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  • Opportunity to unlock the full Potential of MSMEs

    MSMEs

    Context

    • India overtook the UK as the world’s fifth-largest economy in 2022, and is on track to achieving PM Narendra Modi’s vision of a $5 trillion economy by 2026-27. Despite concerns of a looming global recession, supply disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine war, India has stood out as a bright spot, growing faster than most major emerging markets. The government’s budget for 2023 presents an opportunity to make the Indian MSMEs competitive and self-reliant.

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    MSMEs

    What are MSMEs? How are they defined?

    • Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 which was notified on October 2, 2006, deals with the definition of MSMEs. The MSMED Act, 2006 defines the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises based on:
    1. The investment in plant and machinery for those engaged in manufacturing or production, processing or preservation of and
    2. The investment in equipment for enterprises engaged in providing or rendering of services.

    MSMEs in India at present

    • The 6.3 crore micro, small and medium enterprises which account for 30 per cent of GDP and employ nearly 11 crore people have demonstrated this spirit of resilience.
    • With sales in several industries across the MSME sector reaching 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, India’s small businesses are scripting a turnaround.

    MSMEs

    Union budget 2023: An opportunity to make MSMEs more competitive and self-reliant

    • Streamlining input tax credit for e-commerce suppliers: Currently, suppliers selling on e-commerce platforms need to procure input services like logistics, which are taxed at 18 per cent. This leads to precious working capital getting blocked without any visibility of future realisation, potentially discouraging suppliers from adopting e-marketplaces.
    • Adequate working capital for small businesses: From meeting fixed expenses such as electricity, rent and employee wages to investing in future growth, adequate working capital is a must for small businesses.
    • Lowering GST rates on input services: By lowering GST rates on input services availed by online sellers, the government will not only shore up their finances but also give a leg-up to their digitisation journey. Further, refunds of accumulated input tax credit will improve their cash flow situation.
    • Expedited GST relaxation for small online businesses: There is also a need to expedite GST relaxation for small online businesses. In a landmark move last year, the GST Council announced a relaxation of rules for small businesses looking to go online.
    • GST relaxation measures for small online vendors: Among other measures, mandatory GST registration was waived for small online vendors with a turnover of less than Rs 40 lakh and Rs 20 lakh for goods and services, respectively.
    • Unlocking the potential of MSMEs through Digitization: With just 10 per cent of our MSMEs currently online, expeditious implementation of these new norms is key to unlocking their full potential. Millions of small businesses are waiting in the wings, hoping to reap the benefits of digitisation such as a much bigger addressable market, increased efficiencies and easier access to capital.
    • The National Logistics Policy (NLP) can also be leveraged to make MSMEs competitive: The NLP aims to bring down logistics costs as a percentage of the GDP from 13-14 per cent to 8 per cent, on par with developed nations. While lower costs will encourage more MSMEs to use tech-powered logistics services, they will need support to tap rising e-commerce demand from smaller towns and semi-rural areas.
    • Indian post and railways can be utilized for cost effective last mile delivery: The government could rope in India Post as a tech-enabled last-mile delivery partner that can facilitate cash-on-delivery transactions at competitive prices. Similarly, the unparalleled reach of Indian Railways can be synergised to ship wares to the remotest parts of the country quickly and cost-effectively.

    MSMEs

    Why the MSME sector is important especially for India?

    • Employment: The Indian MSME sector provides maximum opportunities for both self-employment and wage-employment outside the agricultural sector.
    • Help building inclusive and sustainable society: It contributes to building an inclusive and sustainable society in innumerable ways through the creation of non-farm livelihood at low cost, balanced regional development, gender and social balance, environmentally sustainable development, etc.
    • For example: Khadi and Village industries require low per capita investment and employs a large number of women in rural areas.
    • Contribution to GDP: With around 36.1 million units throughout the geographical expanse of the country, MSMEs contribute around 6.11% of the manufacturing GDP and 24.63% of the GDP from service activities.
    • Exports: It contributes around 45% of the overall exports from India.

    Conclusion

    • With a visionary government charting out the nation’s growth path, it is anticipated that the budget would certainly deliver on the challenges for MSMEs and take us closer to the dream of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

    Mains question

    Q. Highlight the significance of MSME’s for India. What more efforts can be taken to make MSMEs more competitive and self-reliant?

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  • UPSC Notification for Civil Services 2023 and IFoS 2023 released | Only 20 days remain for you to apply for the exam | Number of vacancies 1105 Download it

    Civil Services Examination UPSC 2023 NOTIFICATION is out now! Only 20 days remain for you to apply for the exam.

    Download the notification inside and fill Samanvaya form to discuss the strategy and approach you should be following. Zeeshan sir will be taking a LIVE webinar for 4 months on strategy for UPSC prelims 2023.

    SAMANVAYA: FREE 1-on-1 Mentorship Session | Zeeshan sir’s webinar
    • Exam: UPSC-CSE 2023
    • Number of Vacancies: 1105
    • Last Date of Application: 21st February 2023
    • Date of Prelims: 28th May 2023

    With only 116 days till the UPSC preliminary exam, having a structured, organized study plan is crucial and necessary. We advise you to rely on reliable sources, adhere to them, and revise as frequently as you can.

    Dear students, UPSC has just now released the notification for Civil Services Exam 2023 and the Indian Forest Services 2023 Exam. You can download the notifications here (Link at the bottom)

    Notif-CSP-23-engl-010223Download
    SAMANVAYA: FREE 1-on-1 Mentorship Session | Zeeshan sir’s webinar

    Approximately 1105 vacancies are going to be there for UPSC Civil Services. The number for CSE has increased when compared to 2022 (Vacancies were 1011). But the competition isn’t going to be less tough.

    The last date to apply for the UPSC CSE (Prelims) 2023 is 21st February, 6 pm. The UPSC CSE Prelims 2023 will be conducted on May 28th.

    We’ll share a detailed analysis very soon.

    Gear up for UPSC prelims now. Get a 4 months strategy by Zeeshan sir now.

    SAMANVAYA: FREE 1-on-1 Mentorship Session | Zeeshan sir’s webinar

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  • Drugs in the valley: Pakistan’s new weapon to finance terrorism

    valley

    Context

    • With arms and terror infiltration becoming difficult, Pakistan has now resorted to peddling drugs to degenerate the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. Narcotics, Pakistan’s new weapon to finance terrorism within the Valley, has been dubbed the biggest challenge confronting Jammu and Kashmir by Police Chief Dilbag Singh.

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    Background: Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and its impact

    • The culture of violence implemented through constant financial and strategic support to the insurgency in the Kashmir Valley by Pakistan by training and infiltrating weapons and militants impacted society in many ways.
    • Pakistan-backed terrorism destroyed the centuries-old socioeconomic and sociocultural fabric of society.
    • The deaths, mass exodus of Pandits, and increased unemployment eroded the composite way of life and increased boredom, depression, and anxiety among the masses.

    How Pakistan’s designs are failing?

    • Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is at an all-time low in Jammu and Kashmir, three years after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.
    • The number of active militants has fallen from 250 by the end of 2019 to just over 100 by January 2023.
    • Security agencies have tried hard to achieve zero terror activities within the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and busted 146 terror modules created by Pakistan in 2022.
    • As a result, Pakistan’s design to create a culture of violence in the Valley endorsed by self-serving and incestuous political elite under the guise of autonomy for the last 30 years is failing.

    valley

    Drug strategy of Pakistan in Kashmir

    • Strategy serves dual purpose for Pakistan: Now, with the people of Kashmir increasingly relinquishing terrorism and a culture of violence, the drug strategy serves dual purposes for Islamabad. One, to attack the core of the social well-being, and two, to finance terrorism within the Valley.
    • Constant infiltration of drugs in the valley: There is a constant infiltration of drugs by Pakistan via the Valley’s Kupwara and Baramulla districts, less-used other drugs such as brown sugar, cocaine, and marijuana are also readily available within the Valley and even in parts of Jammu.

    valley

    Drug addiction in Kashmir

    • Valley is slowly becoming a drug hub: The Kashmir Valley is slowly becoming a drug hub in Northern India, having more than 67,000 drug abusers, of which 90 percent are heroin addicts, using more than 33,000 syringes daily.
    • Emerged as country’s top drug affected region: With 2.5 percent of the population using drugs, Kashmir has emerged as the country’s top-drug-affected region, ahead of Punjab, where 1.2 percent of the population is reportedly addicted to drug abuse.
    • Residents affected: In November 2022, the state-level narcotic coordination committee meeting chaired by the Chief Sectary revealed that at least six lakh residents were affected by drug-related issues in Jammu and Kashmir.
    • Increasing crime rate: Increasing on average, INR 88,000 are spent by a drug abuser in the Valley yearly, increasing Kashmir’s crime rate.

    Reasons for this situation

    • Collapse of age-old social discipline: A significant reason for such an alarming situation is the near-total collapse of the Valley’s age-old informal social discipline and control mechanisms enforced by village elders.
    • Attack on cultural core: Pakistan’s nefarious attack on the Valley’s cultural core has rendered this traditional mechanism of social control ineffective.
    • Few contributes in social degradation: The village elders have also often worked hand-in-glove with Pakistan’s evil designs by remaining silent and endorsing the societal degradation.

    valley

    Jammu and Kashmir police and war against drugs

    • Security agencies have trained their focus on drug peddlers: Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir are known for anti-terror operations. They have successfully created a synergy with the local administration to sabotage Pakistan’s activities and allied forces within the Valley. With Pakistan-sponsored insurgency receding, the security agencies have trained their focus on drug peddlers.
    • Security agencies in action: In 2022, under Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the police registered 1,021 cases and arrested 1700 drug peddlers, including 138 notorious peddlers. During the same time, the security agencies seized enormous quantities of contraband, including 212 kilograms of charas, 56 kilograms of heroin, 13 kilograms of brown sugar, 4.355 tonnes of poppy straw and 1.567 tonnes of fukki.
    • Busted narco terror modules: The security agencies also busted many narco-terror modules and arrested 36 persons with huge catches of drugs, arms, ammunition, and money.
    • Investigation revealed drugs smuggled from Pakistan: In December 2022, police busted a Pakistan-based narcotics module and arrested 17 persons, including five police officials and some political activists. Investigations revealed that over five kilograms of narcotics valued at INR 5 crore were smuggled from Pakistan in three months.
    • Launched Nasha-Mukt Bharat Abhiyan: The local administration has also launched the Nasha-Mukt Bharat Abhiyan an initiative started by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 15 August 2020 to eradicate the menace of drug addiction in 272 districts across India. This programme has conducted large-scale awareness programmes in colleges, universities, and within communities.

    Way ahead

    • The Kashmiri society needs to have an internal interlocution and take a serious look at Pakistan’s policies to foment trouble, especially through narco-terrorism.
    • Kashmir’s elders and religious leaders through mosques need to get involved in the war against drugs and guide the youth to engage meaningfully with the spate of developmental activities undertaken by the national and Union territory government following the abrogation of Article 370.
    • The government should also initiate and enable public-private partnerships, where local police, military, paramilitary, and citizen bodies act in harmony to make Kashmir free of narco-terror and Pakistan-implemented culture of violence.

    Conclusion

    • With arms and terror infiltration becoming difficult, Pakistan has now resorted to drug trafficking to destroy Kashmir’s youth. Creating a working synergy between Kashmir’s traditional and formal social control system can go a long way in addressing the drug menace.

    Mains question

    Q. With arms and terror infiltration becoming difficult, Pakistan has now resorted to drug trafficking to destroy Kashmir’s youth. Discuss.

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  • 1st Feb 23 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    1st Feb 23 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 1229]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 1229]

    UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • (WATCH Live: Zoom link inside) Very Important Webinar🎯UPSC-CSE 2023 notification out | How to utilize the last 120 days for UPSC Prelims 2023? 4 months master timetable by Senior IAS Mentor, Zeeshan sir | Limited entry

    (WATCH Live: Zoom link inside) Very Important Webinar🎯UPSC-CSE 2023 notification out | How to utilize the last 120 days for UPSC Prelims 2023? 4 months master timetable by Senior IAS Mentor, Zeeshan sir | Limited entry

    Join Zoom Meeting

    https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87081718414?pwd=T1lZek5UbTdDUnh4Zk1ZOG0wQW8wUT09

    Meeting ID: 870 8171 8414
    Passcode: 671631

    Get Free Prelims Notes on Registration. UPSC-CSE 2023 Notification is out.

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    1st February (Wednesday) at 7:30 PM | UPSC webinar on How to utilize the last 4 months (120 Days) before UPSC Prelims 2023 by Zeeshan sir | Get Free Prelims Notes on Registration

    Last 120 Days’ Preparation will decide if you are writing UPSC Mains 2023 or not.

    The UPSC Prelims 2023 is just knocking at the door because UPSC-CSE 2023 notification is out. The majority of candidates are about to finish their syllabus, which includes reading books and newspapers, taking notes, attending classes, taking practice exams, and—most importantly—psychologically preparing for the exam.

    But, these are not enough to clear UPSC Prelims in 2023.

    Zeeshan sir, a senior IAS mentor who helped many to crack UPSC Prelims with 120+ marks often says, “When time is limited, you must maintain more balance between learning and execution.”

    In this case, 2 different rock-steady strategies are the only things that are required for… 

    • GS Paper
    • CSAT Paper

    And in such a situation even a veteran fails to manage time for both papers. On the other hand, you can’t value your time without a workable strategy. 

    You can neither afford to fail UPSC Prelims 2023 nor regret it later. Don’t miss the super important session by Zeeshan sir

    Know how to utilize the last 120 days before UPSC Prelims 2023 and get a Master Timetable with strategy

    (Click) Register FREE Webinar | Post webinar get Timetable and FREE Jan month current affairs magazine

    Webinar DETAILS:

    Topic: 4 months’ rock-steady strategy for UPSC Prelims 2023.

    Date and Time: 1st February (Wednesday) at 7:30 PM

    Link: Zoom link will be shared on email post registration

    Key takeaways: How to make a timetable for UPSC?

    • What should be your approach for the next 4 months even if you have not covered the entire syllabus for the preparation for UPSC 2023? Strategy for the next 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and the last 30 days will be shared with you.
    • How to divide your time for both GS and CSAT papers?
    • How to cover uncovered and revise segment-wise?
    • How to cover the UPSC syllabus? The syllabus, and not the books, must be completed. Focussing on the essentials first.
    • Time management: You just need to invest 5 to 6 hours per day effectively for UPSC’s success. How to effectively manage preparation time? Update your timetable and set new revision targets.
    • Managing UPSC preparation with a serious time crunch; job – working professionals, college students, and family (especially for homemaker aspirants)
    • He made a UPSC trend analysis and based on that decoded the expectations and pattern of UPSC 2023. Zeeshan sir will share 10 essential themes for the upcoming exams that one must not ignore whether it’s UPSC Prelims 2023.
    • Short-time smart Revision techniques that are common, standard, and used frequently. What exactly are they?
    • How to take full advantage of the FREE CivilsDaily’s Preparatory Package and personalized mentorship session

    You can neither afford to fail UPSC Prelims 2023 nor regret it later. Don’t miss the super important session.

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    CivilsDaily’s FREE Webinar package

    Post-webinar we will share important PDFs, timetable framework, and notes.

    Other than this a strategy package will be emailed to you.

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  • History, Significance of President’s Address

    president

    President Droupadi Murmu addressed the joint sitting of Parliament for the first time after assuming the position.

    Mains PYQ: The President’s address is one of the most solemn occasions in the Parliamentary calendar. Discuss. Highlight its importance in Parliamentary Democracy. (250W)

    President’s Address: What is the history?

    • United Kingdom: The tradition of the monarch addressing the Parliament began in the 16th century.
    • United States: President Gorge Washington addressed Congress for the first time in 1790.

    President’s Address in India

    (A) Colonial period

    • GoI Act, 1919: In India, the practice of the President addressing Parliament was established after the promulgation of the Government of India Act in 1919.
    • Governor General’s address: This law gave the GG the right of addressing the Legislative Assembly and the Council of State.
    • No joint address: The law did not have a provision for a joint address but the Governor-General did address the Assembly and the Council together on multiple occasions.
    • During constituent assembly: Between 1947 and 1950, there was NO address to the Constituent Assembly (Legislative).

    (B) After the enactment of Constitution

    • After the Constitution came into force, President Rajendra Prasad (after taking over from Dr Sachchidananda Sinha) addressed members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the first time on January 31, 1950.
    • When the Constitution came into force, the President was required to address each session of Parliament. The Constitution gave the President and the Governor the power to address a sitting of the legislature.
    1. Article 87: It provides two special occasions on which the President addresses a joint sitting. The first is to address the opening session of a new legislature after a general election. The second is to address the first sitting of Parliament each year. A session of a new or continuing legislature cannot begin without fulfilling this requirement.
    2. Making it an annual affair: So during the provisional Parliament in 1950, President Prasad gave an address before every session. In 1951, the First Amendment to the Constitution changed this and made the President’s address an annual affair.

    What is the procedure and tradition?

    • Motion of Thanks: After the President’s address, the two Houses move a motion to thank the President for her speech.
    • Debate on the speech: This is an occasion for MPs in the two Houses to have a broad debate on governance in the country.
    • PM addresses the questions: The issues raised by MPs are then addressed by the Prime Minister, who also replies to the motion of thanks.
    • Unanimous voting: The motion is then put to vote and MPs can express their disagreement by moving amendments to the motion.
    • Scope for Amendment: Opposition MPs have been successful in getting amendments passed to the motion of thanks in Rajya Sabha on five occasions, including in 1980, 1989, 2001, 2015 and 2016.
    Do you know?

    The Motion of Thanks must be passed in Parliament. Otherwise, it amounts to the defeat of the government. It is one of the ways through which the Lok Sabha can also express a lack of confidence in the government.

    Content of the address

    • There is no set format for the President’s or Governor’s speech.
    • During the making of the Constitution, Prof K T Shah wanted the President’s address to be more specific.
    • He suggested that the language be changed to specify that the President shall inform Parliament “on the general state of the Union including financial proposals, and other particular issues of policy he deems suitable for such address”.
    • His proposal took inspiration from the US Constitution.
    • But the Constituent Assembly didn’t accept Prof Shah’s amendment.

    What is the government’s role?

    • Written by the government: The President’s speech is essentially the govt. viewpoint and is also written by the government itself.
    • Inputs from various ministries: Usually, in December, the Prime Minister’s Office asks the various ministries to start sending in their inputs for the speech.
    • Collation of information: The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs sends a message, asking ministries to give information about any legislative proposals that need to be included in the President’s address. All this information is collated and shaped into a speech, which is then delivered to the President.
    • Role of Lok Sabha Secretariat: The address is an event, associated with ceremony and protocol, and the Lok Sabha Secretariat makes extensive arrangements for it.

    Significance of the address

    • Policy announcements: The President’s address serves as a platform for the government to make policy and legislative announcements.
    • Report card of the government: It highlights the government’s accomplishments from the previous year and sets the broad governance agenda for the coming year.

    What if the President disagrees with the text of the speech?

    Ans. It is CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATION on the President.

    • The President or Governor cannot refuse to perform the constitutional duty of delivering an address to the legislature.
    • But there can be situations when they deviate from the text of the speech prepared by the government.
    • So far, there have been no instances of a President doing so.

    Recent instances of defiance

    Ans. States vs. Governors

    • There have been occasions when a Governor skipped or changed a portion of the address to the Assembly.
    • Most recently, Tamil Nadu’s Governor made changes to the prepared speech he read out in the Assembly.
    • TN Chief Minister had to step in and move a resolution, which demanded that only the original speech given to the Governor be put in records.
    • In 2020, Kerala Governor, during his address to the Assembly, stopped before reading out his speech’s paragraph 18, which related to the Kerala government’s opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

    Why it is so cherished in democracy?

    • Parliament as a unit: The President’s address is one of the most solemn occasions in the Parliamentary calendar. It is the only occasion in the year when the entire Parliament, i.e. the President, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha come together.
    • Ceremonial event: The event is associated with ceremony and protocol. The Lok Sabha Secretariat prepares extensively for this annual event.
    • Grandeur: In the past, it used to get 150 yards of red baize cloth from the President’s house for the ceremonial procession.

     

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  • Vishakhapatnam is Andhra Pradesh’s new Capital

    vishakha

    Visakhapatnam will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, announced the Chief Minister.

    AP’s move for three capitals

    • AP had introduced a ‘Three Capitals Act’ titled Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020.
    • Thus, it was decided that:
    1. Amaravati was to be the Legislative capital
    2. Visakhapatnam the Executive capital and
    3. Kurnool the Judicial capital
    • However, the Andhra Pradesh High Court repealed this Act citing that the legislature has no competence to enact any law for shifting the three organs of the capital.

    Concerns raised by AP government

    • AP contended that the judgement was in violation of the basic structure of the Constitution as the HC cannot hold that the State does not have the powers to decide on its capital.
    • The judgement was against the doctrine of separation of powers as it sought to preempt the legislature from taking up the issue (of three capitals).
    • Further, it is argued that under the federal structure of the Constitution, every State has an inherent right to determine where it should carry out its capital functions from.

    Reasons for AP’s consideration

    (1) Viable option of Visakhapatnam

    • Vizag always had been the biggest city, after Hyderabad, even in the combined State.
    • It has all the settings to become a good living space.

    (2) Sri Krishna panel recommendations

    • The advantages and qualities of Visakhapatnam to become the capital was elaborately deliberated by the Sri Krishna Committee to study the alternatives for a new capital for the State of Andhra Pradesh.
    • Coming to suggestion for the alternative capital, the Committee primarily took up three things for consideration — creation of single city or super city in greenfield location, expanding existing cities and distributed development.

    (3) Decentralisation

    • This idea was elaborately described in the Sri Bagh pact.
    • The pact clearly defined decentralisation, for the benefit of all three main regions such as Coastal AP, Godavari and Krishna districts and Rayalaseema.

    Major practical problems

    • Continuum of work: The government argues that the Assembly meets only after gaps of several months, and government Ministers, officers, and staff can simply go to Amaravati when required.
    • Logistics nightmare: coordinating between seats of legislature and executive in separate cities will be easier said than done.
    • Time and costs of travel: The distances in Andhra Pradesh are not inconsiderable. Executive capital Visakhapatnam is 700 km from judicial capital Kurnool, and 400 km from legislative capital Amaravati.

    Examples of multi-capital states in India

    • Among Indian states, Maharashtra has two capitals– Mumbai and Nagpur (which holds the winter session of the state assembly).
    • Himachal Pradesh has capitals at Shimla and Dharamshala (winter).
    • The former state of Jammu & Kashmir had Srinagar and Jammu (winter) as capitals where Darbar Move is carried out.

     

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  • Artform in news: Shumang Leela

    shumang leela

    This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in TH.

    Shumang Leela

    • Shumang Leela is a unique traditional form of theatre in Manipur.
    • The tradition is believed to be descended from Lai Haraoba, a ritual of the Meitei community of Manipur.

    Types of this dance

    Shumang Leela is of two types:

    1. Nupa Shumang Leela: It performed only by men. Here the roles of women are all played by men, called Nupi Shabis.
    2. Nupi Shumang Leela: It performed only by women and the roles of men are played by women.

    Performance details

    • The plays serve as a medium to spread awareness among people of social, political and economic issues. Shumang Leelas may also discuss moral values, unity and integrity.
    • This theatre form has for long been trying to strengthen the bond of brotherhood and friendship among various communities in the State.

    Significance of the art

    • In a society marked by heteronormativity, the gender-bending nature of Shumang Leela makes it a unique art form that is fraught with complexity.
    • The men who take up female roles or vice versa are highly appreciated and laughed at.
    • The traditional theatre form has preserved its original form, and its aim to inform and entertain has remained unchanged.

     

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  • Project ELLORA to preserve ‘rare’ Indian languages with AI

    Microsoft’s Project ELLORA is helping small languages like Gondi, Mundari become eloquent for the digital world.

    Project ELLORA

    • To bring ‘rare’ Indian languages online, Microsoft launched the Project ELLORA or Enabling Low Resource Languages in 2015.
    • Under the project, researchers are building digital resources of the languages.
    • They say that their purpose is to preserve a language for posterity so that users of these languages “can participate and interact in the digital world.”

    How is ELLORA creating a language dataset?

    • The researchers are mapping out resources, including printed literature, to create a dataset to train their AI model.
    • The team is also working with these communities on the project.
    • By involving the community in the data collection process, researchers hope to create a dataset that is both accurate and culturally relevant.

     

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  • Possibility of global recession?

    recession

    Context

    • There have recently been growing concerns about the global economy slipping into recession. These concerns were primarily triggered by the contraction of the US economy, observed in the first half of 2022. Negative growth in two consecutive quarters is commonly but not officially used as an indication of recession.

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    Background: Status of the US economy

    • First and second quarter of 2022: As reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the US real Gross Domestic Product (GDP adjusted for inflation) decreased at an annual rate of 1.6 per cent and 0.6 per cent in the first and second quarters of 2022, respectively.
    • Third quarter: In the third quarter, however, the US economy grew by 3.2 per cent, signalling a significant recovery.
    • Fourth quarter: The latest BEA advance estimates show that the US real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.9 per cent in the fourth quarter.
    • Expansion of US economy a positive sign: Despite the slight decrease from the third quarter, the continued expansion of the US economy at the end of 2022 marks a positive sign, soothing concerns about a recession in 2023.

    recession

    Economic recovery of the US economy

    • Positive growth in fourth quarter: The positive growth in the fourth quarter can primarily be attributed to consumer spending, which increased by an annualised rate of 2.1 per cent, and private inventory investment that showed an upturn in 2022. Although a significant decline from the 5.9 per cent increase in 2021, the difference accounts for the enthused post-Covid economic recovery in 2021.
    • The US labour market continues to remain robust: The unemployment rate was recorded at a low of 3.5 per cent in December 2022, matching the pre-pandemic levels. Also, the total non-farm payroll employment increased by 2,23,000 in December, exceeding the Dow Jones estimate of 2,00,000.
    • Inflation has eased: While the labour market remains tight, US inflation has eased in the last few months. Consumer prices fell 0.1 per cent in December the largest month-over-month decrease since April 2020, due to reductions in motor vehicle and gasoline prices.
    • Layoffs not yet translated into rise in jobless claims: Although not a perfect association, the decline in jobless claims in January shows that the mass layoffs in recent weeks, particularly in the tech sector, have not yet translated into a rise in claims, suggesting the possibility of finding new jobs.
    • The reopening of China’s borders can have positive implications for the global economy: As China resumes its economic activities to pre-Covid levels by boosting growth, domestic consumption is expected to increase significantly. With the ease of trans-border movement and eventual increase in exports of consumer and industrial goods, global trade is expected to strengthen as well.

    recession

    What is Recession?

    • A recession is a significant decline in economic activity that lasts for months or even years.
    • Experts declare a recession when a nation’s economy experiences negative GDP, rising levels of unemployment, falling retail sales, and contracting measures of income and manufacturing for an extended period of time.
    • Recessions are considered an unavoidable part of the business cycle or the regular cadence of expansion and contraction that occurs in a nation’s economy.

    Possibility of a global recession

    • Elevated inflation continues to be a cause for global concern: Despite the fall in consumer prices, the headline CPI for the US showed an annual increase of 6.5 per cent in December 2022. In spite of the slow-paced increase in headline CPI, persistent elevation in core inflation excluding food and energy continues to be a major issue across economies.
    • Interest Rate Hikes on the Horizon: Consequently, the central banks are expected to continue with interest rate hikes in the coming months. On an annualised level, the CPI inflation in Australia also jumped to 7.8 per cent in the 2022 fourth quarter, increasing the likelihood of respective interest rate hikes as well.
    • China’s Impact on Commodity Prices: Moreover, an increase in China’s demand for goods post-reopening could drive up commodity prices, thereby creating an inflationary impact. For instance, China’s increased demand for natural gas would mean more competition with the European market, leading to higher commodity prices that can put further inflationary pressures on Europeans already dealing with high energy bills.
    • Higher borrowing costs: Rising interest rates would incur even higher borrowing costs that could dampen consumer spending. While sectors sensitive to high borrowing costs such as housing and construction have slowed down significantly.

    recession

    Conclusion

    • Among the positive signs are the continued expansion of the US economy and the reopening of China’s borders. Rising inflation remains a cause for global concern. However, prevalence of mixed signals suggests that the onset and depth of a global recession in 2023 are not certain.

    Mains question

    Q. Highlight the current situation of global economies. Discuss if there’s a global recession in 2023?

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