In July
1999, the government of India introduced a new industrial policy,
Liberalization Privatization and Globalization (LPG) as a pert of the economic
reform. It focused on liberating the industry from the licensing system(liberalization),
reducing the role of public sector in the economy and introducing private
sector(privatization) and encouraging the foreign-private participation in the
country for the growth of the economy(globalization).

The main
objective of this policy was to increase the standard of living in the nation
and growth of the economy. Also, the nation needed to be strongly independent
and not making money from other countries. Therefore, the focus was to set-up
strong industrial bases which had heavy industries.

Since,
poverty, unemployment and inequalities in income and wealth was and still is a
major problem in the nation, another goal was to reduce them by giving
employment opportunities to as much of the population as possible so that their
living standard could be raised.

Under this
policy, many industries which were reserved under the public sector was
de-reserved by the government since the focus was supposed to be on the private
sector. In many cases, disinvestment was also taking place.

The policy
opened up the opportunities for foreign capital investment. This increased the
foreign participation percentage in the country and in a lot of cases, a 100%
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was also permitted.

This
automatically granted the permission by the government required for technology
agreements with the foreign companies investing in our nation. A board namely
Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was set-up for the promotion as well
channelization of foreign investment.

Economic
policies by the government like fiscal and monetary policies, infrastructural
factors, economic growth of the country, the mixed economy of the nation that
allows to recognize both public and private sectors are some of the factors
responsible for the new policy LPG.

 

LIBERALIZATION

It means
freeing the businesses and industries in the nation from unnecessary controls
and regulations. This was done through the following processes –

·       Abolishing the requirement of license
in majority of the industries

·       Removing the restrictions on the
movement of goods

·       Reducing the tax rates

·       Lifting up of unnecessary control
over the economy

·       Simplifying the procedure of
international trade

·       Making the foreign companies invest
in our country

 

PRIVATIZATION

It basically
means reducing the role f public sector in the economy and giving that power to
the private sector instead. In order to execute, a lot of public sector
enterprises were transferred to the private sector. This is called
disinvestment. As a result, the government held less power and control over the
public enterprises. If the government will not have more than 51% ownership of
the public enterprises, then its rights an ownership will automatically be
given to the private sector.

 

GLOBALIZATION

This means
the adaptation of various successful policies around the world and integrating
them towards the emergence of a global economy. Till 1999, the government
followed the old policy of strict and attentive international trade due to the
fear being captured again. This policy was to be changed. This was necessary so
that the country won’t be secluded. It needed a great level of international
socialization and interaction. A global economy will be boundary less with the
following characteristics  –

·       Free flow of imports and exports

·       Free flow of capital

·       Free flow of information and
technology

·       Free movement of citizens across
borders

 

 

 There are
two aspects on which the whole market functions – demand and supply. These are
inter-dependent and without the existence of even one of these, the market
would collapse. So, what is market? Market is basically a region or area where
the byers and sellers come in contact which each other in an effort to make a
sale or a purchase. But there isn’t only one form market where this process
takes place. A market has various forms with a variety of different functions.
Different commodities are served under different types of market. Let’s have a
look at few of them.

 

PERFECT
MARKET

This is the
type of market that doesn’t really exist in reality. A situation where there is
a very large number of buyers and sellers dealing in homogenous products whose
prices are fixed by the market. Because it is quite difficult to sell a product
at a fixed rate throughout its sales because of numerous sellers available,
this market is very rare, but the closest example could be the agricultural
grains offered in the market like wheat and rice.

One
important fact is that only homogenous product exists in this market. This
means that only those products that are similar in nature will be available
here so that the demand and supply fluctuates leading to a constant change in prices.

 

IMPERFECT
MARKET

 

MONOPOLY

This is a
market where only a single seller exists and there is no other competition
because his product doesn’t have any other substitutes. The word ‘monopoly’ is
derived from the Greek word ‘monos’ meaning single and ‘polus’ meaning seller.
A perfect example for this would be the railways in India. There is only
one platform in India that sells tickets for train travels and that is the
IRCTC. It doesn’t have any other competition because there is no other
substitute available for this.

Also, there
are some strong barriers that are made up in this market for a new firm to
enter. This gives the existing firm even more power and therefore, they are the
only ones who get to decide the prices of the commodities. Now because there is
no other substitute, the consumer will have to purchase the commodity at
whatever price it is available.

 

MONOPOLISTIC

This one is
kind of a mixture of both the above markets. This is a market where there are
large number of firms available who sell products that are closely related but
not exactly the same. Basically, it is the type of market we witness every day.

For example,
soap, toothpaste, shampoo and more. These are the type of products that do have
substitutes, but they are not the same due to the brand.

So, this
market is both perfect market and monopoly market. Here is how. Let’s talk
about toothpaste. There are loads of brands available in the market for this
like Pepsodent, Colgate, Sensodyne etc.. this shows that this market has the
freedom of entry and is full of competition. On the other hand, each product is
different. Even though they are all toothpastes, they are differentiated on the
basis of their brands and their functions.

 

OLIGOPOLY

Now this is
a market that has a few big sellers who sell homogenous as well as
differentiated products. This market is a mix of monopolistic and monopoly. The
word ‘oligopoly’ was derived from the Greek words ‘oligi’ meaning few and
‘polein’ meaning sell. In India, one of the biggest examples of such market
is automobiles industry. There are various big brands available in the market
who are all selling cars but with different features. Also, these brands are
inter-dependent which means that a change in the price of one firm will lead to
a change in the price of another.

For
instance, if Honda reduces its price by 2% then Maruti will have to reduce its
prices as well since the consumers will be more inclined towards Honda if they
don’t.

Also, since
it is a market of big sellers, there barriers over here as well for a new firm
to enter. The competition would be extremely high.

 

 

By – Supriya

According to a recent ILO report, about 80% child labourers in india, and are employed in the agriculture sector. The children are generally sold to the rich moneylenders to whom borrowed money cannot be returned. More than 60,000 children work in extremely inhospitable conditions in the glass and bangle industry under conditions of excessive heat. Almost 4,20,000 children are employed in the carpet industry of India, and than 70,000 work in match-box factories.

Elimination of child labour is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges facing our country. Various articles of the Constitution prohibit the employment of children in factories . Under Article 24, it has been stated that no child below the age of 14 shall be employed in any factory or mine or any other hazardous occupation or work. Similarly, Article 31 provides that the state shall ensure that adolescent children are not forced to accept an employment detrimental to their age and physical ability owing to economic compulsions. Children should be provided opportunities to develop in a healthy manner and in a free and respectful environment in which they are protected against exploitation of their childhood and adolescence. Under the schedules of the Child Labour ( Prohibition and Regulation) Act,1986, employment of children is prohibited in 12 occupations and 51 hazardous processes. The Government of India formulated the National Child Labour Policy in 1987 to tackle this problem . It aims at rehabilitation of child labour, implementation of the National Child Labour Projects, grants-in-aid to the voluntary agencies and promoting international programmes for the elimination of Child Labour. For the rehabilitation of working children, special schools and rehabilitation centres have been established where there is a provision of informal education , vocational training and nutrition for the children relieved from work.

Thankyou!

 What is one
of the most important factors that needs to be done correctly for an
organization to grow when their product is of good quality and have an
affordable price? It’s promotion. The organization needs to ensure that they
are promoting themselves properly to wide range of the population so that more
people can know about them and their business can grow.

Promotion is
basically communicating with your customers or prospective customers with aim
of informing them about your product and persuading them to make an immediate
purchase. In this, you will have to describe your product’s features,
availability, use and more important things that will earn you brownie points
and make the customer buy it.

There are
different ways of promoting yourself and one can use a combination of such ways
to grow their business. Let’s have a look at these tools.

 

1.ADVERTISING

It is the
most commonly used tools of promotion. Does not need any explanation as we come
across a hundred of ads every day.

In a formal
language, advertising is any paid form of presentation or promotion of the
product by the marketer. It includes the provision of the information about the
product in detail so that the buyer would take an action in favor of the
marketer.

The most
commonly used modes by the companies to advertise themselves have been
televisions, newspapers, magazines and radios. Although, since the past few
years, digital marketing has also been gaining attention impressively. More and
more people are opting for this method as it is easier and more affordable to
use. Plus, it reaches out to more masses considering the whole world is
connected online now due to the pandemic.

It can be
very surely said that advertisement plays a major role in the success of a
business.

 

2.PERSONAL
SELLING

It is
usually the oral presentation of the product to one or more consumers with the
aim of making them buy it. For this method, a salesperson is appointed by the
company who goes from door to door of the customers to explain them about the product
make a sale. It is generally more time taking and costlier than advertising.
Also, it is not possible for a human to go around in every corner of the nation
to promote the product therefore, the mass reach is very low here. One plus
point though, in personal selling, the seller gets an immediate and clear
feedback from the customer which may not be possible in the case of advertisement.

 

3.SALES
PROMOTION

These are
basically the short-term schemes initiated by the company to attract more
customers and make them buy the product. All promotional efforts other than
advertising and personal selling comes under this. Some of these techniques may
include free shipping or free return of the product, any giveaways,
competitions with rewards, flash sale of 60-80% off and lot more. These type
incentives attract a large number of people which increases the customer base.

 

4.PUBLIC
RELATIONS

These mean
the programs organized by a company to protect the image of their product or
themselves, for that matter, in the eye of the public. The business needs to
communicate with its buyers, investors and suppliers since they play a major
role in increasing the sales and profit of the company. Therefore, they need to
have a good public image constantly so that these people would be loyal to
them. A bad image may harm the reputation of the company and eventually people
would start to back-off from them since they do not want to be in touch with a
unsavoury reputed company.

 

 The problem
of unemployment is a serious problem which if not cured, leads to poverty. In
India, this problem is a quite major one. Currently, a whole of 13.3% of the
Indian population is unemployed. Basically, it is a situation where people are
willing and able to work but are not getting any jobs due to many reasons.
These people include only those who are above the age of 18 years because of
the child labor law in India. There are various reasons for this situation to
arise. Let’s discuss them.

 

1.SLOW
ECONOMIC GROWTH

The actual
rate of growth of the Indian economy is always far behind the rate that has
been planned in the five-year plans. This has been observed since the past five
decades. Due to this, there are low employment opportunities available and
hence, a majority of people are left unemployed. The generation of these
opportunities could not keep up with the increasing labor force.

 

2.POPULATION
EXPLOSION

The rapid
growth of the population is another prime reason why unemployment is growing.
The human capital in the country is increasing rapidly but the employment
opportunities is not growing enough. This leads to a lot of people being
jobless.

 

3.UNDERDEVELOPED
AGRICULTURE

The antique
methods of technology used for agriculture is also responsible for unemployment
or underemployment because the population is growing more than the
opportunities available.

 

4.FAULTY
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

The
education system in India right now is still full of defects as it does not
provide the students with any transformational technical and vocational
education. As a result, most of the students are not qualified enough or does
not possess the required education skills for many jobs. This again leaves a
lot of them unemployed.

 

5.SLOW
GROWTH OF INDUSTRY

There is a
massive shortage of capital and technology that restricts the industries from
growing and developing. This is why they are not able to create more employment
opportunities in the country. It is only possible for them to increase this
opportunity percentage if their own industry will shine bright since they
require more employees. For this, advanced technology is required which is
unavailable.

 

6.REDUCTION
OF SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRIES

Over the
past few years, a large number of small-scale industries in the villages have
declined. This is due to the change in taste of the consumers. With the
availability of new technology, people have started shifting their choices from
traditional products to modern products. This led to the shutting of these
small-scale industries due to the lack of demand. As a result, not only people
have less employment opportunities but those who did have a job also lost it
and became unemployed.

 

7.DEFECTIVE
PLANNING

The plans
formed by the government did not stop the migration of rural population to the
urban population and have also failed to encourage labor intensive technology
in the agriculture and industrial sector and as a result, in the rural areas
there is less employment opportunities considering everyone tends to move to
the urban areas.

 

8.LOW
CAPITAL

There is a
considerably low growth rate of capital in the country in both the agricultural
and the industrial sector and therefore, the employment opportunities is less
since these sectors are not able to grow as much as they should.

 

The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the world’s oldest civilization.It is popularly known as Harappan Civilization because the first territory to be carved was ‘Harappa’ in the year 1921 under the oversight of Daya Ram Sahni.

The extent of this civilization:

• In the west is up to Sutkagendor in Baluchistan ( now it is a part of Pakistan ).

• Alamgirpur ( Uttar Pradesh ) in the East.

• Daimabad ( Maharashtra ) in south.

• & Manda ( J & K ) in the north.

This Civilization refer to Bronze Age/ Chatholic Age. Thus, it is also called Bronze Age Civilization.

Some General Facts About Sites located in this Civilization

1.Harappa

• It had working floors consisting of rows of circular brick platforms which were meant for threshing grain have been found here.
• Six granaries and sixteen Agnikundas ( firepits ) have been found here.
• People here knew the process of making tarcoal.
• Main gate for the entry in the houses of Harappa was in the North Direction.

2.Mohenjodaro

• Mohenjodaro was discovered in 1992 under the supervision of R.D.Bannerji

• The literal definition of Mohenjodaro in Sindhi language is “Mound of the Dead”.

• There found some evidences that shows how properly assembled were the halls,kitchen, & courtyard were.
• Seven layers of Mohenjodaro city directs that the city was destroyed and rebuilt seven times.3.

3.Lothal

• A dockyard have been found at Lothal.
• In 1957, Lothal was found by S.R.Rao in Gulf of Cambay Gujarat.
• Red & Black clay pots, copper tools, brick built tank like structure,a bead making factory & a seal from Iran have been discovered at Lothal.
• Also some liner scale of bronze have been found here.

Besides locales of this civilization there are some more amazing facts such as :

1.Town Planning : It was one of the most distinguishable feature of this civilization.Hence ,this civilization also known as first Urbanization.

2.Economy : Agriculture & Animal husbandry were popular since that age.They used to grow crops like wheat,barley,cotton,mustard. Harappan domesticated sheep,goat,buffalo & pig.They also knew about Tiger,camel,elephant various birds etc however they were unaware of lions.

3.Crafts :The Harappa culture belongs to the Bronze Age,as the people were very well acquainted with the manufacture and use bronze.The weavers also used to wove clothes of wool and cotton.Remains suggests that pottery was also done by people of this civilization. Some Seal were also found. However they were not aware of Iron.

4.Trade: Land and sea trade was in vogue.The most prominent trading partner was Mesopotamia.The mesopotamia inscription refer to trade relation with Meluha which was the ancient name given to Indus Region.

5.Religion: Pashupati seal has been found from Mohejodaro in which a Yogi figure has been depicted.The yogi on the seal is surrounded by buffalo,tiger,elephant,rhinoceros and dear.Hence the Yogi is said to be proto-Shiva.Harappans also worshipped Mother Goddess.

6.Script of Harappa: The Harappas knew the art of writing.There are nearly 4,000 specimens of Harappan writing on stone seals and other objects. Harappan Script is not alphabetical but mainly pictographic.

7.Decline of Harappan Civilization: There are several view points of the different historians on the decline of the Harappan Civilization.According to Wheeler Aryan attack was the cause of decline of Harappan Civilization & as per G.F.Dales and Marshal,Aryans were not responsible for the decline of this civilization.Also James Marshall stated that natural calamities were responsible for the decline of Harappan civilization.