Tag: India

NATIONAL mean a person owing allegiance to and entitled to the protection of a sovereign state. CITIZEN is preferred for one owing allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and sharing in the political rights of those people.  the rights of a free citizen SUBJECT implies allegiance to a personal sovereign such as a monarch.  the king’s subjects NATIONAL designates one who may claim the protection of a state and applies especially to one living or traveling outside that state.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

“Sanitation should not be seen as a political tool, but should only be connected to patriotism commitment to public health.” – Narendra Modi

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign, launched on 2 October 2014 on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by our P.M. Narendra Modi aimed to reduce open defecation and improve the management of municipal solid waste in both urban and rural areas.

He also flagged off a walkathon at Rajpath and surprised people by joining in not just for a token few steps, but marching with the participants for a long way. With the view to fulfil the dream of hygienic India, he took the broom cleaning dirt and making the cleanliness drive successful.

Many parts of India celebrated the day by hosting speeches informing about the mission, cleaning seaside waste in groups, doing marches with slogans such as ‘Na gandagi karenge, Na karne denge.’, swaach bharat swasth bharat. This is seen as a major step contributing to understanding the significance of sanitation and health. A sense of responsibility has been evoked among the people through the Clean India Movement.

It aims to provide every rural family with a toilet by 2019. It helps to maintain the GDP growth improving the economic conditions. The major slogan of One step towards cleanliness was adopted. One individual could take his responsibility to take care of cleanliness around his residence or area can prove to be helpful.

To promote the idea the Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya campaign was launched by the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India by participating in the cleanliness drive along with the school’s teachers and students.

The idea is propagated in universities and colleges on large scale.

Keep your earth clean and green as cleanliness is next to godliness!

The Power Sector of India

Following the independence of India in 1947 the decades of economic planning placed significant emphasis on the development of the power sector in the country. India has the fifth largest generation capacity in the world with an installed capacity of 152 GW as on 30 September 2009, which is about 4 percent of global power generation. The top four countries, viz., the US, Japan, China and Russia together consume about 49 percent of the total power generated globally.  

The average per capita consumption of electricity in India is estimated to be 704kWh during 2008-09. However, this is fairly low when compared to that of some of the developed and emerging nations such as the US (~15,000 kWh) and China (~1,800 kWh). The world average stands at 2,300 kWh2. The Indian government has set ambitious goals in the 11th five-year plan for power sector owing to which it is poised for significant expansion. Electricity generation capacity with utilities in India had grown from 1713 MW in December 1950 to over 124,287 MW by March 2006 (CEA, 2006a). However, per capita electricity consumption remains much lower than the world average and even lower than some of the developing Asian economies. Total installed capacity for power in India as on 31.12.06 was 127,753 MW and Government of India plans to add capacity of 100,000 MW by 2012.   

India had been traditionally depending on thermal power as a major source of power generation, which constitutes about 65% of current capacity. Balance is contributed by Hydel power (26%), Nuclear (3 %) and Renewable energy (6%). Some of the major sectors of power generation are :

Coal : At 51%, Coal is the single-largest source of energy at the disposal of the power sector. By 2011– 12, demand for coal is expected to increase to 730 MMT p.a., creating a supply shortage of over 50 MMT. India has the fourth largest proven coal reserves in the world, pegged at 96 billion tones, creating an investment opportunity of USD 10 – 15 billion over the next 5 years.   

Oil : The demand for oil which is currently the second most important source of energy – is expected to grow from 119 MTOE in 2004 to 250 MTOE in 2025 at an annual growth rate of 3.6%. However, domestic production for the corresponding period is expected to increase at approximately 2.6% only. As a result, our reliance on oil imports is likely to increase from its present level of 72% to 90% by 2025. To combat this issue, the government has opened up the domestic oil sector for private participation under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Under the competitive bidding process prescribed under the NELP, investment commitments of USD 8 billion towards oil exploration projects have already been received.   

Natural Gas : India has vast reserves of natural gas. More than 700 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been discovered in the last decade alone. Demand for Natural Gas is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% over the next 5 years to reach 279 MMSCMD by 2012. It is mainly because of three reasons: Rising popularity of compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative source of automotive fuel; increased penetration through availability of “piped gas” at residences; and imminent depletion of traditional energy sources such as coal and oil.  

Hydro Power : With its intricate network of rivers, substantial opportunities for generation of hydro-power exist in India. Only 22% of the 150 GW hydroelectric potential in the country has been harnessed so far. Private participation will play a key role in meeting the target requirement of an additional 45 GW over the next 10 years.  

Wind Energy : India is the 4th largest country in the world in terms of installed wind energy. India’s potential of wind power is pegged at 45,000 MW while its current capacity stands at only 7,660MW. Tax incentives, including availability of accelerated depreciation @ 80% under WDV method on cost incurred on setting up of wind turbine generators have resulted in significant private investment in this area  

Solar Energy : Despite the prevalence of an inherent advantage in the form of solar insulation, the potential for solar energy is virtually untapped in India. India’s installed solar – based capacity stands at a mere 100MW compared to its present potential of 50,000MW. Based on the substantial investment opportunities that exist in this sector, it is estimated that by 2031–32, solar power would be the single largest source of energy, contributing 1,200 MTOE i.e. more than 30% of our total expected requirements.   

Nuclear Energy : By 2032, the government plans to raise the contribution of nuclear energy from the current level of less than 3% to around 10% of the country’s installed capacity. The signing of the Indo-US nuclear deal has created significant opportunities for several players across the entire power supply chain, with an estimated investment opportunity of USD 10 billion over the next five years.   

Further, India has among the world’s largest reserves of alternative nuclear fuel – thorium. Accordingly, substantial investment opportunities are also likely to arise once commercial production based on thorium becomes feasible. Over 87% of the current installed capacity in the country is by the government; with the state governments having lion’s share of over 52% and the balance by central (federal) government. Due to the initiative of government of India to encourage Public Private Partnerships in power sector, share of private companies’ power generation capacity has gone up to steadily to 17,112.62 MW, about 13 % of the installed capacity.

With Government of India opening up Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) for private investments, a number of private companies, including overseas companies, have been increasingly showing interest in investing in power projects.   State-owned Power Finance Corporation, which is the nodal agency for the UMPP, has set up nine Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to conduct preliminary studies and obtain government approval for the planned projects. Once these SPVs will become operational it will generate a capacity of 36,000 MW power. Renewable energy offers a huge potential as a physical target of 15,000 MW with an outlay of Rs.39, 250 million is proposed for grid interactive / distributed renewable power generation during 2007-12. The total investment required would be about Rs. 600 billion.  

In the Constitution of India “Electricity” is a subject that falls within the concurrent jurisdiction of the Centre and the States. The Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, provides an elaborate institutional frame work and financing norms of the performance of the electricity industry in the country. The Act envisaged creation of State Electricity Boards (SEBs) for planning and implementing the power development programmes in their respective States.   

The Act also provided for creation of central generation companies for setting up and operating generating facilities in the Central Sector. The Central Electricity Authority constituted under the Act is responsible for power planning at the national level. In addition the Electricity (Supply) Act also allowed from the beginning the private licensees to distribute and/or generate electricity in the specified areas designated by the concerned State Government/SEB. During the post independence period, most of the States have established State Electricity Boards. In some of these States separate corporations have also been established to install and operate generation facilities. In the rest of the smaller States and UTs the power systems are managed and operated by the respective electricity departments. In a few States private licenses are also operating in certain urban areas.  

It is evident that the deficit in power availability in India is a significant impediment to the smooth development of the economy. In this context, bridging the gap in demand and supply has become critical and consequently, large projects are being undertaken in different segments of the sector i.e. 

  • Generation : In order to provide availability of over 1000 units of per capita electricity by year 2012, it has been estimated that need-based capacity addition of more than 100,000 MW would be required.
  • Transmission : The current installed transmission capacity is only 13 percent of the total installed generation capacity. With focus on increasing generation capacity over the next 8-10years, the corresponding investments in the transmission sector is also expected to augment. The Ministry of Power plans to establish an integrated National Power Grid in the country by 2012 with close to 200,000 MW generation capacities and 37,700 MW of inter-regional power transfer capacity. 
  • Distribution : While some progress has been made at reducing the Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses, these still remain substantially higher than the global benchmarks, at approximately 33 percent. In order to address some of the issues in this segment, reforms have been undertaken through unbundling the State Electricity Boards into separate Generation, Transmission and Distribution units and privatization of power distribution has been initiated either through the outright privatization or the franchisee route; results of these initiatives have been somewhat mixed. 

While there has been a slow and gradual improvement in metering, billing and collection efficiency, the current loss levels still pose a significant challenge for distribution companies going forward. The story remains pretty much the same in power transmission and distribution space. The central and the state utilities own nearly 40 percent and 60 percent, respectively of the total transmission lines of 2.7 million circuit kilometers (ckm). Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), the central transmission utility (CTU), is the largest transmission company in India. Similarly, in distribution, the SEBs own nearly 95 percent of the distribution network.  

However, there are some challenges facing the Indian power sector which is expected to grow at 10 per cent but is currently going through a critical phase as the existing capacity is ageing very fast. The most important cause of the problems being faced in the power sector is the irrational and not remunerative tariff structure. Although the tariff is fixed and realized by SEBs, the State Governments have constantly interfered in tariff setting without subsidizing SEBs for the losses arising out of State Governments desire to provide power at concessional rates to certain sectors, especially agriculture.

If the SEBs were to continue to operate on the same lines, their internal resources generation during the next ten years will be negative, being of the order of Rs.(-) 77,000 crore. This raises serious doubts about the ability of the States to contribute their share to capacity addition during the Ninth Plan and thereafter. This highlights the importance of initiating power sector reforms at the earliest and the need for tariff rationalization.   

The power sector was predominantly dominated by the thermal power plants, whose share was expected to rise up to 75 per cent from the current 64 per cent in the coming years. But after 2013, there might be some shortage due to capacity addition. As India has not witnessed such a large scale of implementation before, there is a need to review and enhance project execution capabilities to help ensure targets are met.   

This strongly necessitates employing a comprehensive project management structure to address the major challenges of the power sector projects and to be able to deliver them as per the planned targets. Historical records also indicate the presence of a weak project management structure which does not assess all the key project aspects.

MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE PART II

The next ruler to be in power after Babur was his son Humayun ( 1530-1540). He does not lay much effect on architecture as he had to stay in conflicts with Rajputs, afghans, for a long time. He tries to build Dinpanah city in Delhi, started to build but remains incomplete due to fighting with Sher Shah Suri where he got defeated.

Sher Shah Suri comes in power on 1540-1555. Qila-e-Quhunah, a mosque in Delhi s built by him. Rohtlas fort in Pakistan is a popular UNESCO world heritage site constructed during his period. Sher Shah Suri Masjid in Patna is a famous afghan style monument built with no Minars.  Sadak-e-Azam is popularly known as the Grand Trunk road is completed by him. A unique feature about the roads are the rest houses called, SARAIS were built between the roads for leisure activities.

Akbar took a keen interest in the development of art and architecture during his reign using red sandstone and marble. He introduced the use of Tudor architecture (four-centered style). Some prominent construction works undertaken by him were:  Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Humayun’s tomb, Hiran Minar, etc.

Agra Fort – built by Akbar, required 2000 stone- cutters, 2000 cement and lime makers, and 8000 laborers. The Agra gate contains Jaimal and Patta paintings to mark their bravery in war. Multiple buildings inside it- Diwani-i-am, Diwani-i-khass, Moti Masjid, Harem.

Fatehpur Sikri- 1) Buland Darwaza: built by Akbar to commemorate hid victory in the Deccan of Gujarat region.

2) Panch Mahal- famous due to the presence of the char bagh painting of Babur, five stories and have Persian influence with the impact of Buddhist architecture.

3) Ibadat khana- Scholars of different religions were used to come and discuss various issues here.

4) Salim Cistils Tomb- made from white marble, known for its jali work.

5) Hiran Minar- made in the memory of an elephant.

During the Jahangir period, architecture took a set back. He focussed more on paintings and other forms of art. He built Akbar’s and his tomb. Some famous creations- Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir, Moti Masjid in Lahore, Tomb of Itmad-ud-daulah. The development of gold coins was also done.

Shah Jahan’s reign witnessed a huge amount of construction activities, especially in Delhi and Agra. Ceremonial halls of the public and the private audience were carefully planned. These halls were called Chihil Sutun. Major construction were- Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, complete shalimar bagh, city of Shahjahanabad, and Peacock Throne.

The development of architecture declines during Aurangzeb’s period as he shows no interest in monuments and forts. Biwi-ka-Maqbara was the only monument built by his son in the memory of his mother, in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

Silk Industry

Silk is a natural protein fiber produced from the silk glands of silkworms and some form of which can be woven into textiles. Making in triangular prism pattern make silk fabric appearance shimmering which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles which resultant to produce different colors.

Silk is considered as one of the most expensive and luxurious fabric available in today’s fashion world. These days wearing any dress or accessory in silk fabric has become a society status. For women silk is the material that flaunts and patronizes their beauty. Because of its unique soft gleaming quality, silk fabric is called as Royal garment which was discovered by Chinese. In ancient time it was the fabric of aristocrats and the royals and was the garment exclusively for them.

Merely mentioning silk fabric causes the mind to think luxury. Royal garment has now turned to the chosen material for fashion. From expensive wedding dresses, men’s shirt to tie, from silk sarees or shiny suit-dupatta, silk is the material for it. In fact a little touch of silk just renders the right kind of impression to the whole outfit.

Historically, sericulture was introduced for the first time, into China in 27th Century B.C. In fact, raising silk worms was one of the many chores of the farm women in China. From China, silk was exported via the Silk Route.

To know about how silk is made and the history behind the production of silk is absolutely fascinating. The technique of silk production is called as ‘Sericulture’ that comprises cultivation of mulberry, silkworm rearing and post cocoon activities leading to production of silk yarn.  The farmers collect these cocoons and deliver them to the factory, where they are subject to filature operations.

There are innumerable varieties of silk but only few types of commercially valuable natural silk.

Types of silk are :

  • Chiffon
  • China Silk
  • Crepe de Chine
  • Charmeuse
  • Jacquard
  • Douppioni
  • Noil
  • Raw silk
  • Tussar
  • Shantung

The process of making silk is delicate and involves a number of steps :

  • The first step is to sort the cocoons according to color, size, shape and texture
  • Then, the cocoons are made to go through a serious of hot and cold immersions. In this way, the sericin (the gummy substance that holds the fibroin strands in the silk filament together) is softened
  • Once this is done, the filament is unwound from the cocoon and combined to produce a thread of raw silk. This is the process of reeling. Usually, three to ten strands are reeled at a time
  • Finally the skeins, into which the filament was reeled, are packed into bundles called books which are then put into bales to be exported to the mill
  • In the mill, the silk fiber is woven into silk fabric, using either a hand loom or a power loom.

India is the second largest producer of silk after China and the largest consumer of silk in the world. According to reports available, sericulture was introduced into India about 400 years back and the industry flourished as an agro-industry. As per the 2001-02 records, India produced 17550 MT of silk. India is known for mainly five types of silk namely, Mulberry silk, Tasar, Oak tasar, Eri, Muga. In India, mulberry silk is produced mainly in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal, while the non-mulberry silks are produced in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa and north-eastern states.

The public sector organizations in the textile industry are governed by the Ministry of Textiles of Government of India. This ministry offers a wide range of employment opportunities through different public sector organizations, autonomous and statutory bodies, advisory bodies and textile research associations are working under its control. To lift up this sector and for its overall development of sericulture and silk industry, Central Silk Board was established in 1949 as a statutory body under government of India is a national organization. Headquarter of central silk board is located in Bangalore.

The India silk industry is an integral part of the Indian Textile Industry and is among the oldest industries in India. The silk industry in India engages around 60 lakh workers and it involves small and marginal farmers. There is a lot of scope for doing extensive research work in the field of textile for those who want to do something different and dedicate themselves in making new inventions. Indian silk industry is flourishing and has lots of job openings for talented and skilled human resource.

Textile jobs primarily fall into the following categories –

  • Textile design jobs
  • Textile pattern makers
  • Fabric jobs
  • Apparel jobs
  • Knitting jobs

Other related jobs for professionals mostly prevalent in textile sector are Marketing professionals, Technical professionals, Process development professionals, Packaging professionals, Administrative and Finance professionals. Different courses related to this sector are offered in India. Candidates having any specialized degree in their hands can easily find employment in silk industry.

In developing countries, like India, agriculture and agro-based industries play a vital role in the improvement of rural economy. Globally, silk production is around 70,000 to 90,000 M.T. and the demand for silk is annually increasing by 5%. With the increase in population and also with the increased demand for fashionable clothing items due to fast changing fashion designs in developed countries, the demand for silk is bound to increase even more. International Trade Council is involved in its work to help developing countries to improve their exports.

On the other hand, Sericulture provides gainful employment, economic development and improvement in the quality of life to the people in rural area and therefore it plays an important role in anti poverty programme and prevents migration of rural people to urban area in search of employment.

Tea Industry

There are lots of reasons why people enjoy a hot cup of tea. Countless tea lovers take it as a source of refreshment. Most of us have a sip of tea in the morning while reading a newspaper just to make our day complete. Hot tea mug warms many hands in winter morning. Sipping tea in front of the fire place is a great way to relax. Ladies Chit chat remains incomplete till they don’t share a cup of tea together. In many homes tea serves as a welcome drink. Quantity of two soft green tea leaves is enough to inject energy into your body. This is what called the magic of TEA.

“Tea” refers to the aromatic beverage prepared from the cured leaves by combination with hot or boiling water and is the common name for the Camellia sinensis plant itself. Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant that grows mainly in tropical and sub-tropical climates.

After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. Its aroma of cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavor attracts many. The term herbal tea usually refers to infusions of fruit or herbs containing no actual tea, such as rosehip tea or chamomile tea.

There are at least six varieties of tea :

  • White
  • Yellow
  • Green
  • Black oolong
  • Oolong (can be used medicinally)
  • Post-fermented teas (can be used medicinally)

Tea plants takes approximately 4 to 12 years for a tea plant to bear seed, and about 3 years before a new plant is ready for harvesting. Tea plants require at least 127 cm. (50 inches) of rainfall a year. Only the top 1-2 inches of the mature plant are picked. These buds and leaves are called flushes. A plant will grow a new flush every seven to fifteen days during the growing season, and leaves that grow slowly will always produce better flavored teas.

Tea is known as nature’s wonder drug. Tea not only good in taste, but have many health benefits as well. It also contains a variety of ingredients that are favorable to one’s health.

Let us see how a small cup of tea can be beneficial to your health :

  • Tea contains antioxidants : Antioxidants can help to slow down the aging process, and help to regenerate and repair the body cells. Many studies suggest antioxidants also assist our bodies in preventing cancer.
  • Tea help to lower stress hormone levels : Black tea can reduce the effects of stressful events by lowering the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in the body.
  • Tea fights cavities and reduces plaque : Tea gives you a sweet smile. Tea contains fluoride and tannins that  are capable of killing or suppressing growth and acid production of cavity causing bacteria in our mouths
  • Tea reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack : Tea helps to prevent from formation of unwanted blood clots that are formed from cholesterol and blood platelets, which are often the cause heart attacks and strokes.
  • Tea help to lower blood pressure : Drinking green tea daily can reduce the risk of hypertension by up to 50%.
  • Tea aids body in digestion : Tea is used as an after-meal digestive aid. It can also help to relieve stomach cramps and help body’s immune system to fight off infection. According to researchers, tea drinkers’ immune system activity in the blood is higher than non tea drinkers.
  • Tea prevent from diabetes : There is some evidence that suggests, green tea might help to lower the risk of getting Type 2 Diabetes.
  • Tea increases metabolism : Green tea helps to increase metabolic that can burn 70 to 80 additional calories by drinking just five cups of green tea per day.

Tea contains caffeine, so its benefits are bit controversial. But Green tea, is no doubt, is very useful and beneficial for health.

Tea is nearly 5,000 years old and was discovered in 2737 B.C. by a Chinese Emperor. In the 1600s, tea became popular throughout Europe and the American colonies. Since colonial days, tea has played a role in American culture and customs. In India almost 178 years ago, the race for growing tea has begun. Robert Bruce in 1823 discovered tea plants growing wild in Brahmaputra Valley. In 1838 the first Indian tea from Assam was sent to United Kingdom for public sale.

India is one of the largest tea growers in the world. However, over 70% of it is consumed by Indians themselves. Cultivation of tea in India, popularly known as ‘Chai’ started in 1833. The production of tea really took off during the days of British rule in India, when the industry primarily produce & trade tea for the British East India Company. Assam, Darjeeling, Dooars, Nilgiris are the name of the major regions in India where tea plantation thrives.

Indian tea is the finest quality in the world. Indian Tea industry is the second largest employer in the country. It occupies an important place and plays a keen role in Indian foreign trade that’s why it enjoys government attention.  Indian tea industry has major participation in Indian economic growth. In all aspects of tea production, consumption and export, India has emerged to be the world leader, mainly because it accounts for 31% of global production.

The Tea industry is an agro based labour intensive industry. It provides direct employment to over 1 million persons. It is one of the largest employers of women amongst organized industries in India. Women constitute nearly 51% of the total workforce.

There is ample scope for making a career in this field. The demand for human resources to operate tea industry with professional expertise increases tremendously. Work in the Tea industry includes plantation, processing, auctioning, branding, marketing and research. Tea tasting is the highly specialized area of work. You can opt for any specialized area for a bright career in Tea Management such as Plantation/factory Manager, Tea Taster, Researcher, Tea Brokers, Marketing or Consultants. Several varieties of tea can be grown in one garden. Tea gardens are controlled by professional Managers.  Some employment area for tea management professionals are : Tea Companies, Tea Gardens, Tea Broking House, Tea Associations, Tea Board of India, Tea Researcher Companies. There are a plenty of jobs emanates from the Tea Management.

MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE PART I

Features of Mughal architecture :

Elaborate calligraphy designs on the walls of the monument.

Charbagh design architecture: gardens at four sides of the monument.

Jail work and arabesque design. Contributed by Pietra dura.

Foresighting technique- Qufi has written on monuments that appear the same from every angle.

Mughal architecture is too called INDO- ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE.

It has a Rajput and Sikhs influence also.  Focus had been made on the construction of the mosque, tomb, and fort architecture.

Architecture becomes complex, the use of white marble is huge.  An autobiography of Babur he described his interest in planning and laying out formal gardens, placed within rectangular walled enclosed and divided into four quarter artificial channels.

These gardens were called Chahar bagh, four gardens as their symmetrical division into quarters.

There were several architecture innovations during Akbar’s region, construction with red sandstone, edged with white marble accelerated. The creation of large empires brought different regions under their rule heped in the cross-fertilisation of artistic forms and styles.

For example in Vrindavan near Mathura temples were constructed in architectural styles that were very similar to Mughal places in Fatehpur Sikri. Mughal rulers were particularly skilled in adapting regional architecture styles in the construction of their buildings.

In Bengal, too local rulers had developed a roof that was designed to resemble a thatched hut. Mughal liked this ‘BANGLA DOME’ and adopted it in their monuments.

Babur the first ruler can not contribute much to architecture as he ruled for only four years and he continuously fights for survival.

The mosque at Panipat and Rohikhand is the most famous one.  Babur’s tomb in Afganistan also had char bagh architecture.

India is full of Natural Resources but are we conscious of this fact ?

A country’s economy largely depends on the amount and preciousness of the natural resources it possesses. Yes, industries and agricultural factors do contribute the economy, but these are all secondary factors. If we concentrate on India particularly, we will see that the main economy of India heavily depends on these natural resources. The cultivable land in India almost comprises 57 percent of the whole land area. The water resources are plenty, having several major rivers crisscrossing across the country. However though these are important natural resources for any country, let us concentrate on the mineral resources which are abundantly found in India.  

Here’s a list of some of the mineral resources that are abundantly found in India and their use :  

• Coal (India is the fourth largest producer of industrial and domestic coal) – Mainly used in the power generation sector.  

• Bauxite – Aluminium, whose usage ranges from making planes to utensils, is extracted from this ore.  

• Manganese – This is mainly used in the manufacture of ferromanganese and steel.  

• Titanium ore – Used in the steel industry, among others.  

• Petroleum – Mainly used as a fuel for running vehicles.  

• Limestone – Used in the cement industry.  

• Thorium (the Kerala beaches account for the world’s largest thorium deposits) – Used as a fuel in nuclear power plants  

• Iron ore – Used for manufacturing raw iron which is used for making heavy machines for industries.  

• Mica – Used in condensers, transformers, electronic tubes, and radio or radar circuits.  

• Chromite – Used in the manufacture of stainless steel.  

• Natural gas – Used a fuel for vehicles.  

• Diamonds – Their main usage is for making jewelleries and cutting glass.  

Coal :  

India has the fourth largest coal reserves in the world. The total amount of coal reserves in India is expected to be around 267 billion tons. It is also one of the top nations in the world when it comes to the usage of energy derived from coal in heavy industries. The notable areas in India where coal is found and, as a result mined are – Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharia, Nagpur and Chandrapur, Raniganj, Jharkhand, Neyveli, Singrauli and Umaria coalfields. The coal found in India has high ash contents and low calorific coal. However these are combustion friendly and needless to say this is the reason behind the underground fires which occur in a few mining districts. Almost 94 percent of the coal produces is from the Government sector companies. In the 2011-12 period the total production has been reported to be around 680million tons, while the demand was 731million tons.  

This vast use of this singular reserve has led to its depletion in recent years, and it has been predicted that India will run out of its coal reserves within 2040. This stresses the need to employ new mining technologies and the use of alternative fuels to run the heavy industries.   

Petroleum :  

India ranks next to China in terms of its oil reserves in the Asia-Pacific region, china being the leading producer. Most of these reserves are located along the western coast of India, namely Mumbai High and the north-east region of the country. Though underdeveloped, some reserves have been recently found in the Bay of Bengal along the eastern coast of India and in Rajasthan. The sector is dominated by the state-owned enterprises, namely Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.   

The usage is much more than the production, and this result in India having to import oil from foreign nations to meet its rising consumption levels. Statistics show that India is a net importer of oil, as 70percent of its oil needs is imported from countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. The rest 30percent is produced within the country. This is because the demand for oil is somewhere around 3million barrels per day, whereas the production is only a meagre 500 thousand.   

Natural Gas :  

As of April 2010, India has an approximately 1437 cubic metres of natural gas. Of this a huge percentage comes from the Mumbai High reserves. Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat also have reserves which produce considerable amount of natural gas. In terms of production volume, ONGC is the leading producer of natural gas in India. Among the private enterprises, Reliance Industries play a big role in this sector due to the large reserve found in the Krishna Godavari basin. India has to import small amounts from Qatar and likewise nations. At this level of production and consumption, the reserves are predicted to last for around 29 years.  

Iron ore :  

Possessing one of the richest reserves of iron ore in the world, India holds a leading position in the world in terms of its iron ore production. The haematite deposits found in India are spread throughout the country, though the huge deposits are concentrated in a few regions like Chikkamagaluru, Singhbhum etc. Many iron and steel industries are located near these mines. The nearness of the industries not only reduces transportation costs but also reduces the times taken to produce the final products. The ores found in Goa are mainly shipped to Japan. Export of iron is mainly done from the ports of Vishakhapatnam, Marma Goa, Paradip and Kolkata. At present the deposits are quite vast, but some calculations indicate that the exponential rise in consumption in coming years may make these reserves seem finite in the near future.   

Bauxite :  

India is one of the leading producers of bauxite in the world. The reserves account for 7.5 percent of the world’s total deposits; however the aluminium output is only 3 percent. This indicates the lack of infrastructure which dominates the Indian market. The state-owned NALCO is the largest company dealing with bauxite ores. The acquiring of INDAL by Hindalco Industries accounted for a steep rise in the aluminium production of the country in the last year.   The extensive deposits will take a long, long time to get replenished. 

Indian Sugar Industry – Key driver of Rural India and job provider for Urban India

Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times and then it spread to other parts of the world. Sugarcane is a native of tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. In India, sugarcane is planted thrice a year in October, March and July depending on part of the country. Most of the sugar production in India takes at local Cooperative Sugar mills. After gaining Independence, India made serious plans for overall industrial development of sugar industry.

Indian sugar mills association has estimated around 24 million tones sugar production in 2012-13 seasons. Indian sugar industry is highly fragmented with organized and unorganized players. The unorganized players mainly produce Gur and Khandari, the less refined forms of sugar. The government had a controlling grip over the industry, which has slowly yet steadily given way to liberalization. The production sugarcane is cyclical in nature. Hence the sugar production is also cyclical as it depends on the sugarcane production in the country.  

At present, the government controls the sugar industry right from fixing the support price of sugarcane and allocating the monthly quota for mills to sale in the open market. The government levies a fee of Rs.240 per ton of sugar produced by mills to raise a Sugarcane Development Fund (SDF), which is used to support research, extension, and technological improvement in the sugar sector. The SDF is also often used to support sugar buffer stocks operations, provide a transport subsidy for sugar exports, and provide an interest subsidy on loans for the installation of power generation and ethanol production plants.  

Moreover, currently, sugar mills are obliged to sell 10 per cent of their produce at a regulated price for the government’s public distribution system. Currently, the average open-market price of sugar is Rs 36,000 a tonne, while the government pays only Rs 19,050 a tonne to the mills for levy sugar. This does not even cover the cost of sugarcane, the raw material, above which mills have to incur processing costs, interest cost and wages Moreover; cane price has been going up sharply year-on-year, while there has been no corresponding increase in levy price. While imposing a levy obligation, the government also follows a hawkish strategy towards open market sugar prices. Every time prices go beyond a certain level, the government intervenes with additional sale quota. Under release mechanism, it is the government that decides the quantity each mill can sell every month.  

So, on the one hand the central and state governments increase sugarcane price every year, on the other the Centre does it bit to keep sugar prices under check even though several studies have pointed that more than 60 per cent of sugar is consumed by bulk buyers like beverage manufacturers, pharma industry and confectioners.   

Not just the price of sugar, but the price of sugar-cane is also regulated by the government through Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) which mill owners pay to the farmers. Thus, neither the price of sugar cane nor the price of sugar is determined by market forces leaving a very little elbow space for the industrialists. Since SMP determines the level of income of sugar-cane farmers, too low price of sugar cane may risk the lives of farmers, but somehow government may determine the price of sugarcane on the lines of minimum support price where if the market price of a crop falls below a certain level, government will buy any amount of crop at MSP. Though it may provide additional fiscal burden on the government but it may be instrumental in reforming the sugar industry.   

India is located close to major sugar deficient markets. The Indian Ocean countries of Indonesia Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE and some East African countries are sugar deficient and import sugar regularly. India has a natural freight advantage to these countries due to its geographical proximity. Historically, India has exported sugar to the identified deficient countries. In case of surplus domestic production, India can expect to export to these geographies. At present, these countries import primarily from Brazil, Thailand, EU and Australia. Thailand, Australia and South Africa are present in only a few of the target countries, while Brazil and EU supply sugar to most of these deficient markets. These geographies would be the key competitors for India in the future.  

At the current cost of production and world raw sugar prices, the Indian exports of raw sugar looks unavailable. However, the reduced cost of production and a sustainable cane price can improve India’s competitiveness for global trade. To be able to export to the target markets, India would need to improve its cost structure through productivity and efficiency improvements in the long term. In addition, to export raw sugar, mills would need to make the necessary investments.  

Currently, India only produces plantation white sugar. Considering that export demand for raw sugar and refined sugar will increase going forward, India would need to develop the capability to produce these varieties in order to leverage the export opportunity.

NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT

It was the first mass movement that took place in 1920 launched by Gandhi. Its historical background could be seen as the impact of the first world war where the Indian economy suffered badly as the british give them Rowlatt act. Congress became slow so Gandhiji became hostile to the Britishers.

This movement gained its importance after the khilafat and Jalliawala bagh incidents.  Congress meets at Banaras and Calcutta passing this movement.

Programmes followed were boycott and swadeshi. The boycott was a negative concept and swadeshi is a positive one. Boycott of British goods, titles, honourable offices, legal courts, schools and colleges, election to the legislative assembly and provisional council and recruitment of services in Mesopotamia were done.

Swadeshi movement leads to the establishment of national schools and educational institutions, setting up of tribunals for the administration of justice for solving legal cases, encouragement to wear handspun khadi, the establishment of fund in the name of tilak to finance non-cooperation activities and volunteers. At Nagpur Congress meets to discuss the progress of the movement. Nagpur government-supported

Hindu and Muslim unity. A 15 member committee was appointed to look after the day to day work. It set up an all India Congress commission of 350 members. The reorganisation of Congress provisional commission on linguistic basis. The objective was changed to attain swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means.

This movement had great economic significance as it boosts the handloom and khadi industries interms of employment and wages, Village sanitation and reconstruction is achieved, irradiction of untouchability, unity of Hindu and Muslims, increase in participation of women and formation of new social groups.

It spread to Punjab, Gujarat, Bengal, Bombay, where traders and peasants mainly participated. Andhra Pradesh; forest satyagraha was started. In Assam cullies of tea gardens demanded a wage rise, in Awadh no land revenue movement started. A new era of political life emerged and India is known for her culture. Gandhiji motivated people with his speeches.

On November 1921 the government arrested major leaders of khilafat declaring Congress as unlawful, banning public protest and 30,000 nationalists were put behind the bars. On feburary, 1922 CHARA CHAURI incidence took place were people marched and burned police stations killing 22 police officers.

Gandhiji withdraws this movement on 11 February 1922 due to spread on non-violence.

This movement had a great significance in the history of Indian struggle which makes us realize the strength our leaders and people put forward to get independence. This independence day our salutes are to all those who sacrifice their lives for our independence

Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India at national, state and district level. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, State Legislative Councils, and the offices of the President and Vice President of the country. The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act. The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election. Being a constitutional authority, Election Commission is amongst the few institutions which function with both autonomy and freedom, along with the country’s higher judiciary, the Union Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Functions

One of the most important features of the democratic policy in India is elections at regular intervals. Holding periodic, free and fair elections are essentials of a democratic system and a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The Election Commission is regarded as the guardian of elections in the country. In every election, it issues a Model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to conduct elections in a free and fair manner. The commission issued the Code of Conduct for the first time in 1971 for the 5th Lok Sabha elections and has revised it from time to time. It lays down guidelines for the conduct of political parties and candidates during an election period. However, there have been instances of violation of the code by various political parties with complaints being received for misuse of official machinery by the candidates. The code does not have any specific statutory basis but only a persuasive effect. It contains the rules of electoral morality. However, this lack of statutory backing does not prevent the commission from enforcing it.

A law for the registration process for political parties was enacted in 1989 and a number of parties got registered with the commission. The registration helps avoid confusion and ensures that the political parties are brought under the purview of the commission.

The election commission has the right to allow symbols to the political parties. It gives recognition to the national parties, state parties and regional parties. It sets limits on poll expenses. The commission prepare electoral rolls and update the voter’s list from time to time. Notifications of dates and schedules of election for filing nominations are issued by the commission. It is noteworthy that Election commission cannot allot same symbol to two regional political parties even if they are not in the same state.

The commission is empowered with prohibiting dissemination or publication of voting trends that seek to influence voters by opinion polls or exit polls.

To curb the growing influence of money during elections, the Election Commission has made many suggestions and changes in this regard. The commission has appointed IRS officers of the Income Tax Department as Election Observers (Expenditure) of all elections and has fixed the legal limits on the amount of money which a candidate can spend during election campaigns. These limits have been revised over time. The Election Commission, by appointing expenditure observers from the Indian Revenue Service, keeps an eye on the individual account of election expenditure. The commission takes details of the candidate’s assets on affidavit at the time of submitting nomination paper, who are also required to give details of their expenditure within 30 days of the declaration of results. The campaign period has also been reduced by the commission from 21 to 14 days for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to cut down election expenditure.

In an attempt to descriminalise politics, the Election Commission has approached the Supreme Court to put a lifetime ban on convicted politicians from contesting elections.

The general election in India, the world’s largest democracy, will take place in nine phases between April 7 and May 12. The general election is a celebration of democracy, no doubt, but it is also a huge challenge for the Election Commission, which is responsible for the smooth operation of the general election. Conducting general election in a country with over 800 million eligible voters is a nightmare and proper planning has to be carried out to ensure that there are no security breaches and that people vote in a safe and secure environment.

Security is a huge challenge for the Election Commission, especially in areas that have a significant presence of Maoist rebels. In the previous elections, Maoist rebels have opposed the elections and tried to sabotage them as well, and it will not come as a surprise if they try to do it this time around. Therefore, the Election Commission is making a list of groups that may oppose the elections and it is coming up with elaborate plans to handle them while maintaining peace in the region.   

The Election Commission, apart from overseeing the general election, is tasked with keeping an eye on speeches made in the country that could disturb the peace and weaken the social fabric of the Indian society. In addition, it is required to monitor the expenditure of the various parties in India and maintain religious harmony in every state. This year, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) will also be able to cast their votes in view of the amendment of The Representation of the People Bill in 2010. Close to 12,000 NRIs have registered as voters and they will be exercising their voting rights for the very first time. With the advancement of technology, Indians living miles away from their homeland are able to stay up to date with the current affairs and developments in the Indian political scene.   

With news spreading like wild fire on social networking sites and other new media platforms, people have begun to take an interest in affairs of the nation. As such, they are involved in political and economic issues like never before. This is not just applicable to NRIs but also to people living in India. This is the first time in India’s history that people are showing enthusiasm and interest in the polls. As such, with greater participation from Indians at home and abroad, the Election Commission is expected to be more vigilant of the conduct of the people on the voting day and ensure that people abide by the rules as stated in the Constitution.   

New parties have emerged on the political front in India and they are all fighting for diverse issues. The Congress, which has been in power for the last 10 years, is fighting to defend its political record and to protect the secular fabric of the nation. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is fighting for a change in the centre and is trying to convince the people of India that it can do a better job than the Congress. Regional parties are on the rise and a new party that has joined the bandwagon is the Aam Aadmi Party, which claims to represent the common man and is keen to address the problems of the common man.  

With so many parties fighting for attention and votes, it is inevitable that there will be clashes between the parties and the people. So, the Election Commission has to ensure that the parties adhere to the Constitution and the rules it has put forth with regard to rallies. Mr . Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath CEC (Chief Election Commissioner of India) has a huge task at hand and with more parties joining the political scene and more voters in the picture, its job essentially gets harder. Maintaining peace in the region is crucial and it is difficult to predict when chaos will erupt. So, the Election Commission has to take proactive measures to ensure that the general election conforms to the Indian Constitution and proceeds in a smooth manner.   

Rising prices of essential commodities in India

In India, inflation or price rise is not just an economic concept but they are also a political tool, often used by the opposition parties to launch attack on the ruling government. But in case of price rise of essential commodities, price rise is more political than economic factor. Very often, there is uproar in Parliament as political parties jostle to grab as much mileage as possible from the government’s apparent failure to curb inflation, as they try to sidle up to the aam aadmi who has been worst hit by skyrocketing prices. It is because the people of lower strata are most severely affected by the rising prices, and if the price rise is in essential commodities, damage is more severe.    

Commodities classified as essential under the Essential Commodities Act 1955 includes cattle fodder, oil-cakes and other concentrates, coal, including coke and other derivatives, component parts and accessories of automobiles, cotton and woolen textiles, few drugs, foodstuffs, including edible oil-seeds and oils, iron and steel, including manufactured products of iron and steel; paper, including newsprint, paperboard -and straw board; petroleum and petroleum products; raw cotton, food crops etc.   

In the last five years, the prices of eight essential commodities have gone up by nearly 72 percent and on the contrary the per capita income have gone up by 38 percent of average Indian in metros, according to the latest study undertaken by apex chamber ASSOCHAM.  

While prices of condiments & spices, eggs, fish and meat, milk, pulses witnessed a sharp increase, ranging between 158.07 percent, 78.88 percent, 74.12 percent and 73.69 percent respectively, other essentials like coffee, tea, wheat and fruits and vegetables saw upward moment in the range of 70.75 percent, 66.89 percent, 63.25 percent and 59.31 percent respectively during the corresponding period.   ​​​​​​​  

Demand as well as supply, both factors are responsible for rise in prices of essential commodities. Apart from increasing population which itself is a major cause of rising demand, changing food habits are also giving push to demand pull inflation. Growing demand for pizzas is one big example where large quantities of cheese and butter are used. The price of milk and milk-based products in India is set to surge on the back of a variety of natural and human factors, including a shortage during monsoon months. Prices will be further impacted by the upcoming festival season which sees a spike in consumption of milk-based products, especially sweets.  

On the supply side, unfavorable weather conditions also resulted in the short supply of commodities and consequently pushed their prices up. Lack of warehousing facilities, cold storages also results in the post harvest losses which are estimated to the tune of one-third of the total produce. An abnormally high percentage of fruits and vegetables goes wasted because of lack of cold-storage facilities. Thus post harvest losses also contribute to the short supply of food crops.    

The sharp increase in prices of wheat and rice will have an inflationary impact on essential commodities as open market prices of both commodities were ruling slightly higher than the above the poverty line prices. Many essential commodities like petroleum products, pulses, fertilizers are either imported or are produced with imported intermediate goods. Price of such commodities depends on the international prices and as over all global prices of these commodities is increasing, pressure on domestic prices is bound to happen. Even in the case of export based goods produced in the country, if international prices of such commodities are soaring, there is an upward pressure on domestic prices as well because the producers will tend to sell these products in foreign markets where they are likely to fetch better prices. It may also create an scarcity in domestic market.  

Moreover, market is also dominated by manipulators, fixers, fly by operators, corporate gamblers. Many allege that prime reason behind the rising essential commodities is that we created a commodity exchange like Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and other like commodity exchanges where market can be manipulate within hours according to one’s own wish. Moreover, it has nothing to do with our production, distribution, monsoon and other factors; still it effects the commodity prices. The argument is true to some extent but, such exchanges have their own benefits too.  

The inflation can be controlled to the large extent if the government gives full freedom for farmers to sell their agricultural produce anywhere in India without any restriction and ensure free movement without taxing the same. All the agricultural produce is controlled by market forces which include arhatiyas, hoarders, black marketers and other rich and traditional traders. The prices of goods are decided by these individuals. They create the artificial shortage and price rise. The farmers cannot sell their agriculture produce directly due to different reasons. The real farmers are getting 1/3rd of the price. Rest of the profit is swallowed by the middleman and traders only.  

Thus, the price rise is caused by several factors like hording, population explosion, low productivity, natural calamities, wars, backwardness of communication, evil motives of dishonest businessmen, smuggling, black marketing etc. Many suggest deregulation of prices of essential commodities as market forces are supposed to efficiently allocate the resources. However, it is also necessary to provide affordable prices to the vulnerable sections of the society. But indeed, comprehensive reforms, development of agriculture infrastructure, elimination of hoarders and black marketers etc is necessary to eliminate the artificial scarcity plaguing the economy.

ART AND CULTURE

AJANTA AND ELLORA CAVE ARCHITECTURE

Cave architecture had originated in prehistory or the stone age period leading to the development of paintings and sculptures.

Ajanta caves had their origin since the Satvahana dynasty during the pre-Mauryan period. It is located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state. It comprises of 29 caves and has a C shaped structure. It is the only example of the first century BCE and fifth century CE.

It has four chaitya caves and the rest are vihara caves ( chaitya – used for prayers and vihara – residential halls).

FEATURES:  Mural paintings drawn on walls as well as ceilings  of the cave

Figures are dedicated to Buddhism teachings and worship.

Sculptures are found in abundance.

Famous paintings: dying princess, flying Apsara (taken from Jataka stories), Padmapani, and Vajrapani. A technique used to paint is the Fresco style of texture images with limited natural colors, drawn on wet surfaces. Expand during Vakataka kings.

Famous sculptures: Mahaparinibbana of Buddha, cave number 26

Naga king and his consort, cave number 19

Vidarbha sculptural tradition, cave number 2.

Ellora caves are also located in Aurangabad district, 100 km away from Ajanta. It comprises 34 caves build during the Rashtrakuta period, early medieval times.

Cave no. 1-12 are Buddhist caves, 13-29 are Hindu caves and 30-34 are Jain caves. It shows the religious tolerance of kings.

FAMOUS CAVES

Cave number 10 is a Buddhist chaitya called the Vishwakarma or carpenter’s cave. Buddha is seated in Vyakhyana mudra and a Bodhi tree is carved in his back.

Cave 14 is themed as Raavan ki Khai.

Cave 15 is called the Dashavatar temple.

Cave 16 is a Kailash temple dedicated to Lord SHIVA, formed by Krishna king. It is called as finest Ellora architecture.

Cave 21 is famous for Rameshwar temple and 29 for Dhumar Lena.

Famous Jain caves are INDRA SABHA and JAGANNATH SABHA cave 32 and 33 respectively.

Cave no. 4 is called rang mahal, meaning the palace of colors, paintings to walls are still visible.

Ajanta and Ellora caves are regarded as UNESCO world heritage sites.

The caves will bring you closer to our culture in understanding the past.

“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.” –John F. Kennedy, former American President

New Banking entity will create jobs in India

On April 1, 2014, the Election Commission (EC) gave approval to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to proceed with licensing a third set of private banks. The last time that RBI licensed new banks was between 2003 and 2004 when it decided to let Kotak Mahindra Bank and Yes Bank into the market. It is hoped that the current licensing will help India’s central bank to expand the reach of the Rs 84 trillion banking industry. Last week, the RBI granted bank licenses to Bandhan Financial Services and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC). There are over 20 companies in the race for new banking licenses and it is said that 1,500 to 5,000 jobs are likely to be created in the next two years for each new banking license awarded by the RBI.  

Some of the areas where extensive hiring is likely to take place are retail banking, credit, technology, operations, branch banking, risk and treasury. And since India is focusing on financial inclusion, jobs are expected to open up in smaller centers. There will be a huge demand for people who have worked in tier 2 and 3 cities and rural areas as they will be able to understand the issues pertinent to financial inclusion. Currently, less than 30 percent of the Indian population has access to bank accounts. So, there is a lot to be done in the banking and financial sectors in India. The rural markets are untapped and by expanding and venturing into these markets, the banking and financial sectors will be able to witness growth and profitability.  

At IDFC alone, there have been key appointments, including that of the group head of new initiatives and the COO – Ajay Mahajan, former banker and financial services entrepreneur has been appointed the group head of new initiatives and Avtar Monga, veteran banker, has been named the COO. These new licenses will give rise to a number of backend jobs too, including those in processing and outsourcing. Every time a new entity is formed, jobs will be created not only in the entity but in other organizations linked to this entity. And this is exactly what is happening with the licensing of new banks.   

It is hoped that with the establishment of new banking entities, the unemployment rate in India will reduce. Reports claim that in the next two years, a number of people working in banks will be retiring and this will increase the demand for employees at various levels. India will witness a sharp increase in employment in the coming years and the growth and profitability of the banking and financial sectors are imminent. In any developing country, there is a huge scope for the growth of various industries. And this is what the RBI is planning to achieve by providing licenses to new banks. With an influx of new banks comes competition and this leads to greater productivity. So, by providing licenses to new banks, India will not only see a rise in the employment rate but it will also see a stark increase in the service quality.  

Anywhere between 1,500 and 5,000 jobs are likely to be created over 1-2 years for each new banking licence awarded by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), estimates by leading head hunters, including Korn/Ferry International, Egon Zehnder, Heidrick & Struggles, EMA Partners, Russell Reynolds Associates and Randstad India, suggest. The RBI granted bank licences to micro lender Bandhan Financial Services and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC).

Based on a set of 1,938 companies spread across all sectors, the study said the value of sales in FY19 was Rs 69 lakh crore thus covering the entire corporate sector. It includes all listed public sector entities but the SME segment may find less representation in this sample.

As per the study, the aggregate headcount or employment increased at a CAGR of 3.3% over a four-year period from 2014-15 to 2018-19 compared with a CAGR of 7.5% in gross domestic product (GDP) during this period. In terms of growth in employment on an annual basis, it was 2.5% in 2015-16 and 4.1% in 2016-17. “Therefore, there is a case that supports the argument that employment growth has not been commensurate with GDP growth with a difference of 4.2% in CAGR during this period,” the study showed.

It showed that around half the companies had witnessed a decline in growth in employment over this time period while 35% of them had witnessed growth of 11.5% on the aggregate each with an above average CAGR of 3.3%.

Core worries


The ratings agency highlighted that core industries have witnessed “virtually negative growth in headcount”, with crude oil just about maintaining the employment level. These industries have been impacted by the slowdown in GDP growth as well as the challenges on the NPA side for banks.

A similar picture is witnessed for the heavy investment industries where growth has tended to be negative for power and capital goods and just 0.4% for infra. Among manufacturing industries, healthcare and automobiles registered a healthy growth of 4.8% in employment whereas the financial sector’s performance was the impressive with banks, NBFCs and insurance witnessing impressive growth

In the non-financial sector segment, the IT and retail industries registered near or above average growth while telecom, hospitality and realty witnessed negative growth. The telecom industry has been through upheavals which have led to several mergers that have impacted headcount. In case of realty, the decline in growth in business impacted job prospects, it said.

“The CAGR in employment and growth in physical production for industries in the manufacturing sector are not well related,” CARE Ratings concluded, adding that growth in employment has trailed growth in GDP indicating that the two have not moved in commensurate terms, and that service sector has performed better than manufacturing with financial sector industries doing better in terms of higher recruitment.

Languages in India

Language can be defined as Communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols India is known for its diversity; diversity of religion, culture, tradition, languages, dialect etc.

Eighth schedule of the constitution of India recognizes as many as 22 languages. G A Grierson made the first linguistic survey of India and made a list of 544 dialects and 179 languages, despite of the fact that many linguists don’t accepted Grierson’s survey. But by any estimate, more than 500 dialects are spoken in India and out of them; around 25 languages are spoken by around 97 of Indian population.

All the languages are classified into four main language families :

• Austro-Asiatic or Nishad

• Sino-Tibetan or Kirat

• Dravidian or Dravid

• Indo-Aryan or Aryan

Among the above mentioned language, Nishad and Kirat are almost entirely tribal languages. Aryan family is the largest one constituting 73 percent of the languages spoken in India. Khasi, Santhali, Nicobari etc are part of Nishad family. Ladakhi, Manipuri and Ahom belong to the Kirat group. Dravidian family includes Telugu, Tamil, Kannad and Malayalam. Aryan is the largest family and includes Punjabi, Sindhi, Awadhi, Chhattisgarhi, Marathi, Konkani, Garhwali, Rajasthani, Guajarati, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya etc. 

Even before the independence, reorganization of provinces on the basis of language was one of the Congress demand and after independence, Andhra Pradesh was the first state created on linguistic basis and Telugu was its official language and later many states were carved on linguistic basis like almost all North Eastern states, Gujarat, Kerala etc. The linguistic diversity noticed in the macro-structure of the country is also reflected in its regional and micro-structure, i.e. in the constituent States. Even though the State boundaries are carved on the basis of dominant languages, the States are multi-lingual. 

The minority languages in the States of course vary from province to province. When one surveys the linguistic scenario of the country it appears India is a country of linguistic minorities. All the States have their dominant languages, yet they also have certain numbers of minority languages. Even States, like Arunanchal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram etc. have minority languages. 

The Indian constitution binds the whole country irrespective of linguistic and cultural variations. Articles 343 to 351 of the Constitution deal with the language situation in India. Articles 29 and 30 and 347 have been devised to safeguard the interest of speakers of minority languages. Article 350 (B) envisages the appointment of a Special Officer for linguistic minorities Languages in India occupy an important place in country’s social, cultural and political identity.

In fact many cultures are known by their language only for instance, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Gujrati, Assamese, Marathi, Kannada and many more. Most distinguished feature of these cultures, apart from dance, music, dress is language and script. Languages are an important instrument in establishing identity of an individual, state and Nation. For that matter when India was conceiving an idea of making Hindi the National language of the country, Dravidian family vehemently opposed the idea and no national language was chosen. During pre as well as post independence years, country has witnessed many linguistic movements in the country few of them demanding reorganization of states on linguistic basis. 

Among the linguistic movements witnessed by independent India, Pure Tamil Movement was most successful to agitate the nation at large. Here nation realized that whenever a linguistic movement starts due to some specific reason, it put forth the religious, social, political and caste divisions prevalent in the society. 

In 1986, Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced the “National Education Policy”. This education policy provided for setting up Navodaya Schools, where the DMK claimed teaching of Hindi would be compulsory. The Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) led by M. G. Ramachandran (which had split from the DMK in 1972), was in power in Tamil Nadu and the DMK was the main opposition party. Karunanidhi announced an agitation against the opening of Navodaya Schools in Tamil Nadu. 

In Bengal and other non-Hindi agitation was not as vehement as in Tamil Nadu but even there the perceived attempt to impose Hindi is strongly resented. In Maharashtra, although the issues were much simpler, again an agitation had to be carried out to achieve the division of the province into Gujarat and Maharashtra on linguistic basis. Even there, the problem of a Marathi-speaking area, Belgium, being left in Karnataka rather than being merged into Maharashtra still continues. In other parts of the country too, there are still ‘boundary’ disputes and other problems relating to linguistic issues. 

Recently, after much agitation on the issue and in order to mollify the Muslim electorate, Urdu has been accorded the status of secondary official language, in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It is recognized as a regional language in Andhra Pradesh also. Language is primarily the business of the people and linguistic integration has to be achieved at the popular rather than official level. Indeed this is one of the significant findings of the monumental ‘Peoples of India’ study carried out by the Anthropological Survey of India. 

The study of nearly 4000 communities that constitute India has found that, traditionally as well as now a very large number for them is bilingual, using one language for internal communication and the other for interacting with neighboring ‘communities’. In fact this could have been the only way of survival in the multi-ethnic plurality of India.

In India, it has been seen that languages are not merely the modes of communalism but are also systems of misunderstanding and therefore the linguistic problem has to be addressed at various levels : inters-group, inter-group; as elements of discourse and as barriers in social-cultural interaction. 

India’s Healthcare Condition

Long before the virus invasion into India, the nation already suffered from a devastatingly poor healthcare system. With more corrupt systems in Public (government owned) hospitals where only miserable think of going while the middle or upper  middle and upper classes always seek for the genuine treatments at heavily priced private hospitals. Middle class economic sectors do end up with long term bank loans.

We’ve seen many cases in the past where private hospitals literally looted patient’s families, in some cases the patient was already dead while reaching the hospital and yet doctor’s kept the dead bodies for treatment and kept fooling the family by saying “we are doing the treatment and trying our best to save the patient”. All this was done just to add up bills for the families and friends of patient.

There’s a saying about doctors worldwide that they are a form of god who saves lives but this thought is questioned when some doctors commit the hideous sins ever known to humanity. This is happening even during the treatments of covid-19 specifically in India where many citizens are falsely reported covid positive and are admitted to expensive private medical institutes who charge hefty charges (8-12 Lakhs INR) from somebody who’s already negative from the virus contagion.

In many other cases where healthy citizens wrongly reported are admitted to hospitals and later their vital body parts viz. heart, kidneys, eyes, liver etc were removed for organ trade benefits. So how these doctors were able to do this and how still many are doing this right under the nose of government administrations. The answer comes to complete absence of investigation of each dead body, these doctors know it for sure that an alleged positive patient when claimed dead would be directly sealed into a body bag by the hospital workers. No policemen and neither family nor friends are allowed to have a sneak peek at the dead body. The dead body in a body bag is directly sent for cremation. This gives an upper hand for corruption and illegal organ trade.

Some 2.4 million Indians die of treatable conditions every year, the worst situation among 136 nations studied for a report published in The Lancet. Poor care quality leads to more deaths than insufficient access to healthcare–1.6 million Indians died due to poor quality of care in 2016, nearly twice as many as due to non-utilisation of healthcare services (838,000 persons).

“For too long, the global health discourse has been focused on improving access to care, without sufficient emphasis on high quality care,” Muhammad Pate, co-chair of the commission that produced the report, who is also chief executive of Big Win Philanthropy and former minister of state for health in Nigeria, said in a statement. “Providing health services without guaranteeing a minimum level of quality is ineffective, wasteful and unethical,” he said.

As the Indian government readies to roll out its ambitious national health protection scheme, the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, by the end of September 2018, the study’s findings are crucial.

“We need to better measure the quality of our health system as a composite entity rather than be merely content with certifying hospitals and laboratories,” said Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, a Delhi-based think tank, about the lack of mechanisms for monitoring quality in India. “Some elements of quality, mainly in maternal and child health, are being monitored under NRHM [National Rural Health Mission]. However, composite measures of the health system overall are unavailable,” he said.

Public accountability and transparency on health system performance are two ways to improve the quality of healthcare, the commission recommends.

Commonly used health metrics such as the availability of medicines, equipment and skilled attendants do not reflect quality of care and even “lead to false complacency about progress”, it says, proposing a dashboard of metrics that should be implemented by countries by 2021 to enable transparent measurement and reporting of quality care.