Knowledge in Development

What Is a Business Cycle?

What Is a Business Cycle?

Public Goods and Indian National Library

Public Goods and their Economical Impact with reference to National Library of India

Indian Economic Growth

Indian Economic Growth India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world as per the Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and it is expected to be one of the top three economic powers of the world over the next 10-15 years, backed by its strong democracy and partnerships. A country seeks to achieve economic growth mainly for improving the standards of living of its people. If the rate of economic growth exceeds the rate of population growth, there is likely to be an improvement in the standard of living for the average person. Although India’s overall economy is very strong because of the huge population, the living standard is below the margin level. As per United Nations, India’s HDI ranking stands at the 131st position among 188 countries. As the majority of the population in India lives in a rural area, the overall economic growth depends on the cultivation. To uplift the Indian Economy, Union Budget for 2018-19 focused on the rural economy and strengthening of the agriculture sector, healthcare for the economically less privileged, infrastructure creation and improvement in the quality of education of the country. There are three major sources of growth, i.e., the growth of the labor force, capital formation and technological progress. India is expected to be the third largest consumer economy as its consumption may triple to US$ 4 trillion by 2025, owing to shift in consumer behaviour and expenditure pattern, according to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report; and is estimated to surpass USA to become the second largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) by the year 2040, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA

UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA Even though India is seen as a fast growing, largest democracy and one of the most economically strong nations of South East Asia, there are reasons that have led to a sluggish growth in the employment rates of the country.  Even though the govt has come up with numerous acts in the past that gave people of the rural area a chance to get employed and earn a living, neither were all the people covered under such acts, nor did the government provide any qualitative work.  Our economy is largely dependent on agriculture, however it remains a seasonal job. Also, many agriculturalists that are still not exposed to the modern techniques on farming rely ion monsoon and often have their crops destroyed.  Another huge problem arises when women are still not allowed to leave the doorsteps of their houses and go out to work in order to earn their bread. Many are not allowed secondary or higher education, others, belonging to the most affluent families are not allowed to wo0rk as it might hamper their family reputation in the society. Well, this also implies that women with higher professional qualification are at times sitting at home.  Our population has always been a hindrance for us. Moving away from the rural area, and peeping into the urban culture of the metropolitan cities makes us realise that even students from the best B schools or medical colleges are not placed or are not employed because of the large number of students and the immense competition. Even though it is an asset but leads to people being unemployed at times ! I believe globalisation has opened numerous opportunities for our economy, atleast as far as the urban sector is concerned. With new companies entering our boundaries everyday, government undertaking new infrastructural projects, thousands of options are provided to the youth. Also, in the recent years govt has started providing funds for the start up initiatives as well for the budding entrepreneurs.

IS INDIA READY FOR A CASHLESS ECONOMY ?

One question that faces our economy today is, if we are prepared for the transformation to a completely cashless economy. IS INDIA READY FOR A CASHLESS ECONOMY ? Firstly, what exactly do we mean by a cashless economy? An economy where we do not use the traditional methods of making payments with the help of notes and coins , and rely completely on the digital platform for all transactions, big or small. Demonetisation had initially given way to this. The benefits of such an economy are as follows  Cost reduction- Cost needed to store the cash or even transport it.  Check on black money-Since all the transactions are digitalised, we can keep a track on all of them, we can check where the money came from and where it went, with no anonymity of identity, as is prevalent in the traditional method of payment.  Risk free- It is a hassle free task to directly make payment with the phone, transfer money to other person’s account, get money from them etc.  Given way to many new companies-We all know how Paytm had rose to importance right after demonetisation. It is today standing as the top most player in the UPI area, other players being PhonePe, BHIM etc. However, given all these benefits, there is still a lot of scepticism around the fact if India is fully prepared for such a transformation.  The reality pf the matter is that the majority of the population still resides in the rural sector and hence it is alien for them to ditch the traditional method and adopt a digital platform for their transactions. Even in the urban households, most of our domestic workers do have a smartphone today but would not accept a salary transfer vis Paytm. These things have to be considered.  A large portion of the urban sector also fears using computers or mobile phones for fund transfers or transactions, especially when the amount involved is large .  This fear is escalated with the news of scanning, theft, cloning e6tc coming in on a daily basis, preventing people from using this medium on a 100% basis.  We cant let go of the reality that many top notched people in the cou8b6try, employed in different sectors are often involved in illegal activities or under the table practices that cannot take place if our physical money is completely replaced by a digital medium of payment. This was also one of the major reasons why demonetisation as introduced. Hence, eve though a cashless economy is the mist appropriate future for our country and also being accepted slowly but surely , however it is difficult to say if we are at a position where we can educate and ensure our citizens enough, to let go of the traditional mode of payment altogether.

Ecommerce Boom Is Here To Stay

Ecommerce is when you use an electronic medium to exchange goods and services. Though it wasn't welcomed initially by everybody, today almost all the urban households have made purchases from popular sites like Amazon,Flipkart among many others. We Indians are price sensitive, but demand at par quality even at the smallest of price! Also, we take time to build our trust, especially trust over a medium where we hardly have any interaction with humans. Hence, initially only low cost purchases took place over these sites, however, the scenario today is such that right from our household groceries, to medicines, kitchenware,cosmetics, make up and even gadgets and cars are pourchased onlne. And why not ? With the multiple discounts,bonus offers, membership proiviledges, ease of doing business and most importantly, gauranteed return and exchange offers have helped gain our trust, and we are exposed to hundreds of items sitting in the comfort of our homes. IS IT HAMPERING OUR HEALTH Why not? It has made life convenient, and us lazy! With the advent of applications where you can get information about multiple restaurants to choose from, with heavy discounts, you neither want to cook nor you would like to step outside. It is in such a scenario that these apps like Zomato and Swiggy among many others are gaining popularity. Why would we want to hinder our comfiortable lives when we can have a cab at our doorstep whenver we want to travel? Such is the luxury offred by Uber,Ola etc. Hence, we clearly observe that for ever need opf ours, e commerce tool has come up with a solution through its successfully placed business model. It has gained our trust and made our lives esaier and interesting, with the options that they offer  This booming industry is looking for ways to expand, with many of them selling their private label brands successfully, many venturing into contebt for our audience (Amazon Prime) etc. Fresh items are placed on Grofers weekly and Uber is now competing with Swiggy and Zomato through its UberEats chain! These businesses have successfully got hold of the gaps in the market and converted them into opportunities for themselves! But surely this was a classic case where demand is actually created.

IT and its role in India's economic development

Know about the importance of IT services in India.

5G TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA BY 2022

5G Techology is said to reach India by 2022. We would be following the model adapted by South Korea, China etc Find the clip attached for an insight 

GOVT'S RECENT TAKE WITH ECOMMERCE

The govt has undertaken this move to help the local players, and to standardise procedures. We are eagerly waiting to wtness its impacts.

CITIES BECOME CLIMATE RESILIENT

Cities have now started initiaring measures in order to balance its baturnal resources and clean its climate and environment.