  Agriculture - Less developed countries live mainly upon Agriculture, and extractive industries e.g. mining, fisheries, forests etc. Occupational structure give a view of pre-dominance of ...

A number of studies and reports exist on bank frauds. There appears to be no positive effect on Indian economy from the Bank scams. A brief of view of, how such scams damage the economy and steps taken to manage it effectively to improve upon the system are as follows -         Post liberalization period, Indian economy has witnessed several scams. These scams have just not led to the loss of millions of Rupees but also effected the economy in a major way. The scale of these economic crimes and the way in which these crimes have been committed are of a serious concern to the Government and to people as well.       Financial or Banking scams have never been a rare phenomenon in economy of any country. However, India has witnessed a plethora of these unwanted aliens over the past 3-4 decades. Economic offenders by engaging in various illegal trade practices and by way of scams have swindled off billions of money and have exploited all areas of ...

Demonetization has been implemented thrice in India - in 1946, 1978 and in 2016.  In 1946, the currency note of Rs.1,000/- and Rs.10,000/-were removed from circulation.The ban did not have much impact, as the currency of higher denomination was not accessible to common people. However, both the notes were reintroduced in 1954 with an additional  introduction of Rs.5,000/- currency. The second currency ban came in 1978 when currencies of  Rs.1,000, Rs.5,000/- and Rs.10,000/- were taken out of circulation. The sole aim was to curb black money generation in the country. It didn't have much effect on the people and effected only the privilege few while the ban in 2016 has shaken the whole country.  In 2016, the objectives and the outcomes of the Demonetization were:     -To plug financing of Terrorists.    -To help unearth black money - will expand the fiscal space of the Government.    -To help reduce interest rates in the banking syst...

India has long taken efforts to expand credit availability to rural areas. Early programs yielded disappointed results, were gradually replaced by efforts to establish Self - Help groups (SHGs) and link them to banks. This approach differs from traditional micro finance in a number of ways. SHG is a brain child of Gramin Bank of Bangladesh founded in 1975 who tried a new approach to rural credit in Bangladesh.   In 1991-92, NABARD started promoting self-help groups on a large scale marking the real take-off point for the SHG movement. In 1993, Reserve Bank of India also allowed the SHGs to open savings accounts in banks. his facility of availing bank service was a major boost to the movement.  SHGs  (Self Help Groups) is a financial intermediary usually consisting of 10 to 20 local men or women in between 18 to 40 years of age. It provides and growth and helps the resurgence of weaker section of the society in terms of outreach, social position and sustainability....

The Rigveda (one of the oldest known four sacred Vedic Sanskrit text) describes the war drum as the fist of Indra (king of Gods in Hindu mythology). Among ancient war drums that can be mentioned, junjung (a royal war drum) of the Serer people ( a west African group) in Senegal and Gambia - Played on the way to battlefield, on special state occasions as well as Serer religious ceremonies.   Drum is one of the oldest instruments invented by mankind. The first are believed to have originated in China around 6000 BC. They were often used for rituals and to direct the spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world for healing or some other purposes. These ancient drums were made of alligator hides and wood or clay. The first drumsticks were sticks and bones. Soon animal skins were stretched over bowls to create a booming sound. Thereafter, drums started to pop up in Egypt, Peru, Israel and Mesopotamia. By the 2nd century BC, African drums had made their way into Rome and Gre...

During the pre -British period, the problem of stagnation, poverty and backwardness of Indian economy was not so acute. With the advent of British in India, the economic structure in India had to face a lot of change. During the first period of 100 years i.e. from 1757 to 1857, British looted huge amounts of resources from India. Cottage industries were totally destroyed due to the colonial strategy followed by the British rulers. The gradual disappearance of Indian rulers and their courts who were the main customers of Handicrafts produced also gave a big jolt to these industries.       British did not permit to modernize the industrial sector during 18th and 19th century. Indian economy was turned into importer of British manufactured goods and exporter of tea, coffee, oil seeds, foodstuffs and other industrial raw materials which were considered essential for running British industries in England.    The huge amount of drain of capital assets started aft...

Gold is among the three primary imports in India which are Crude oil, cooking oil and Gold of which the first two are vital necessities. There are small things the Government can do to decrease the damage dealt by the massive amounts of gold being imported. As a commodity, gold does not add any real value to the productive capacity of the economy. The fluctuations in the economy affects the gold prices in India. The price of gold was seen to reflect the monetary inflation. Rising inflation often coincides with a booming economy. Rise in gold prices can be attributed to the booming economy.   India's gold market is driven primarily by consumption and fabrication of the yellow metal.  Both have a significant effect in terms of economic value employment, contribution of foreign exchange earnings, and the trade balance.    Most of the gold purchased in India is stashed away in lockers, safe boxes or gets converted into jewellery. Those who hold gold are just waiting...

The great contraction of Indian economy would effect all products and services which are not essential for a living. Government revenues would decline because of lower consumption and resultant lower profits. It would set the economy back by 28 months - country has never seen such unprecedented happening in its recent history. There are two fears which caused the fall in demand - fear of coronavirus infection and the fear of future financial security. With no surety for their job or salary, people have stopped spending on non-essential products, affecting the country's industrial activity. This is where the Govt. should step in, not merely by giving sermons but by releasing its dues to the private sector and by increasing spending on big infrastructure projects.  While the Govt. has been hesitant about deficit financing option, there appears to be no option other than this. The dipping into cash reserves of PSUs by the State Governments to bail them out, may not be available this y...