Economy

Economic, social and environmental sustainability The United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a universal and transformative development strategy. The 2030 Agenda commits the global community to “achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions—economic, social and environmental—in a balanced and integrated manner”. Bruntland Report … Read more

Inclusive Growth is economic growth that creates opportunity for all segments of the population and distributes the dividends of increased prosperity, both in monetary and non-monetary terms, fairly across society.Indian Plans after the independence were based on the downward infiltration theory, which failed to bring equitable growth to all the sections of the Indian society. … Read more

The term underdevelopment refers to that state of an economy where levels of living of masses are extremely low due to very low levels of per capita income resulting from low levels of productivity and high growth rates of population. Underdeveloped countries are now known as ‘developing countries’ signifying that such nations are capable of … Read more

Human development is a process of enlarging people’s choices. The most critical ones are to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living. Additional choices include political freedom, guaranteed human rights and self-respect.Human development has to be development of the people, by the people, for the … Read more

According to the 1996 World Food Summit, food security exists “when every person has physical and economic access at all times to healthy and nutritious food in sufficient quantity to cover the needs of their daily ration and food preferences, in order to live a healthy and active life.”   The nutritional dimension is an integral … Read more

WHO Defines Food security to exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Food security has three interlinked contents such as :- Availability of food, Access to food and absorption of food. Food … Read more

Financial inclusion or inclusive financing is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments of society, in contrast to financial exclusion where those services are not available or affordable. Government of India has launched an innovative scheme of Jan Dhan Yojna for Financial Inclusion to provide the financial … Read more

Impacts of Privatization Privatization in generic terms refers to the process of transfer of ownership, can be of both permanent or long term lease in nature, of a once upon a time state-owned or public owned property to individuals or groups that intend to utilize it for private benefits and run the entity with the aim of … Read more

Economic Growth Economic growth means an increase in real GDP. This increase in real GDP means there is an increase in the value of national output / national expenditure. Economic growth is an important macro-economic objective because it enables increased living standards and helps create new jobs. Measurement of Economic Growth Economic growth is measured … Read more

Globalization essentially means integration of the national economy with the world economy. It implies a free flow of information, ideas, technology, goods and services, capital and even people across different countries and societies. It increases connectivity between different markets in the form of trade, investments and cultural exchanges. The concept of globalization has been explained … Read more

Indian Money Market and Banking system is regulated by Reserve Bank of India.The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Main Functions of RBI are as follows:- Monetary Authority: Formulates, implements and monitors the monetary policy. Objective: maintaining price … Read more

VAT is a multi-stage tax levied at each stage of the value addition chain, with a provision to allow input tax credit (ITC) on tax paid at an earlier stage, which can be appropriated against the VAT liability on subsequent sale. VAT is intended to tax every stage of sale where some value is added … Read more

Fiscal policy is that part of Government policy which is concerned with raising revenues through taxation and other means along with deciding on the level and pattern of expenditure it operates through budget. However, generally the expenditure exceeds the revenue income of the Government. In order to meet this situation, the Government imposes new taxes … Read more

Public expenditure is spending made by the government of a country on collective needs and wants such as pension, provision, infrastructure, etc. Until the 19th century, public expenditure was limited as laissez faire philosophies believed that money left in private hands could bring better returns. In democracy, public expenditure is an expression of people’s will, … Read more

India has a well developed taxation structure. The tax system in India is mainly a three tier system which is based between the Central, State Governments and the local government organizations. In most cases, these local bodies include the local councils and the municipalities. According to the Constitution of India, the government has the right … Read more

The Indian Government had undertaken industrial policy reforms since 1980, but the most radical reforms have occurred since 1991, after the severe economic crisis in fiscal year 1990-91. These reforms mainly aimed at enhancing the efficiency and international competitiveness in Indian industry. Growth in the industrial sector is one of the vital figures that affect … Read more

Evergreen Revolution was a term coined by M.S. Swaminathan to indicate the development of  technologies that can help in increasing productivity in perpetuity without causing an associated ecological harm.He also stated that to achieve the goal of food security by ending hunger and to promote sustainable agriculture, it is important that in the field of social … Read more

The World Trade Organization came into being in 1995 as the successor organization to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in the wake of the Second World War. It  is a multilateral framework (an agreement among governments) for conduct of international trade in goods and services and also for protection of intellectual … Read more

Agricultural prices cover prices of agricultural products (output prices) and prices of requisites for agricultural production (input prices) at various stages of marketing. The structure of Indian agricultural marketing system consists of: Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Societies; Regulated Markets; Public Trading and Futures Trading. Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)  while recommending the minimum support prices … Read more

Agricultural marketing is the study of all the activities, agencies and policies involved in the procurement of farm inputs by the farmers and the movement of agricultural products from the farms to the consumers. The agricultural marketing system is a link between the farm and the non-farm sectors. It includes the organization of agricultural raw … Read more

India was the first nation to launched a family planning programme in 1952. Though the birth rate started decreasing, it was accompanied by a sharp decrease in death rate, leading to an overall increase in population.The early concept of population policy covered both mortality and fertility and did not exclusively focus on fertility. There was … Read more

Demographic dividend occurs when the proportion of working people in the total population is high because this indicates that more people have the potential to be productive and contribute to growth of the economy.An increase in the working age ratio can raise the rate of economic growth, and hence confer a “demographic dividend.” People of … Read more

Overall, labour-force to population ratio (in the age group 15 years and above) at 56 per cent is low in India compared to nearly 64 per cent for the rest of the world. The low participation in India is largely because the female labour force participation rate (LFPR) is dismally low at 31 per cent, … Read more

Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of “enoughness” in his saying “the earth provides enough to satisfy every persons need but not for every person’s greed” According to World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (1987) , Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to … Read more

Under the Constitution the financial resources of the State are very limited though they have to do many works of social uplift under directive principles. In order to cope with their ever-expanding needs, the Central Government makes grants-in-aid to the States. Grant- in-aid to States , through it Central Government exercises a strict control over … Read more

Inflation & Control Mechanism Inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services.It is the percentage change in the value of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) on a year-on … Read more

Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) seeks to measure relative female representation in economic and political power. It considers gender gaps in political representation, in professional and management positions in the economy, as well as gender gaps in incomes .GEM is a measure of inequalities between men’s and women’s opportunities in a country. It gives indicators to … Read more