Skip to main content

State of the Indian Union

The world's largest democracy and second most populous country has emerged as a major power after centuries of colonial barbarianism which virtually bankrupt the country. After independence in 1947, India tried centralized planning and controlled economy. Government controlled quota regime which says what and how much has to be produced constrained the economic growth and investment.

The economic reforms started in 1980's produced a burgeoning urban middle class and has made great strides in fields such as information technology. Its large, skilled workforce makes it a popular choice for international companies seeking to outsource work. India launches its own satellites and plans to send a spacecraft to the moon. India also boasts a massive cinema industry, the products of which are among the most widely-watched films in the world.

As a country of over a billion people with one-third of the population under the age of 15 and median age just under 25 it has the best assets for development and prosperity. But the vast mass of the rural population remains illiterate and impoverished. 4 out of 10 people over the age of 15 are illiterate. It is higher in the rural areas. Their lives continue to be dominated by the ancient Hindu caste system, which assigns each person a fixed place in the social hierarchy.

India is a nuclear weapon state and it has continued conflict with Pakistan and border disputes with China.

Services are the major source of economic growth which accounts for more than half of India's output with less than one quarter of its labor force. About three-fifths of the work force is in agriculture and their living conditions didn't changed much.

As the fourth largest and second fastest growing economy in the world, India is an economic powerhouse that continues to expand at an unprecedented rate. Over the last ten years, its GNP grew around 7 percent per year – solidly outpacing its population growth of approx. 2 percent annually. While much of the population currently remains in the agricultural and allied sectors, but India is both a source of new talent and an attractive market, as millions of young and educated graduates enter the economy each year, helping transform the Indian economy into one of the global major players.

Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Your comments here.

Popular Posts

Effects of Colonization in India

Some people still have the illusion that the British Raj was not all that bad. But in reality is that the British Colonial rule as against the interests of the common people of the Indian sub-continent and it destroyed the education system, economy, ancient monuments and livelihood of the people. One can trace the education system in India to third century B.C. Ancient days, the sages and scholars imparted education orally. After the development of letters it took the form of writing. Palm leaves and bark of trees were used for education. Temples and community centers often took the role of schools. When Buddhism spread in India , education became available to everyone and this led to the establishment of some world famous educational institutions Nalanda, Vikramshila and Takshashila. These educational institutes in fact arose from the monasteries. History has taken special care to give Nalanda University , which flourished from the fifth to 13th century AD, full credit for its e...
15 comments
Read more

Rise of Indian Nationalism

In India , the decades after the First War for Independence (1857) were a period of growing political awareness, manifestation of public opinion, and emergence of leadership at national and provincial levels. Gloomy economic uncertainties created by British colonial rule and the limited opportunities that awaited for the increasing number of western-educated graduates began to dominate the rhetoric of leaders who had begun to think of themselves as a nation despite differences along the lines of region, religion, language, and caste. Dadabhai Naoroji formed East India Association in 1867, and Surendranath Banerjee founded Indian National Association in 1876. Indian National Congress is formed in 1885 in a meeting in Bombay attended by seventy-three Indian delegates. The delegates were mostly members of the upwardly mobile and successful Western-educated provincial elites, engaged in professions such as law, teaching, and journalism. They had acquired political experience from regio...
16 comments
Read more

Human Judgement

Human judgment is the cognitive process by which individuals evaluate situations, weigh evidence, make decisions, and form beliefs or opinions. It is essential for daily life and critical thinking. Human judgment is shaped by a blend of psychological components, including cognitive processes, emotions, biases, heuristics, and social influences. These elements interact to determine how people gather, interpret, and act upon information in both routine and complex situations. It emerges from a combination of logic, emotion, bias, intuition, learned experience, and social context, making it powerful yet inherently imperfect. Judgment relies on information processing in the brain.Mental shortcuts known as cognitive biases can skew perception and lead to systematic errors. Emotions like anxiety, fear, excitement, or stress can strongly influence decisions. Mental shortcuts simplify decision-making in complex situations. It can lead to misjudgments, such as overestimating the likelihood o...
Post a Comment
Read more

History of India - Islamic Rulers

The Deli Sultanate refers to the many Muslim dynasties that ruled in India from 1206 to 1526. Several Turkish and Afghan dynasties ruled from Delhi : the Slave dynasty (1206-90), the Khilji dynasty (1290-1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), the Sayyid dynasty (1414-51), and the Lodi dynasty (1451-1526). During the last quarter of the twelfth century, Muhammad of Ghor invaded the Indo-Gangetic plain, conquering in succession Ghazni, Multan , Sindh, Lahore , and Delhi . Qutb-ud-din Aybak, one of his generals proclaimed himself Sultan of Delhi. In the 13th century, Shams ud din Iltumish (1211 - 1236), a former slave-warrior, established a Turkic kingdom in Delhi, which enabled future sultans to push in every direction; within the next 100 years, the Delhi Sultanate extended its way east to Bengal and south to the Deccan, while the sultanate itself experienced repeated threats from the northwest and internal revolts from displeased, independent-minded nobles. The sultanate was in co...
4 comments
Read more

Science And Technology In Ancient India

India was not only the land of philosophy, sages and seers but also the land of scientists and scholars. Science and technology in ancient India covered many major branches of human knowledge and activities, including mathematics, astronomy and physics, metallurgy, medical science and surgery, fine arts, mechanical and production technology, civil engineering and architecture, shipbuilding and navigation, sports and games. It is now generally accepted that India was the birth place of several mathematical concepts, including zero, the decimal system, algorithm, square root and cube root. The concept of zero originated in Indian philosophy's concept of ‘ sunya’ , means ‘void’ and the symbol for zero emerged to represent this philosophical concept. The discovery of urban settlements of Mohenjodaro and Harappa indicate existence of civil engineering & architecture, which blossomed to a highly precise science of civil engineering and architecture and found expression in i...
3 comments
Read more

History of India - The British Raj

British India or British Raj is the term used to refer to the period of direct British imperial rule of the Indian Subcontinent which included the present-day India , Myanmar , Bangladesh and Pakistan from 1858 to 1947. Much of the territory under British control during this time was not directly ruled by the British, but was nominally independent Princely States which were directly under the rule of the Maharajas, Rajas, Thakurs and Nawabs who entered into treaties as sovereigns with the British monarch as their feudal superior. The British abolished the British East India Company and replaced it with direct rule under the British Crown in 1858. In proclaiming the new direct-rule policy to "the Princes, Chiefs, and Peoples of India", Queen Victoria promised equal treatment under British law, which never materialized. Many existing economic and revenue policies remained virtually unchanged under British Raj. But several administrative modifications were introduced...
7 comments
Read more

Election Talks

The Election Commission of India announced the general election to the 15 th Lok Sabha on March 2, 2009. The elections will be held in 5 phases starting on April 26, 2009 and ending on May 13, 2009. The results of the election will be announced on May 16, 2009. Two phases are over by now. In democracy the election is opportunity to discuss about the future of the country. The state of economy, the current policies, the achievements and failures of the current government etc. should be part of that discussion. Unfortunately our politicians and main stream media seems not interested. Major parties published election manifestos as usual. It talk about subsidies, pensions and free stuff. Also some useless claims of secularism, stability and security. But all of them failed to provide a plan for the future of our country in this fast moving interconnected world. The major discussion points of our politicians are still around secularism. All of them favouring religious and communal elemen...
5 comments
Read more

State of democracy in India

The State of Democracy in the World Democracy is a form of government in which the people hold power. It is based on the idea that all people are equal and have a say in how their country is run. Democracy is not perfect, but it is the best form of government that we have. In recent years, democracy has been under attack around the world. There has been an increase in authoritarian governments, and many countries have seen a decline in democratic freedoms. This is a worrying trend, and it is important to understand what is happening and why. There are many reasons why democracy is under attack. One reason is that there is a growing sense of inequality in many countries. People feel that they are not being heard, and they are looking for alternatives. Another reason is that there is a growing distrust of institutions. People feel that the government is not working for them, and they are looking for new ways to make their voices heard. The decline in democracy is a serious problem....
Post a Comment
Read more

History of India - The First War of Independence

India 's First War of Independence was a revolt of Indian soldiers and people against the British rule. Historians have used the terms like the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny to describe this event. The rebellion by Indian troops of the British Raj started in March 1857 and continued for months. It had diverse political, economic, military, religious and social causes. Under the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Lord Dalhousie as part of the British policy of expansionism, if a feudal ruler did not leave a male heir through natural process the land became the property of the British East India Company. In eight years Lord Dalhousie annexed many kingdoms including Jhansi , Awadh or Oudh , Satara, Nagpur and Sambalpur to the company's territory. The feudal landholders and royal armies found themselves unemployed and humiliated. Even the jewels of the royal family of Nagpur were publicly auctioned in Calcutta , a move that was seen as a sign of abject disrespect by the remn...
5 comments
Read more

Optionality

Optionality is the state of having several attractive options available and the freedom to choose among them if needed. When the future is hard to predict, optionality lets you wait for more information and choose whichever path turns out to be best, rather than betting everything on one forecast. Good optionality structures your situation so that losses in some situations are limited, while the upside in the few that succeed can be huge. Stability is about having steady conditions of reliable income, routines, relationships, or systems that do not change abruptly. It trades some flexibility for reduced stress and risk, making planning easier but sometimes limiting new opportunities. Stability prioritizes security and predictability while optionality prioritizes flexibility and future choices. Both are valuable. Emphasizing one over the other depends on your risk tolerance and situation. Optionality is about having many possible paths open and avoiding irreversible commitments whe...
Post a Comment
Read more