Tag: Banking

In this article, we will discuss Recommendations of UN-Habitat. So, let’s get started.

Recommendations of UN-Habitat

• Experts recommended measures that increase the green cover, strengthen urban biodiversity, and thereby enhance the quality of life for citizens.
• To address the challenges of urban sprawling, the UN-Habitat emphasised the idea of a compact city with re-development and re-densification of the existing urban areas.
• Experts also recommended that linking the distance from the main city to the development charges imposed on citizens could be considered as an indirect measure to curb development on the city’s outskirts.
• To improve the situation of public transportation, fare integration for different modes of transport and enhancing the non-motorised transport infrastructure would make movement convenient and reduce traffic and vehicle emissions.
• The 800 dry wells in Jaipur’s Walled City could be used for rainwater harvesting and raising the water table, mitigating urban floods and ensuring efficient utilisation of water resources.
• Eco-trails with plantations along natural drainage channels and railway tracks are recommended in the city.
• Experts from the Tourism & Wildlife Society of India (TWSI) said that the urban development authorities should measure oxygen produced and carbon dioxide released each day in each urban complex and plan the green cover accordingly and also select the species of plants with utmost caution since only indigenous, broad-leaved and tap-root trees produce more shade and oxygen.

In this article, we will discuss India Lagged in Economic Transformation. So, let’s get started.

India Lagged in Economic Transformation

• The Three Parameters:
• The divergent outcomes in structural transformation between countries in the global South, particularly India, China and SouthEast Asia, is due to their focus on “Land Equity”, “Access to Education” and “Access to Entrepreneurship”.
• Focus on Education:
• Chinese and other East Asian countries invested in basic education and gradually shifted towards higher education.
• Focus on Low End Jobs:
• South East Asia and China captured low end manufacturing jobs, India largely concentrated in high end technology jobs.
• Focus on Human Capital:
• In China, rural entrepreneurship was able to grow out of the traditional agricultural sector on a massive scale due to its investment in human capital.
• It also resulted in diversification into urban enterprises by agrarian capitalists.
• China taking over India in manufacturing is due to this neglect in human capital formation.
• Their success in manufacturing is a direct outcome of the investment in human capital.
• British Colonial Intervention:
• The biggest challenge India as a nation faced was intervention by Britishers which amplified caste based and racial differences.
• This intervention is one of the major factors why Indian couldn’t cope up with the pace of economic transformation when compared to its neighbours.

In this article, we will discuss India’s Demographic Dividend (Advantage). So, let’s get started.

India’s Demographic Dividend (Advantage)

• Increase in Fiscal Space: Fiscal resources can be diverted from spending on children to investing in modern physical and human infrastructure that will increase economic sustainability of India.
• Rise in Workforce: With more than 65% of the working age population, India can rise as an economic superpower, supplying more than half of Asia’s potential workforce over the coming decades.
• Increase in the Labour Force that enhances the productivity of the economy.
• Rise in Women’s Workforce that naturally accompanies a decline in fertility, and which can be a new source of growth.

In this article, we will discuss India’s Demographic Dividend. So, let’s get started.

India’s Demographic Dividend

• About:
• According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), demographic dividend means the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure.
• Mainly when the share of the working-age population (15 to 64) is larger than the non-working-age share of the population (14 and younger, and 65 and older).
• Median Age:
• The median age in India is 28 years., compared to 38 in China and the US, 43 in Western Europe, and 48 in Japan.
• Diversity in India’s States:
• While India is a young country, the status and pace of population ageing vary among States.
• Southern States, which are advanced in demographic transition, already have a higher percentage of older people.
• While Kerala’s population is already ageing, in Bihar the working age cohort is predicted to continue increasing till 2051.
• The differences in age structure reflect differences in economic development and health of the states.

In this article, we will discuss Significance of Population Growth in India. So, let’s get started.

Significance of Population Growth

• A larger population is perceived to mean greater human capital, higher economic growth and improved standards of living.
• Better economic growth is brought about by increased economic activities due to higher working age population and lower dependent population.
• In the last seven decades, the share of the working age population has grown from 50% to 65%, resulting in a remarkable decline in the dependency ratio (number of children and elderly persons per working age population).
• As per the WPP 2022, India will have one of the largest workforces globally.
• In the next 25 years, one in five working-age group persons will be living in India.

In this article, we will discuss Significance of FinTech. So, let’s get started.

Significance of FinTech

• FinTechs are an essential part of the Indian financial ecosystem; though they have been around for decades, their importance is pronounced post demonetisation, with the Covid-19 pandemic further intensifying their significance.
• FinTech is redefining financial services for the common man and woman; the use of big data for small credit through smart analytics and algorithms has vastly expanded the pool of eligible borrowers in India.
• FinTech has brought down the cost of doing business drastically. The cost of a digital transaction like payments, credit assessment and fraud check is a fraction of the amount spent on physical processes.
• Fintech is breaking geographical barriers and shrinking the country into the palm of the hand. It is opening doors to a large number of underserved yet economically viable customers.
• Growth of FinTech in India: India is the global FinTech superpower with the highest FinTech adoption rate in the world. In 2020, India overtook China as Asia’s top FinTech market.
• As per the government of India estimates, the Indian FinTech ecosystem is expected to reach $150 billion by 2025 from its present level of $50 billion.

In this article, we will discuss FinTech. So, let’s get started.

FinTech

• Originally, FinTech referred to the technology applied to the back-end of established consumer and trade financial institutions.
• However, in the past few years, the term has expanded to include any technological innovation in the financial sector (financial literacy and education, retail banking, investment and even crypto-currencies (Decentralised Finance (DeFi)).
• FinTech is any technology that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services.

In this article, we will discuss ISRO Small Satellite Vehicle Launch Mission. So, let’s get started.

Small Satellite Vehicle Launch Mission (Purpose)

• The purpose of this mission was to place the two satellites in circular low-earth orbits at a height of about 350 km above the Equator.
• EOS-2: An optical remote sensing satellite designed and developed by ISRO.
• AzadiSAT: Array of 75 tiny payloads integrated by students, to measure the ionising radiation, integrated by the student team of Space Kidz India.
• It is ISRO’s attempt at popularising Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) among girl students at the school level as it pushes for further exploration of the cosmos.

In this article, we will discuss Challenges Associated with EdTech. So, let’s get started.

Challenges Associated with EdTech

• Limited Practical Attachment to Learning: Subjects of Science and technology include hands-on laboratory sessions, dissertation projects and field trips to complement theoretical studies.
• This aspect of learning is severely limited in online education.
• Limited Social Skill Enhancement: Education is not just about subject knowledge but also about developing social skills and sportsmanship among the students, which is built over the years.
• Relying solely on online education may hinder the holistic development of children, and many may underperform later in their professional and personal lives.
• Lack of Digital Infrastructure: While India enjoys a wide geographic and cultural diversity, it also suffers from a huge socio-economic divide, including non-uniformity of digital infrastructure facilities.
• Interrupted power supply and weak or non-existent internet connectivity are major challenges hindering the percolation of online education at the grassroot.
• Widening Gender Inequality: Online education may lead to a wider gender gap.
• In a recent survey of 733 students studying in government schools in Bihar, only 28% of the girls had smartphones in their homes, in contrast to 36% of the boys.
• However, girls were found to spend a disproportionately longer time on household chores than boys, which often overlapped with the time of telecast of these lessons.
• Business Malpractice: With the growing market for digital education, Edtech companies are likely to engage in various forms of business malpractice to attract consumers.
• Most recently, issues of misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices have come to light.
• The Department of School Education and Literacy stated that ed-tech companies are luring parents in the garb of offering free services and getting the Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Mandate signed or activating the auto-debit feature, especially targeting vulnerable families.
• Educator-Learner Adaptability Concern: Using the internet for entertainment is common, but for online lessons is a big challenge.
• Teachers may not be well-versed with creating digital content, and conveying it effectively online.
• Similarly, a sudden expectation from them to upgrade, and from students to adapt, is unfair.

In this article, we will discuss Significance of EdTech for India. So, let’s get started.

Significance of EdTech for India

• Interactive and Innovative Learning: Learning online with lectures, multimedia graphics, and interactive elements makes learning more engaging, and reinforces learning concepts with a visual approach.
• India’s edtech boom also stems from facts like the prevalence of enthusiastic entrepreneurs adopting a multicultural approach to suit the needs of a diverse country, developing innovative products and approaches.
• Need of On-Demand Learning: Students who were not compatible with the traditional school system’s rigid timetables can get access to quality education from their home. Especially competitive exam candidates often juggle work and studies simultaneously.
• It is not often that classroom timings are aligned to their work schedule. On-demand training turns the table in students’ favour enabling them to access courses and study materials on demand anywhere, anytime and through any medium.
• Educators Availability: In the past, a single professor could handle at most a batch of 100 students.
• EdTech enables educators to make themselves available to a huge population of students.
• The need for a physical space where students and teachers can assemble for classroom sessions is no longer needed.
• Personalized Evaluation: Students receive personalized recommendations based on data on their previous learning patterns and performance.
• Students who need extra support and benefit from a slower learning pace could receive the appropriate care.
• Remove Age Barriers: Online programs and courses allow people of any age group to learn at their own pace, without inhibitions, and without compromising on their other commitments, which were not available at their time.
• Equitable Chances and Reduced Pay-Wall: India’s edtech industry could slowly bridge the education-quality gap between the rich and the poor, giving Indians from all backgrounds more equitable chances of success.
• The cost-effectiveness of edtech allows students to overcome the paywall between them and premium educators, and the virtual nature of this learning erases geographical constraints.