FCRA: The Restricting Law of a Nation-State, that is, Bharat
Review of Foreign Contributions Regulations Act details civil society reactions to the FCRA amendments and possible solutions to the problems.
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Economy
“The economy is a very sensitive organism.”
– Hjalmar Schacht
Vicious Cycle of Economic Slowdown in South Asia
Sri Lanka and Pakistan are dealing with serious economic crises. Apart from serious domestic issues like shortage of essential commodities, and power cuts, both countries have meagre foreign exchange reserves. The excessive dependence on China is the main reason for the increasing debt trap. Both countries also had to seek International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance despite domestic opposition against the conditionalities imposed by the IMF. It is important for South Asian countries to work towards more robust economic linkages within the region and to shed dependence upon external assistance.
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The Growth Story Of ASEAN Powers: Indonesia and Malaysia
While the Malaysian economy has been adversely impacted as a result of political instability, the Indonesian economy has benefited immensely from political stability. Also, Malaysia has been lagging behind Indonesia in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). But still Malaysia continues to be one of the most attractive investment destinations in ASEAN.
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Gig Economy: The New Disruptor of Education, Jobs & Social Security
A new philosophy of labour economics is flourishing because of gig recruiters who only target their requirements irrespective of whether the doers have any formal educational certificates or not and the worthiness of gig workers decides their hiring. The sole reliance on the expertise of individuals to perform the respective jobs is likely to delink the educational attainments with the jobs which in turn will also decouple the educational attainments from the pay levels. It is imperative for the education system to engrain the students with comprehensive abilities to adapt, and learn-unlearn-learn in the self-initiated mode for remaining relevant and fetch higher incomes for themselves in the changed economic spectrum. The ensuing independence of educational attainments from jobs and income may push children out of the formal education system for immediate jobs and higher incomes, which may have its implications on the overall capacity building of human resources for sustainability.
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India’s Growing Demand For Exotic Pets Is Bad News For All
India’s Growing Demand For Exotic Pets is bad news for all and surest way to curb it would be to let this demand die down.
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Making Sense of Falling Apples Prices in Jammu and Kashmir
Apple growers in Kashmir Valley are on the roads to express their simmering anger due to price crashes and infrastructural bottlenecks. Out of 2.1- 2.9 million tons of apples grown in India annually, around 75 percent comes from the Kashmir valley. In order to enhance the income of apple growers, there is a need to address the infrastructural bottlenecks, technical upgradation of capabilities of horticultural staff, improvement in market intelligence system, branding and government need to regulate the pesticides. Further, there is also a need for reducing the layers in the supply chain by necessary ICT intervention. The government needs to explore Cooperative farming, strengthen farmer-produce organizations and incentivize the establishment of fruit processing units.
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All That Glitters is Gold Indeed
Generally, people make investments in banks and gold. All that glitters is indeed gold due to good returns on gold sale in time of need.
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Catastrophic Consequences of the Conflict
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has had a long history and with threat perceptions on both sides. However, the conflicts and wars benefit only a few, and that too in the short term. The world must work together to end this crisis at the earliest. Or else, its cascading effect might push the whole world into an abyss from where the recovery would become extremely difficult. The underdeveloped and the developing world are likely to be the worst affected and they all must come together to pitch for peace.
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Fee Fixation for Technical Higher Education
Prescribing a precise amount of fees may well be construed as if the council is exceeding its mandate of prescribing the norms and guidelines for charging tuition and other fees. Pricing regulation assumes particular significance in the context of the higher educational institutions, which are, as yet expected to operate as not-for-profit entities. They are prohibited from profiteering or indulging in crass commercialization. Nonetheless, unable to fill their sanctioned intake, many institutions do not invest in labs, physical facilities, infrastructure, and human resources and, thus, find themselves trapped in the vicious cycle of mediocrity. Fixing a mandatory minimum level of fees would favour such institutions but cannot be said just for the students.
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Fallouts of Financial Sanctions Against Russia
Russia-Ukraine war is effecting world economy through financial sanctions imposed against Russia, its fallouts are likely to be severe.
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The Indian Economy: Stop the Slide…Before It Slips
The current crisis in Sri Lanka must make us sit back and realize our own vulnerabilities. Slowing growth rate, rising borrowings, increasing magnitude of withdrawal by the institutional investors and widening gap between export and import must make India cautious. The economy must be beyond electoral politics. We must leave everything aside and work with focused attention to protecting and safeguarding our economy. The rest can wait, but not the economy!
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Alternative to SWIFT: Russia-Ukraine War Highlights the Urgency
The financial warfare against Russia, inter alia, has cut off Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) thereby blocking Russia from rapid money transfers internationally. Even though SWIFT accounts for no more than 1 percent of the transactions involving Russian entities and payments, the ban may potentially disrupt its trade in energy and agricultural produce as well as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FII). In totality, the sanctions against Russia may shrink its economy by 5 percent. The current crisis has made many countries of the world think of developing alternative payment systems and capabilities. This would be a challenging task as the alternative to SWIFT would work only when a larger number of countries become willing to cooperate and agree to become a part of the alternative network.
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Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Impact on Global Flow of Funds
The Russia-Ukraine conflict can intensify the already shaken economic conditions created by COVID-19 as inflationary pressures might have an effect on many countries. Investors in Central and Eastern Europe are cautious with their investments. As per an IMF report, the sanctions imposed against Russia will impact the global economy. It clearly seems to have already affected FDI and portfolio investment in many countries, including India. For the sixth month in a row, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net sellers in February, selling shares worth $4.9 billion. It was also the most shares sold by FPIs since the epidemic began in March 2020, when they sold $8.3 billion worth of stock. The Union Finance Minister of India had stated that the Russia-Ukraine conflict and surge in crude oil prices pose risk to the financial stability of the country.
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Economic Implications of Russia-Ukraine Crisis
The world has been thrown into yet another catastrophe caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine and the retaliatory sanctions imposed on Russia by the major economies of the world. It is now time to see how would these twin crises of the pandemic and the ongoing conflict affect the geopolitics and world economy. Russia accounts for nearly a quarter of the global gas market and has been a major supplier of crude, platinum. Russia and Ukraine are also the top suppliers of neon gas, essential for making semiconductor chips, an essential component of every electronic item. Even though the direct effect of sanctions on major economies might appear minuscule as they may have relatively smaller and limited trade with Russia, they too would suffer significantly on account of indirect, collateral, and tangential repercussions.
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Bracing for the Changing Geopolitics: Ukraine Crisis and Energy Security in India
As Russian troops reach Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, the Brent crude prices have already touched $110 a barrel, a level that was breached 8 years ago in 2014. The moot question, therefore, is, whether or not India was ready to anticipate and handle the consequences arising out of such a crisis with minimal disruptions. Taxes on petroleum, today, may be a major source of revenue but is also vulnerable to volatility impelling upon the need to look for an alternative but stable source of revenue to the government.
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A Tax-Free Economy to Tackle the Menace of Black Money?
Recently, Rajya Sabha MP and economist Dr. Subramanian Swamy made a bold suggestion that Income Tax be abolished to boost the economy and that the revenue loss to the public exchequer could be easily recovered through other sources. Although a good number of economists may agree that taxation is the major culprit for creating black money, they are likely to shun the idea of abolishing taxes to tackle the menace of black money, due to their orientation and training in public finance which sees taxes inevitable. Yet, a few economists should at least explore this as a possibility by factoring in all the enormities and complexities that the idea entails.
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White Paper on Nepal’s Economy: A Critical Review
Deuba Governments fall replaced by Sharma’s coalition Government has challenges. Here is critical review of White Paper on Nepal’s Economy
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The Great Indian Economy: Ravaged by COVID-19, Ruined by Petroleum Prices and Policies:
The economy has suffered immensely due to the price rise in essential oil and fuel. The economic slowdown put the economy under downward pressure leading to cutting down on the consumption of essential commodities. The policy needs to be more resilient to curb the ravages of unprecedented events. Let us see how the fluctuating petroleum prices are impacting the economy.
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Inflationary Trends in Indian Petrol, Diesel, LPG Prices: An Analysis
The prices of petrol, diesel and LPG have caused a major disruption in the mobility of the Indian masses. The constant price hike has triggered an inflationary trend that gradually forces communities to take a leap back from the consumption of energy fuels and makes it obligatory to analyse the inflationary petroleum prices in India.
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Zomato Goes Public, Paytm in the Queue. Yet, 90% Indian Startups Fail within 5 Years. Why?
The recent IPO of Zomato is just one case in the larger canvass of the Indian startups going public. Another Indian startup, Paytm, is eyeing the largest Indian IPO of Rs. 16,600 crore. However, India’s startup ecosystem is lagging behind in terms of the conversion rate of startups into unicorns. Here, we analyse the internal and external factors that play role in the survival of start-ups in India, the various government policies in place for providing them with a supportive environment, the reasons for the failure of Indian startups and required measures to ensure their viability in the long run.
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Indian Startups Leading The Way in COVID-19
The article analyses the importance of startups in an economy with a focus on India. It mentions the contributions of the startups before and during the ongoing pandemic and how this is expected to unfold in the future for the benefit of the nation.
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Indian Startup Ecosystem Third Largest, Behind China & US: A Comparison of Three Growth Engines
The global race to become the most developed nation starts from the roots: the start-ups. India, China and the US are in the middle of intense competition to become production leaders with the former two growing at unprecedented rates. This article throws light on the policies implemented by these nations to achieve this growth and how they differ amongst them. It also looks at the upcoming markets which are expected to see an inflow of a great number of start-ups in the future.
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Understanding Indian Startup Ecosystem
This article closely analyses the Indian start-up ecosystem and how these start-ups are distributed throughout the states of the country. It further observes which sectors see the most rush of new start-ups and what are the reasons why start-ups prefer some states over others. Lastly, it throws light on the sources of investments these start-ups receive and how this picture is also changing amidst an increase in tensions with neighbouring China.
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Introspecting Digitalization in the Indian Economy
The cycle of strong economic growth depends upon the wheels of digital infrastructure and data privacy. Contextualizing it, post-pandemic India entails a digital recovery, wherein citizens will be digitally literate and aware.
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Is Urbanization Taking a Wrong Direction in India?
The overall economic structure of urban areas in countries is severely affected due to the rapid urbanization in recent times. Improvement in policy planning & urban infrastructure, and land use planning is essential to regain the lost momentum of the urban environment in the country.
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The Economics of Clean Energy
India should use the opportunities available in clean energy sector to address the issue of unemployment. Owing to the availability of clean energy sources, India can also emerge as an exporter of energy in near future. It will help making India self-sufficient in many senses.
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Implications of Migration from Rural Areas
With the improving education qualifications in the young population, they tend to move towards urban centres for more valuable occupations. This leaves behind unskilled labour in rural areas having limited knowledge of new technologies. With increasing amenities in urban areas escalating the industrial sector, the pressure is building upon rural areas. Migrants are enticed to leave the villages to fulfil the needs of urban people and industries.
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Rebooting Infrastructure: National Infrastructure Pipeline Dashboard
Rebooting Infrastructure by NIP Dashboard holds promises as in monetizing infrastructural assets, public trust plays a crucial role. The dashboard shall also let the people of the country know how many projects are being implemented. Such a social audit mechanism increases efficiency & promotes a culture of accountability in the functioning of the government.
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Transparent Taxation – Honouring the Honest: An Introspection
Introspecting ‘Transparent Taxation- Honouring the Honest’ shows hidden loopholes that deserve to be identified and monitored.
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Post-Corona Recovery through Employment Generation in Forestry
Linking employment generation schemes in the corona era to meeting our forestry targets could prove to be a game-changer for the nation’s poor in these trying times as well as provide a lifeline to our beleaguered forests.
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GST and Governance in India
To implement GST effectively, we need coordination between bureaucrats and the politicians in power. We need to understand Chakravyuha Challenges of the Indian Economy ‘ making great strides in removing entry barriers for firms, talent, and technology but showing less vigour to remove the exit barriers’. We have to be alert, aware, and awake of the ‘Cobra Effect’ which occurs when an attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse.
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Path of Revival for Global Economy
World has to accept the realities of economic crisis in terms of slow growth & recession. What is the path of revival for the global economy?
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Liquor as Cash Cow for Financing
Being a needonomist and nationalist, I wish to draw the attention of the stakeholders including 28 State and 9 UT
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Lockdown in Indian Economy
By M M Goel For me, the lockdown was a shock on March 25, 2020, with a pinch of salt.
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Resuscitating Migrant Workers to Economy
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Mahatma Gandhi The lockdown
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Villages: The New Wheels of Economy in Post-Pandemic World
“The soul of India lives in its villages” Mahatma Gandhi For quite some time air has been filled with the
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