Topic 1: India’s Demographic Dividend
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India is expected to grow at a sustained high rate for the
coming decades being second only to China. One of the major contributors to the
same is expected to be the young working population of the country. The working
population (15-59 years) of India today largely, approximately 57%,
consists of the youth (15-34 years). According to official data, India's labour
force, which was 472 million in 2006, was around 526 million in 2011 and
is expected to be around 653 million in 2031. In just about 3 years, 25% of the
world’s working population will be Indian.
Human beings tend to have a higher proportion of consumption
in their childhood days, whereas, they save the most in their working years. Thus,
the dependency ratio has gone down with the rise in the average savings rate.
The saving rate of India has been on an increase since 2003 and currently
stands at 33% of the GDP of the nation. The greater savings are expected to
fuel higher investment rates contributing to growth of the nation.
While the above is the supply side of the story, there are
contributions from the demand side as well. The shift in demographics with rise
in youth in the nation, there has been a steady rise in disposable income in
the hands of individuals. This has led to a change in lifestyle of the
individuals leading to growth in demand for consumption of goods to meet more
than the basic needs of the individuals. In order to cater to this demand,
there has been a drastic rise in consumerism in the country. Today domestic as
well as international companies are all flocking to meet the Indian consumer’s
demands and thus, contributing to growth of industries and the nation.
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Topic 2 : Competition right from childhood – Is it good or
bad?
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From early childhood, majority of human beings today are
being pushed towards being competitive in nature. The need is to be better than
the others. The origin of competitive instincts can be traced back to the
evolution of mankind. As Charles Darwin put it, evolution is all about survival
of the fittest, direct competition between individuals, populations or species
for survival.
If we look at an individual’s life, right from the toddler
stage the child is faced with competition, be it academic or social.
Competition leads to developing of healthy attitudes about winning and
losing. It also leads to developing the skills and abilities of the
individuals. Competition also contributes to individual personality development
where the individuals become aware about their strengths and limitations and
work around the same. Individuals also develop social confidence and
learn how to work with others. Competition also benefits through learning of
new skills and developing of competence in particular areas.
Competition, obviously, has its pitfalls with individuals
being unable to cope with the loss, loss of self-confidence and self worth,
sense of humiliation, etc. There are cases where the child might not be able to
handle the same and is faced with severe challenges for their entire lifetime.
People need to understand that the competitive instincts
need to be kept within healthy limits. The goals should be realistic and
achievable in nature, and even the sub-steps of achievement should be
acknowledged. The rules of fairness should be clearly put across and the focus
should be on the individual becoming better and not putting others down.
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Topic 3: Power Grid crash in India
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The investment opportunities in the Indian power sector are
immense. The power ministry has set a target for adding 76,000 MW of
electricity capacity in the 12th Plan (2012-17) and 93,000 MW in the 13th
Five-Year Plan (2017-2022). As per the funding requirement of the 12th
five year plan, a capital requirement of Rs. 13, 72, 580 crores is estimated to
arise. The main sources of financing are commercial banks, public financial
institutions, dedicated infrastructure/power finance institutions, insurance
companies, overseas markets, bilateral/multilateral credit, bond markets and
equity markets.
The power sector was one of the first sectors to be opened
up to private investment in the 1990s. Today it is the sixth largest attracter
of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with upto 100 per cent FDI being allowed
under automatic routes for projects of electricity generation, transmission,
distribution and power trading. Along with this there are several government
initiated policies to promote and garner investments in the power sector. For
eg. The National Electricity Policy which aims at power for all and annual per
capita consumption of electricity to rise by end of 2012.
However, even today the country is faced with major
challenges in the form of a persistent demand supply gap of approximately 9%
and culmination of the same has come in the form of two massive power grid
failures in the month of July. India suffered from the biggest power outage in
the world affecting 22 states and 620 million people. Unfortunately this
came after an impressive performance by the power sector with addition of
almost 17000 megawatts of capacity in 2011-12.
However, it is not that the there is low generation leading
to the lack of supply of power. It is estimated that 40000 mw of installed
capacity is lying unutilized. 10000 mw is for maintenance and technical reasons
while remaining is due to the gas and coal fueled generation resources being
utilized at suboptimal levels. India today is unable to produce enough coal
domestically and high costs of import.
The high costs of the fuels have not been passed onto the
masses while the power companies are also trying to deal with the escalating
costs. State utilities are also faced with bankruptcy and have debts of over
Rs. 100000 crores.
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Topic 4: Role of media in a democracy
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Democracy is a form of government of the people, by the
people and for the people, in which the sovereign power resides in the people
as a whole, and is exercised either directly by them or by officers elected by
them. One of the major features of democracy is that individuals are free to
voice their opinions and media is a manifestation of the voice of the people.
The existence of media in the country started with a
newspaper called ‘The Bengal Gazette’ and since then it has grown by leaps and
bounds. The country, today, has all forms of media available be it T.V., radio,
internet, newspaper or magazines and it is a flourishing industry in itself.
The media is a major source of information for the people of
the country - all kinds of information, be it social, economic, political or
about entertainment. It has acted as a major facilitator in educating the
masses and building awareness amongst people, even in the innermost rural
areas. This makes it one of the most influential players in just about
any society, due to their outreach to millions of people, and normally you
say that with ability comes responsibility.
We have example of the Anna movement becoming a revolution
with people supporting it or atleast putting forth views from across the
nation. People also have become aware about social issues and responsibilities
through different forms of media.
However, there are cases where the media has treated cases
with high levels of insensitivity or probed beyond boundaries of creating
hurdles for other social institutions. It might lead to influencing the society
wrongly or prejudicing the minds of people. There might also be some
amount of influence of political or economic institutions on the media under
whose influence media might tend to behave irresponsibly. With the arrival of
social media like facebook, twitter, etc, the role of media has become highly
sensitive.
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