Tag Archives: Economy

Business and Management

Adapting marketing to the new economy

Companies in 21st century have to adapt to ever changing environment. At present, companies represent a curious mix of old as well as the new economy. A great deal of research has already been done with respect to the old economy, but for the new economy, companies are learning it rather hard way. Companies have to choose elements from old and new economy wisely as to build a business model which would bring value to the company.

Technology revolution, globalization and market deregulation factors are among many sculpting the new economy. These 3 factors interact with each other at different levels creating the driving force for the new economy. The old economy was full of analog devices, which were running on a continuous signal wave, for example, gramophone records. In today’s world systems and devices are running on digital technology where information is carried in ones and zeroes. However, this digital information cannot be exchanged between devices without connectivity through wire or wireless networks. This connectivity is achieved through intranet, extranet and internet.

Internet allowed players like Yahoo, Amazon, ebay to offer products like music, books, apparel, etc. directly to customers. This move de-stabilized the traditional distributors and retailers causing some to shut down their business. However, some of the players developed online portals to offer their products and services which in turn de-stabilized new online players. Some of the old players were successful with help of their brand strength and poor business models of pure online players.

In the old economy focus was only on standardization, mass production and singular marketing policy. However, with the amount of information available in the new economy, companies are best at understanding consumers. This better understanding has led to customized products, a shift from standardization. However, this customization has its drawbacks not only for companies but also for customer. Companies find it difficult to maintain the cost level for customized products to register profit. Customization is impossible for products, which require complex industrial engineering. Customer does not know real product appearance until it fully completed and also return policy is not there in customization.

The new functioning of economy has changed the way companies approach their business. Companies are looking forward to expanding across market segments to get maximum market share while keeping focus strictly on customer needs. For these companies are making organizational changes where departments are developed to manage a segment rather than a product. Companies are looking forward to developing consumer based brand equity to foster long term relation. Companies are coming up with products, which perform superior than consumer expectation there by creating a strong brand while the earlier branding task was accomplished through advertising. Companies are treating employees, distribution channel, and suppliers as their business partner and not customer.

Since companies have changed the way they function in the new economy, it is imperative that marketing practices also adapt. As consumers are looking forward going online for major of their purchase, businesses are looking towards electronic commerce (e-commerce) as a way forward. Research has shown online users usually buy music, software, books, apparel, etc. rather than goods like automobiles, house, etc. Business buyers are also coming online as well as suppliers, thereby substantially reducing the establishment cost. E-Commerce has also open doors for customer to customer relation through social networking and community forums, in which experience and discussion are done with respect to products. Through internet consumers are able to provide faster feedback to companies with respect to products and services.

As businesses are moving online, the focus shifts to developing of web sites to provide reliable and correct experience to consumers. Web site design, maintenance and security are of paramount importance for creating a favorable impression on consumer. Online marketing and advertisement have got prominence in this internet age.

The new economy had brought forward challenges and opportunities not only for companies but also for consumer.

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Culture and History, Tourist Places

India tourism:growth and classification

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Tourism is an important socio-economic activity. It provides enormous scope for economic development of a particular area.

According to Ziffer (1989), “Tourism involves travelling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects (both past and present) found in these areas.”

In India, temple towns, historical monuments and sea beaches were traditionally sought out as tourist attractions. But now the fabric of tourism is changing rapidly as nature, heritage, and recreational destinations are gaining more importance. In this background, eco-tourism has of late become a top attraction for the tourists.

Tourism growth in India

For a country that is surrounded by the Himalayas to the north, the Indian Ocean to the south, The Bay of Bengal to the east, and the Arabian Sea to the west, India quite hasn’t tapped into the full potential of tourism. Even the tourism industry is the largest service sector in India, the tourism growth in India is something that is still a work in progress.

With 37 UNESCO heritage sites and a land blessed with rich heritage and cultural diversity, each region in India has a unique story to tell. People have different expectations for tourism. Some prefer beaches, while others may like forests, some other people may be into deserts, etc. No matter what the preference, India has different regions to cater to everyone’s expectations. 

As per the WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council), about 9.2 percentage of India’s GDP in the year 2018 came from Tourism. From just over 2 million tourists in 2000 to over 42 million jobs in the Indian travel and tourism industry in 2018, and 10 million foreign tourists visiting the country in the same year, the growth of tourism in India has been steady. Despite these good tourism growth statistics, India has a long way to go to fully exploit this domain.

Tourism Development in India

The growth of tourism in India, although steady, is quite not up to the expectation. For a country with a population of 1.25 billion people, that is a minimum of 1.25 billion tourist visits. India, as a result, is doing great when it comes to domestic tourism with over 1.6 billion tourist visits to other states. However, when it comes to international tourists, this isn’t the case. The FTAs ( Foreign Tourist Arrival) in India is way below other developed countries. With an FTA of just over 10 million, it is almost one-eighth of what France has. Granted that this could be due to the free travel between Schengen countries, but there are several non-Schengen European countries, as well as other nations, such as Mexico, Turkey, Russia, etc that have FTAs more than twice that of India. One of the main reasons for this is the stringent immigration rules in India. Apart from this, other reasons that restricted a full flow of tourism in India were underdeveloped travel infrastructure, poor sanitation, as well as concerns about safety. These are aspects that every tourist look for while visiting a country. 

Areas of apprehension

Medical tourism: Indian has been the origin of Ayurvedic therapy, and even after centuries, the country is successful in sustaining its remedial inventions. Over the years, several specialised hospitals are incorporated in India, which are served by many skilled doctors. In addition, the presence of well-equipped medical facilities has also taken the standard of medical dealing of the country to a new feat of success across the globe. The government should understand the need of medical tourism in India and excel on various tourism policies targeting the medical tourism destinations like Kerala, Chennai and Mumbai. Accordingly, various infrastructural initiatives can be put into practice to promote medical tourism in India.

Medical tourism

Pilgrimage tourism: Harmony in diversity; this can best be experienced when in India. The country is laid out with plenty of religious destinations creating immense exposure for pilgrimage tourism. It is observed that most of the popular religious Indian sites are visited by thousands of pilgrims on regular basis. In addition, there are certain places as well which are believed to be quite religious but due to lack of promotion and government intrusion, these destinations are out of limelight. Hence, the respective state tourism authority should step forward in promoting pilgrimage tourism in India.

Pilgrimage tourism in India

Eco tourism: It is something new in Indian tourism sector, which invites tourist to visit and explore various locations without impacting its fragile ecosystem. Eco tourism in India basically aims to create environment awareness amongst the visitors and service provider. Starting from wildlife reserves to naturally blessed regions, there are plenty of enticing spots in India that are idyllic for eco tourism. Through eco tourism, the rich variety of flora and fauna in the country can be preserved for tourists. Therefore, by bringing in various initiatives pertaining to energy efficiency, water reuse and recycling of waste products, the concept of eco tourism can be made more impactful in the country. And most importantly, the revenue generated from eco tourism can further be utilised for funding various conservation projects and training programs.

Eco tourism in India

Youth tourism: This kind of tourism is specifically targeted for the youth travellers, who not only enjoy exploring new places but very adventure enthusiasts as well. Youth travel and tourism can also be included in the academic excursion wherein, the institute will arrange effective tourism program for the youth students. Besides, the craze of biking and many other rousing activities can equally be encouraged under such tourism schema. Today, youth visitors are considered as the most candid travellers all over the globe. Keeping in mind the volume of youth travellers, youth tourism market can further be segregated into independent youth travel and youth group travel. Independent youth travel may include an individual traveller or a group of independent travellers. On the other hand, independent youth travel includes a group of 6 or more youth (school/non-school group).  Under Youth Tourism, government should execute more enticing and academic execution program for the students.

Youth tourism in India

Cultural tourism: One should visit India to witness its cultural diversity. India is full of fiestas and traditional practices all round the calendar making the country one of the worth visiting destinations across the globe. Apart from religious variety, one can also get influenced by the diverse range of cuisines, languages, music tastes and architectures in the country. Considering the cultural affluences in the country, government and tourism authority should join hand in developing awareness program on cultural tourism.

Cultural tourism in India

Heritage tourism: The scope of heritage tourism in India is immense. Over the periods, it has been emerged as a major segment in tourism industry and an important source of revenue. Stepping in India will portray you its flourishing history that can still be witnessed in various majestic monuments, imperial fortress, holy shrines and other historic destinations. Indian government should come along various private enterprises in developing and preserving the significance of heritage tourism in India. Based upon the wide scope of heritage tourism in the country, this segment can further be grouped into various segments like industrial heritage, majestic heritage, religious tourism, ethnicity and urban renewal.

Heritage tourism in India

Agricultural tourism: Agricultural tourism or agritourism is a rapid growing sector today, which invites travelers to visit and explore various agricultural properties, farms, wineries and ranches. Under agritourism program, traveller can visit the working farms, involve into various activities and buy different agricultural products. In a country like India where majority of the populace is involved in farming and cultivation, agritourism should be promoted at higher level. Government should utilise its farming land by accommodating small gardens, activity areas, relaxation zone where traveller can come and spread its utility to enhance the scope of agricultural tourism in India.

Agricultural tourism in India

Education

Now restrict the covid to imact your financial credit

 – Since the beginning of March, COVID-19 has turned millions of Americans’ financial situations upside down.

While the economy is showing signs of recovery, many Americans are still unemployed and having to dip into their savings to cover basic living costs. To that end, the question remains: How do you protect your credit score? Read on for some tips.

• Contact your lender aas soon as possible if you can’t make a payment. On-time payments are the largest factor affecting your credit score. Many lenders continue to offer emergency support such as deferral or forbearance options that may allow you to reduce or suspend payments for a fixed period. However, if those terms are set to expire soon, you should “call your lender to discuss what options are available,” says Rod Griffin, senior director of consumer education and advocacy for the credit reporting agency Experian.

• Look for ways to boost your credit score. If you have limited credit history, building credit can be challenging. Experian’s free tool, Experian Boost, can help raise your FICO score instantly by giving you credit for on-time utility, phone and streaming service payments.

This type of alternative financial data, known as “consumer-permissioned data,” allows you to manage your data with confidence and qualify for better credit. In fact, two out of three Experian Boost users see an increase in their credit score with an average increase of about 12 points. That’s enough to make a significant difference when applying for a loan or any type of credit.

• Consider getting a balance transfer credit card or one with an introductory offer. Handled responsibly, this actually has the potential to increase your credit score while either buying you time to pay off your debts or getting a “welcome bonus” of perhaps hundreds of dollars. If you’re looking for personalized credit card options, tools like Experian CreditMatch can help you get the right card based on your financial profile.

• Pay attention to your utilization ratio. Your credit score is based on your total balance-to-limit ratio (a.k.a. “utilization rate”). Adding a new credit card increases your total available credit. As long as your total credit balance remains the same, you’d be decreasing your utilization rate, which can potentially boost your credit score. Be sure to transfer balances to the card with lower interest and be mindful of temporary low interest rates.

While any balance can cause scores to decline, you should keep your utilization under 30 percent, both overall and on individual accounts. Shooting for a top credit score? “Keep your utilization in the single digits, or even better, pay your credit card balances in full each month,” says Griffin.

• Fight fraud by checking your credit report regularly.According to the Federal Trade Commission., there’s been a huge jump in attempted credit – and debit-card fraud since the pandemic hit; consumers have lost more than $100 million to COVID-19-related fraud

Education, News

Impact of Covid-19 on global economy

Theme:-

  • COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) was first identified in Wuhan city of China in December 2019. On 30th January, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID19 as a Public Health Emergency of International concern (pandemic). As of 16th April 2021, more than 13 crores 90 lakh people were affected by Covid globally and nearly 30 lakh people died due to the virus.
  • Coronaviruses (CoV) are a group of viruses that affects animals and humans. The first coronavirus that can affect humans is discovered in the 1960s. Before COVID-19, this family of viruses caused the SARS outbreak in China in 2002, the MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
  • COVID-19 is not just affecting the health of the people, but also the economies of many countries. So the topic – ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Global economy‘ is widely discussed.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Global economy:-

  • Many people lost jobs, and the informal sector is badly hit. Unemployment is increasing. This is a huge setback for economies.
  • Due to the consumption slowdown in the world, exports and imports are affected. So, this affects the economies of almost all countries.
  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that the global economy shrunk by 4.4% in 2020. This is the worst decline after the 1930’s great depression. Many countries are facing a recession.
  • The health care sector hit hard and the expenditure is a big burden on many countries.
  • The movement of people is restricted due to the fears over the further spread of COVID-19, and hence tourism industry has faced huge losses in the initial months of the pandemic. Tourists spend money in the countries they visit, so the loss of this money is affecting the economies of many countries.
  • Due to the low demand for fuel when several countries imposed lockdowns, crude oil prices have dropped. Low crude oil prices are beneficial to oil-importing countries like India and detrimental to the economies of OPEC (Organization of petroleum exporting countries) countries like Saudi Arabia. Now, crude oil prices are improving.
  • According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), China is the biggest exporter and second-biggest importer of merchandise as of 2019. Many industries in other countries are depending on China for many raw goods such as pharmaceutical ingredients, automobile components etc. So, coronavirus has hit global supply chains badly. As many factories in China were closed at the start of the pandemic, production has halted for the dependent companies in other countries. Some companies went for alternatives, which is the costlier option. At present, several countries are trying to be self-sufficient. This is resulting in the dominance of nationalism over globalism.
  • Pharmaceutical companies, hygiene products manufacturing companies are benefitting from this situation.
  • Just like past pandemics, Covid too is coming in waves. At the time when countries are recovering from the first wave, several countries are facing a second wave of Covid and thereby weakening their economic recovery.

Conclusion:-

COVID-19 caused severe damage to the global economy. Nations are trying hard to rebuild their economies and to prevent further downfall. Vaccination drive should be at a faster pace to prevent further loss of lives and also the collapse of economies.

Education

ICSE, ISC Result will declare by tomorrow

ICSE and ISC result will be announced tomorrow on July 10 confirmed by Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) on its website.

The results will be released on the ‘CAREERS’ portal of the council, counsil’s main website, and through SMS as well .

The result will out at 3 PM .Students can check their result by loging  into the Council’s official website, ‘cisce.org’, and ‘results.cisce.org’. Students can also check their result through SMS. To get results on SMS, students would need to send their Unique id to 09248082883 in the following format : ‘ICSE/ISC (Unique ID)’.






Education

COVID-19: Impact on Employment

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This is imperative to that so far there had been no official estimate of loss brought about by lockdown implemented over the months due to coronavirus pandemic. A mutilate effect on an economy as large as India’s caused due a complete lockdown was impended. Unemployment across the country has ascended due to the coronavirus pandemic with sector making probably the greatest employment cuts.

The unemployment rate in the respective months of lockdown

A lockdown to restriction the spread of corona virus has seen 122 million Indians lose their positions in April alone, new information from a private examination office has appeared. Around 75% of them were little brokers and pay workers. Tamil Nadu was among the most exceedingly hit States. Its assessed unemployment rate in April was the most elevated among States and its work cooperation rate among the least. Kerala had the most reduced labour investment rate in April.

Glimpses of hopeless labourers, especially daily-wage workers, escaping urban areas filled TV screens and papers for the greater part of April. Their casual occupations, which utilize 90% of the populace, were the first to be hit as development halted, and cities suspended public vehicles.

Yet, extended curfews and the continued with the closure of organizations – and the unsure of when the lockdown will end – haven’t saved formal, secured occupations either.

Huge organizations across different divisions – media, aeronautics, retail, cordiality, autos – have reported enormous cutbacks as of late. What’s more, specialists anticipate that numerous small and medium organizations are probably going to close shop completely more critical glance at CMIE’s information shows the overwhelming impact the lockdown has had on India’s composed economy. Of the 122 million who have lost their positions, 91.3 million were little merchants and workers. In any case, a genuinely huge number of salaried specialists – 17.8 million – and independently employed individuals – 18.2 million – have likewise lost work.

India’s unemployment rate increased to 26.2 per cent in the third week stretch of April amid coronavirus lockdown, a report said. The all-inclusive lockdown is just expected to additionally hit the work economic situations, Mahesh Vyas, Managing Director and CEO, Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), said. “The work rate has tumbled from 40 per cent in February to 26 per cent now. This is a steep fall of 14 rate focuses. This infers 14 per cent of the working-age populace has lost their jobs. The working-age populace is of the request for a billion,” Mahesh Vyas likewise said in an article on the CMIE site. Fourteen crore individuals are relied upon to have lost work in the lockdown time frame, he said. Thus, the pace of work support has plunged to 35.4 per cent from 35.5 per cent. The work rate has now plunged to 26.1 per cent as against 27 per cent in the previous week, it included.

The worker markets are under equivalent pressure both in provincial and urban territories, he included. The pace of unemployment in provincial India stands higher at 26.7 per cent as against urban 25.1 per cent. “During the most recent seven day stretch of March and in the initial fourteen days of April, the unemployment rate drifted around 23-24 per cent. In the 1st week, it was 23.8 per cent; in the second week it dropped a piece to 23.4 per cent yet in the third week it bobbed back to 24 per cent. The differences were minor and all in all, they affirmed that the unemployment rate had for sure increased to around 24 per cent following the lockdown,” Mahesh Vyas further mentioned. The instability of the unemployment rate in urban India is additionally astounding, he said. The unemployment rate in urban India flooded to 30 and 31 per cent, individually in the first and second weeks of the lockdown. “At that point, in the accompanying fourteen days, it fell rather strongly to 23 and 25 per cent. This is a fairly sharp fall in the joblessness rate in urban India in spite of the fact that it remains very raised,” the report said.

In the meantime, the joblessness rate remained at 8.74 per cent in March, most noteworthy since August 2016 when demonetization occurred, an ongoing report by CMIE said. In August 2016, the unemployment rate was 9.59 per cent. While the joblessness rate was recorded at 9.35 per cent in urban zones, it remained at 8.45 per cent in provincial pieces of the nation, the information likewise appeared. In February, it was recorded at 7.78 per cent.

Unemployment rose to 24 per cent on May 17, 2020. This was perhaps an aftereffect of a diminishing sought after just as the disturbance of the workforce looked up by organizations. Moreover, this caused a GVA loss of nine per cent for the Indian economy that month.

Who suffered the most?

The direst outcome is for workers who don’t have a secure job. In the travel industry, for example, this class incorporates individuals who either work in temporary transient agreements or even without them. This incorporates guides, workers, cleaners working in shops, servers in cafés, vegetable sellers, meat, and flower vendors.

For these labourers, the infection flare-up has implied lost vocation. Industry body CII said that the greater part of the travel industry and accommodation industry can go wiped out with a potential loss of more than 20 million occupations if recuperation in the business extends past October 2020.

The content is comparative in numerous different administrations enterprises, in assembling and non-fabricating areas, for example, development. Lower development on account of falling interest and flexibly imperatives would make new occupation creation harder, yet besides, hurt the individuals who are now hired. Generally, around 136 million non-agrarian employments are at impending danger, gauges dependent on National Sample Survey (NSS) and Periodic Labor Force Surveys (PLFS) information proposed. These are individuals who don’t have a composed agreement and incorporate casual workers, the individuals who work in the non-enrolled small-scale industry, enlisted small organizations, and even the self-employed.

While the daily paid workers are enduring the worst part in the primary period of the pandemic, organizations across businesses could give termination notice on momentary agreements next. More than 5,000,000 Indians have work contracts not exactly a year in incumbency.

Demographic disaster

The COVID-19 pandemic comes at a troublesome segment time for India and would just aggravate an approaching employment emergency. India needs to make almost 10 million vacancies consistently to ingest individuals moving into the working-age populace, other than those that are as of now jobless.

The Adecco Group India, a staffing organization, has planned the effect of COVID-19 spread across work in some Indian companies. It said around 9,000,000 occupations can be decreased over the assembling groups of materials, capital merchandise, textiles, food items, metals, plastics, elastic, and gadgets. Manpower cuts in the automobiles began last quarter due to falling deals.

The coronavirus circumstance will just intensify joblessness. Adecco assessed that the vehicle business can lose up to a million occupations in the vendor biological system, forefront jobs, and the semi-talented. Around 600,000 ground and bolster jobs on contract in the avionics business are in danger.

Unmistakably, a work advertises crunch right currently can without much of a stretch transform into a bad dream. Other than the chance of social agitation, expect more requests for additional reservations in government occupations.

“The ramifications of this emergency will be critical. We will have less financial space to make truly necessary interests in, for instance, instruction, aptitudes, safeguard social insurance, and foundation. This won’t simply keep us from pushing ahead however will slow down us. Our enormous and developing youth populace will be additionally disappointed, conceivably prodding social conflict, wrongdoing, and flimsiness,” she included.136 million at risk

Santosh Mehrotra, a human development economist, and professor at the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University pegs India’s labour force at 495 million. In 2017-18, about 30 million were unemployed, which implies that 465 million are currently employed.

Who among the already hired are the most helpless ones? The simple answer is those that don’t have the security for their job; those with no social assurance. They are graded as “impermanent” labourers.

The portion of the formal segment was fixed at 90.7% generally and 83.5% in the non-agriculture areas. Most gauges in the paper depend on NSS and PLFS information. Since there are 260 million individuals hired in India’s non-farm unit (agribusiness utilizes another 205 million), the number of casual specialists aggregates around 217 million across administrations, producing, and non-production zone.

One shade of insecure work among the casual groups is those that have no composed employments contract. Numbers sorted out from the Mehrotra paper proposes that around 28 million have no composed activity contracts in assembling; 49 million in non-producing; and 59 million in administrations in 2017-18. In general, around 136 million labourers in India, or over a large portion of the absolute employee hired in non-agriculture parts, have no agreements and remain at risk in the repercussion of the corona pandemic.

They can be terminated without notice or severance. Most daily wage workers or informal workers fall in this section. Their torment is found in Twitter and TV channels—recordings of several vagrant labourers strolling back to their towns. A lot of them work in buildings. Work in land development, for instance, is affected because real estate dispatches and deals are travelled south given that lower economic development is presently a conviction.

In the United States workforce, 44% of individuals are engaged in low-salary, temporary employment—the fragment of the working populace that is turning into the first to lose their positions because of the pandemic. Left to confront expanded monetary load, they are getting scared of the fact that where and when their next pay will originate from. They are even very nearly thinking if their families will have the option to endure this epic emergency.

With the loss of their occupations, they can’t pay for necessities including rent, utilities, and food. Additionally, schools were providing meals for youngsters, presently leaving these kids in danger of confronting hunger with schools being shut. With fears of appetite, vagrancy, and certain misery on the ascent for this effectively defenceless populace.

Because of this desperate circumstance, embrace relief is propelling a battle with your assistance to give the same number of individuals in the U.S. with money related help for lease, food, and utilities during the Coronavirus pandemic. one just can’t leave this defenceless populace to confront this difficulty all alone and realize that particularly amid aggregate concern.

The trickle-down effect

Between February and April 2020, the share of households that experienced a fall in income shot up to nearly 46 per cent. Inflation rates on goods and services including food products and fuel were expected to rise later this year. Social distancing resulted in job losses, specifically those Indian society’s lower economic strata. Several households terminated domestic help services – essentially an unorganized monthly-paying job. Most Indians spent a large amount of time engaging in household chores themselves, making it the most widely practised lockdown activity.

Education

Atmanirbhar Bharat

Atmanirbhar Bharat is not a new movement rather it is an advanced version of movements like the Fourth Five year Plan (1969-1974) and swadeshi movement.

  1. The fourth five-year plan was introduced by Indira Gandhi which stated two major objectives:

• Stable Growth of India
• Self Reliant India

  1. Swadeshi movement is also known as MAKE IN INDIA movement launched in the year 1905 by mahatma Gandhi which instructed to boycott British products and put into use the products made in India

And the current pandemic situation has made us again to get along with the previous plans to make our country self-sufficient. Hence our honorable prime minister Narendra Modi Ji has launched a mission well known as Atmanirbhar Bharat(self-reliant India). This mission has been interpreted by some people as a re-packaged version of the Make in India movement using new catchphrases such as ‘Vocal for Local’.

The purpose aim of this plan is two-fold. The primary measure such as liquidity infusion and immediate cash transfers for the poor which will work as a trauma shield for those in critical density.

The secondary measure to ensure long-term reforms in growth-critical sectors to make them globally competitive and attractive.

Together, this move may bring back the economic activity, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and generate new opportunities for better growth in sectors like coal and mining, power, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), agriculture, aviation, and defense,etc. Still, many challenges are required to be directed to attain the vision of this master plan.

On May 12, 2020, our Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, proclaimed a particular economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore (equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP) focusing to build the country self-sufficient against the tough race in the global supply chain and to help out in authorizing the migrants, poor and laborers who have been adversely affected by COVID pandemic. The Prime Minister’s address also emphasized that the MSME sector will act as the substructure for economic improvement. Intending to get back the MSME sector back on its feet, the Prime Minister proclaimed the MSME sector to be within the compass of the Atma-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (ANBA).

This mission requires India to boycott Chinese merchandise (and promote AN Atmanirbhar India instead) and much tough within the short term for the country as India imports $75 billion prices of products once a year from China, to the extent that elements of Indian business.

Following the Galway depression skirmish on 15 June 2020

Indian troopers died, was serious concern creating the country self-directed, Chinese firms should not be given plans and projects like the Delhi-Meerut RRTS.

A large number of firms with weak balance sheets in aviation, hospitality, and tourism zones hit the toughest with little hopes of a revival. While the reforms have mainly addressed supply-side issues via a liquidity boost, it’s didn’t address industry-specific demand for a rescue package. Injecting money into businesses directly has not happened.

furthermore, in a short term, any move towards autonomy can bring back at the value of shoppers, United Nations agency can either pay additional for associates degree Indian different or deal with a less economical Indian alternative rather than enjoying the simplest product at the most cost-effective costs attainable.

Within weeks or months later, we expect a fixed strategy move towards achieving the objective of Atmanirbhar Bharat because, without them, it will redo the apathetic pathway of the Make In India initiative.

Let us hope the current plans and strategy under this mission do not hitch India’s economic progress like what happened just after the independence of India.

Education

The Predicament of the MSMEs


The declaration of the COVID-19 as a global pandemic gave rise to a state of confusion amongst nations. With people foraging for an answer during these uncertain times, Google reported that “since the first week of February, search interest in coronavirus increased by +260% globally.” The pandemic was successful in not only putting a dent in the health-related sectors but also in the economic sphere. McKinsey and Company revealed that the onset of this pandemic made huge ripples around the globe. The effects of these ripples were further built up with the discovery of the situation of several jobs around the globe. A recent data of the International Labour Organization (ILO) with regards to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on labour market revealed the ruinous effects it had on workers in the informal economy and on hundreds of millions of enterprises worldwide.
The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic in March saw and continues to see a steep surge in unemployment. The sharp drop in work as a result of the outbreak meant that around 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy (approximately 50% of the global workforce) face the danger of levelling of their livelihoods warned the International Labour Organization. “ILO Monitor third edition: COVID-19 and the world of work,” brought to light that the drop in working hours especially in the current quarter of 2020 is expected to be notably worse than anticipated. “Compared to pre-crisis levels (Q4 2019), 10.5 per cent deterioration is now expected, equivalent to 305 million full-time jobs (assuming a 48-hour working week). The previous estimate was for a 6.7 per cent drop, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers. This is due to the prolongation and extension of lockdown measures,” stated a document issued by the International Labour Organization regarding the crisis.
The disturbance in the economic sphere has led to a damage of billions of informal economy workers (representing the most vulnerable in the labour market), out of which a worldwide total of 2 billion and a global workforce of 3.3 billion suffered massive impairment to their livelihood. The ILO revealed that the initial months of the crisis is estimated to have resulted in a drop of 60% in the income of informal workers globally. Statistics divulged that a drop of 81% in Africa and the Americas, 21.6% in Asia and the Pacific, and 70% in Europe and Central Asia was witnessed. The challenge regarding employment has been especially critical for small businesses. Firms with fewer than 100 employees have been seen to be more vulnerable when compared to 40% of the large private-sector employers.
Moody’s Investor Service claimed the downgrading of Indian economy by estimating 0% growth in FY21. The study laid bare that the fiscal measures introduced by the Government were unlikely to offset lower consumption and slow-moving economic activity. Berstein entertained -7% growth, whereas both Goldman Sachs and Normura forecasted a 5% contraction in the Indian economy. The report further stated that although the direct fiscal impact of the policy reforms 1-2% of GDP, it would provide limited impetus to the furtherance of the economy. A strain in the fiscal deficit would contribute to an increase in future debt in debt-to-GDP term reported Moody’s. Moreover, the Investor Service opined that Indian Government’s extension of ‘working capital loans’ to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will not suffice and shield from the economic shock they are facing now as they were already facing financial strain well before the crisis.
The MSME sector which is among the worst-hit, globally, accounts for 33.4% of India’s output along with a whopping 45% of Indian export. These enterprises, since the day of the announcement of the pandemic, have been facing the possibility of extinction. The MSMEs that rely upon daily transaction to stay afloat have been facing serious problems as a result of thee nationwide lockdown. A survey conducted by All India Manufacturers’ Organisation (AIMO) that covered 5000 MSMEs showed how 71% of the small businesses were unable to pay salaries since March. Moreover, the findings of the survey revealed that more than 40% of the businesses would shut shop sooner or later. The CII CEOs snap poll disclosed that almost 54% of company heads predicted job losses irrespective of the sector they are in whereas 45% foresee 15-30% layoffs. For instance, one of the most famous auto-manufacturing company, Maruti Suzuki informed that the production in April was ‘zero’. The predicament has been visible across different manufacturing industries, including textiles, chemicals, etc. TransUnion Cibil discussed that there was a risk of 2.3 lakh crores worth loan might become non-performing. Moreover, with the increase in the demand for cash flow, there will emerge issues that are expected to prevail even with relaxations introduced by the government.
To give a shove to the MSMEs and inject life-blood to this sector:

  1. GOI declared a cut in a policy of repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.4%.
  2. More than 3 lakh crore rupees was injected into the system.
  3. Moreover, it allowed a 3-month moratorium on the payment of instalment with regards to existing loans.
  4. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) opened another window of 50,000 rupees for refinancing. Based on this, post receiving this money, banks will be mandated to invest within one month. RBI also reduced liquidity coverage ratio to 80% whilst providing a special financial scheme to All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) at repo rate.
  5. Emergency credit lines have been created by several banks.
  6. A low-interest rate of 5% has been declared.
  7. Various business continuity measures have been adopted by the RBI.
    Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, explained that Government of India has been working tirelessly on policies concerning the MSMEs with focus on entrepreneurship development. The sector that accounts for nearly 30% of the economy of Indian nation needs a robust economic plan so that it can get its engine running once again after COVID-19 ceases to exist. The post-pandemic economic scenario would be one that would introduce capital scarcity to the globe. Nations all around need to conclusively come up with a plan that would be mainly concerned with reviving the MSME sector. A comprehensive system that would get back the MSMEs on track is the need of the hour.
News

BOYCOTT CHINA CONTROVERSY

What is Boycott China controversy?

Boycott of Chinese products is a slogan used by Internet campaigns that advocate a boycott of Chinese-made products. Commonly cited reasons for the boycott include the alleged low quality of products, human rights issues, territorial conflicts involving China, support for separatist movements within China, and objection to more specific matters relating to China, such as the eating of dog meat and the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, and more recently, the government’s alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Countries including India, Philippines, and Vietnam have called for a boycott of Chinese goods, as have separatist movements in China itself. A full boycott of Chinese products is considered to be difficult to achieve, as the country manufactures a large number of goods that are widely sold and used across the world, and also holds stakes in various non-Chinese companies.

Causes

China is the largest country in the world by population, and the third largest by territory, sharing long borders with several other nations. Border conflicts have occurred many times between China and their neighbors during its history.] At the center of Asia, some Chinese emperors attempted to expand their empires through war. There are also a lot of conflicting national interests and policies between China and other nations, like the disputes between the other nations with China and its allies. As a result of these conflicts, there is dissent against China amongst its bordering nations, and calls for the boycotting of Chinese products originate from residual resentment due to border conflicts.

In 1949, the Communist Party of China won the Chinese Civil War, gaining control of China. Since the 1980s, with the “reform and opening up”, Chinese leaders have made economic development one of their first priorities. Chinese businesses often produce goods tailored to market expectations; therefore, Chinese products generally may lack quality when consumers prefer to pay a low price.

Overpopulation is also considered a possible reason for manufacturing low-quality products; some firms cannot find enough of the needed raw materials to produce goods that serve customer requirements and follow safety standards, instead producing products made with cheaper or low-quality material. Many companies and businesses also lack capital, industry expertise, and marketing power, leading to their manufacturing of counterfeit products. Many companies produce such goods to piggyback on the popularity of legitimate companies such as Apple, Hyatt and Starbucks are copied. However, by looking at the situation in the context of history, it is often argued that this is simply a normal transition in manufacturing, and that a phase of low quality and counterfeit manufacturing is not unique to China alone, as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have undergone very similar economic phases. Keeping the aforementioned information in mind, with high quality goods being delivered from Chinese firms such as Huawei and Lenovo in recent years, it can be observed that the state of Chinese manufacturing quality is ostensibly trending upward.

The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was considered a signal of poor food safety, affecting thousands of people, and as a result, many Chinese parents do not trust Chinese milk products. In recent years, however, the Chinese government has taken many actions in order to prevent sales of substandard food.

Technology produced by Chinese companies has also been a subject of scrutiny, especially by the United States; for example, in 2018, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 into law, containing a provision that banned Huawei and ZTE equipment from being used by the U.S. federal government, citing security concerns.

Some organisations have used the COVID-19 pandemic as part of campaigns against China; for example, the Vishva Hindu Parishad in India has called for a boycott of China in retaliation for China’s allegedly being directly responsible for the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus strain and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic.

Boycott in India

India and Tibet have called for a joint campaign to boycott Chinese goods in response to border intrusion incidents allegedly perpetrated by China. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsanghchalak (chief) Mohan Bhagwat stated “We speak about self-dependence and standing up to China. The new government seems to be standing up to it. But where will the government draw strength from if we don’t stop buying things from China?”

In 2016, China denied the entry of India to the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Along with this, China is viewed as a major roadblock by Indians towards its permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, with China having used its veto power repeatedly to keep India out of the UNSC while the US, UK, France and Russia support India. Meanwhile, China provides Pakistan unconditional support in many international stages; despite the fact that many countries including India and the USA claim that Pakistan is a state sponsor of terrorism. Also, China makes a large amount of investments in Pakistan. During the conflict between the India and Pakistan in August–September 2016 after the Uri attack, the supporting stand of China towards Pakistan led to a campaign to boycott Chinese products in India. As a consequence, sales of Chinese products dipped by about 40 percent in the period immediately after the boycott call. Patanjali Ayurved founder Ramdev Baba was among the many people to have spoken of boycotting Chinese goods amid the 2017 Doklam standoff when nationalist sentiments had risen.

In May 2020, in response to the 2020 China–India skirmishes which were allegedly perpetrated by China’s People’s Liberation Army, Indian engineer, educator and innovator Sonam Wangchuk appealed to Indians to “use your wallet power” and boycott Chinese products. He called for India to “stop using Chinese software in a week and hardware in a year”. This appeal was covered by major media houses and supported by various celebrities.

In spite of various campaigns by notable individuals and organisations, Chinese companies still have influence over various markets, especially relating to consumer technology and software. For example, as in March 2020, Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme and Vivo accounted for approximately 73% of smartphone sales in India. On the other hand, Samsung Electronics and Nokia, both companies that once led the market, together accounted for less than 22% of smartphone sales. In spite of the campaigns, retailers have stated that the growing rhetoric is unlikely to sway consumer behaviour, especially due to alleged “value for money” in Chinese products, especially smartphones.

Chinese companies also invest heavily in Indian companies; 18 out of 30 of India’s billion-dollar startups are funded by China. Major Chinese investment firms like Alibaba Group and Tencent hold investments in major companies that are considered to be Indian, like BYJU’S, Zomato, Ola Cabs and Flipkart. In spite of the Indian government recording the origin of foreign direct investment, many Chinese companies exploit loopholes by investing in Indian companies through their non-Chinese subsidiaries; for example, Alibaba’s investment in Paytm was by Alibaba Singapore Holdings Pvt. Ltd. Hence, these investments don’t get recorded in India’s government data as Chinese investments.

In view of these circumstances, various other issues have been pointed out. For example, B. Thiagrajan, managing director of Blue Star Limited, an Indian manufacturer of air conditioners, air purifiers and water coolers said “We are not worried about finished goods. But most players across the globe import key components such as compressors from China,” and added that it would take a long time to set up local supply chains, and that there were few alternatives for certain kinds of imports. Besides, boycotting popular Chinese apps such as TikTok has been suggested as a more effective alternative to boycotting physical goods in terms of value added because there are multiple alternatives

Is it practically possible to boycott China?

It is not practically possible for India to cease the entry of Chinese products altogether. Even if the Government passes a law to stop the official use of Chinese products, then also Chinese products are going to hit the market through unauthorized entry and smuggling. People are all so attracted towards the Chinese products because they are cheap. We all know that India is a third world country or a developing country. So the majority of the population here are lower middle class or lower class. As a result they do not have enough money to spend on costly luxurious things. So they try to settle for a cheap but look-alike substitute by which they can still enjoy some of the benefits of the modern world. This chiefly includes smartphones, smart watches, laptops and other electronic items.

Apart from that, there is a huge annual transaction between India and China. This boosts the economy of both the countries. But as China is the producer of the goods, so even if they are cornered, they can produce their own stuff and carry on their life almost normally. But if the boycott is started by India, then India will not only suffer monetary losses, but also it will not receive the goods needed for the day to day life of its citizens.

So although the hostilities between India and China in recent times is completely unacceptable and also there have been reports that China heavily funds Pakistan, which is renowned all over the world as the hub of terrorist funding, it is not pragmatic for India to completely stop using Chinese hardware, that too in the course of a year. But, of course, if the Indian Government plans to stop the use of Chinese apps and softwares, that is a still practical decision but then Indian companies will have to come up with applications and softwares that would replace the boycotted Chinese apps. In a nutshell, before India plans to make any drastic decision, it should check all grounds to see if this #BoycottChina is a very practical decision or not.