Tag Archives: population

INTERESTING FACTS FIGURES & QUOTES-34

Copyright@shravancharitymission

A tiger economy is the economy of a country which undergoes rapid economic growth, usually accompanied by an increase in the standard of living. The term was originally used for the Four Asian Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore).

 Of the nearly 50 major political  parties in India, just about seven are not dynasty driven.

Fly on the wall means: One would like to hear what will be said, or see what will happen, while not being noticed: For eg, ‘I’d love to be a fly on the wall when those two get home.’

Only 5% of Indian marriages are inter-caste.

India has around a little over 1,000 diplomats which is far fewer than Britain that has over 6,000 and China that has around 7,500 diplomats.

Prosperity of India currently depends on its urban centers which already contributes a little over two-thirds of the Indian GDP.

If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years to live—Maurice Maeterlinck–Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist.

The contribution of nuclear energy in electricity generation in India is not more than 3.5%.

World’s military expenditure is estimated to have been $1.74 trillion in 2013 or 2.4% of the global GDP.

Discipline is the soul of an army. it makes small numbers formidable—George Washington

Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick it in someone’s back—Desmond Titu

Compound interest is considered one of the greatest miracles of all human history and economics. Albert Einstein described it as the most powerful force in our society. When you let money accumulate at compound interest over a long period of time, it increases more than you can ever imagine.

Law of Accelerating Acceleration: The faster you move towards financial freedom, the faster financial freedom moves towards you. The first corollary of the law of Accelerating Acceleration says: 80% of your success will come in the last 20% of the time you invest.

The three keys to real estate selection are location, location and location. You make your money when you buy your property but you realize it only when you sell it.

Indian Railways is the second biggest procurement agency after defence, spending almost Rs 1 lakh crore a year. It is also the largest buyer of diesel in India.

National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) aims to link India’s 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats through 70,000 km of high speed optic fibre in the next three years- thereby enabling 600 million Indians to harness the benefits of modern communication.

The first modern Caesarean section was performed by German Gynecologist Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer in 1881.

Restaurants abroad that pass of as Indian are often run by Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, rather than persons of Indian origin.

Our urban population is 377 million or 31% of the total population. By 2031 it is projected to rise to 600 million.

According to an Indian readership survey 2017, just 28 million Indians read an English newspaper. Though reliable statistics are hard to come by, the website Statista estimates, that only about 7.8 million of India’s 1.3 billion people use twitter.

Nobel laureate Milton Firedman once said, we can eat imports but not exports. Once slipped out exports are no longer available to us.

Buddha once told a king that if he believed that sacrificing an animal will take him to heaven then sacrificing a human being will perhaps help him better. Thus Buddha urged the king to spare the animals and accept him as a sacrifice

 Einstein once gave an exam and 15 minutes into the exam, one of his students stood and asked. ‘aren’t the questions in this year’s exam the same as last year’s exam?’ Einstein replied, ‘don’t worry, the answers are different this year.’ The joke reflects how Einstein thought about things. He saw no problems in different answers for the same question.

There’s so much pollution in the air now that if it weren’t for our lungs there’d be no place to put it all-ROBERT ORBEN, US COMEDIAN

By Kamlesh Tripathi

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Share it if you like it

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers that includes both children and adults and it has a huge variety in terms of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)  

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be its undying characteristic. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

 

 

 

INTERESTING FACTS & QUOTES–17

Copyright@shravancharitymission

Shoot the breeze—to have a casual conversation or to spend time talking about things that are not important.

Cut the cackle and come to the horses—to get down to business. Leave out the non-essentials and come to the part that matters. Agatha Christie was quite fond of this idiom and she has used it in some of her novels.

Not turn a hair—to remain unmoved or unaffected.

Shakespeare—arguably is the greatest wordsmith in the history of English language. Americans loved the Bard because they saw in him a pioneer: an inventive wordsmith who coined new words and expressions—some 1700 by one estimate.

Running the Parliament costs Rs 2.5 lakhs per minute or Rs 2 crore a day. MPs get Rs 2000 per day to attend Parliament. But does the country get the real worth out of the Parliament is the big question.

China has increased its investments enormously in the US in the last decade, employing 1,00,000 US workers compared to 10,000 in 2006.

Wang Jianlin is China’s richest man and the largest Chinese investor in the US.

A joint secretary in the Government of India is the administrative head of a department and has critical influence on its efficacy.

IPL ranks in the world’s top five sporting leagues.

A recent study by UNICEF on the economic impact of sanitation has estimated that in an open defecation free village, each family saves over Rs 50,000 per annum on account of avoided medical costs.

The ministry of law and justice has admitted that as of July last year, 24 high courts were functioning with only 615 out of the total sanctioned strength of 1079 judges. Where, center and state governments account for nearly 70% of cases in courts.

According to RBI data, total debit cards in India went up from 623.67 million (about 62 crore) in November 2015 to 867.35 million (about 87 crore) in September 2016 (a 39% jump, even if many people have multiple cards). Similarly, payments through pre-paid instruments like m-wallet or PPI cards went up from 62.66 million (more than 6 crore) in November 2015 to 97.07 million (that is more than 9 crores) in September 2016 (a jump of 54.9%).

There are 250-300 million or say 25-30 crore Indians with a smart phone.

The stark fact is that in a country of 1.2 billion people, we currently have only 2.50 lakh ATM machines.

I am told there is a magnificent archaeological site in western Africa—the vast ruins of Djenne in Mali. Apparently, this was a city of over 1,00,000 people one thousand years ago—a world class metropolis in the first millennium. A visitor to the site observed: “Its art was stunning. Its architecture reflected a complex society … what struck me the most, however, was the fact that it had been completely ignored by western archaeologists for decades, because they found no evidence of military constructions! The Djenne civilisation did not find its strength through military conquest or intimidation of its people, but through cooperation. It was a great city built not on fear, but friendship.

Stubble burning: Labour has become expensive, therefore mechanical harvesting is done for big fields. But the machine for harvesting leaves 25% of the stem during the harvest. This again, has to be cut, by another machine. So, burning the crop residue is easier and that is called stubble burning. There is an imposition of a maximum fine of Rs 15,000 for stubble burning for farmers.

India occupies 2.4% of the world’s land area and supports over 17.5% of the world’s population. India has more arable land area than any other country except for the United States, and more water area than any other country except Canada and the United States. Indian life therefore revolves mostly around agriculture and allied activities in small villages, where the overwhelming majority of the population live.

As per the 2001 census, 72.2% of the Indian population lives in about 638,000 villages and the remaining 27.8% lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations.

In 1901 the world population was 1.6 billion. By 1960, it became 3 billion, and by 1987, 5 billion and in 1999, 6 billion. Currently, one billion people are added every 12 – 13 years.

When we see the population growth in India we find the population of the country was 27.13 crore in the year 1900, from where it decreased to 26.31 crore in 1925 which sounds impossible and then from there it increased to 35.04 crore in 1950 and 36.23 crore in 1951. From here onwards the population growth took exponential proportions of growth to 43.88 crore in 1961, 54.79 crore in 1971, 68.52 crore in 1981, 84.39 crore in 1991, and 102.70 crore in 2001.

With over 1 billion people, India is currently the World’s second largest populated Country. India crossed one billion mark in the year 2000 that is one year after the World’s population crossed the six billion threshold. It is expected that India’s population will surpass the population of China by 2030 when it would have more than 153 crore of population while China would be number two with a population of 146 crore.

Since 1947, the population of India has more than tripled which has resulted in increasingly impoverished and sub-standard conditions in the growing segments of the Indian population.  In 2007, India ranked 126th on the United Nation’s Human Development Index, which takes into account social, health, and educational conditions in a country.

Britian is already the largest investor in India among the G20 countries and India invests more in the UK than in any other country.

Gotra—is the male bloodline that links Hindus with a range of ancient sages.

The value of rupee has changed from Rs 17.50 per dollar in 1990 to Rs 74 per dollar today.

Interesting quotes and lines:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do”—Steve Jobs.

Alexander the great might just be right. “I’m not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I’m afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”

“Virtue has a veil, vice a mask”—Victor Hugo.

“To error is human; to forgive divine”—Alexander Pope, English poet.

  “The first   requisite of civilisation is that of justice”—Sigmund Freud.

“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems”—Greek philosopher, Epictetus.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

*

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

*

Share it if you like it

*

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers that includes both children and adults and it has a huge variety in terms of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)  

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be its undying characteristic. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

 

 

 

INTERESTING FACTS & QUOTES-13

Copyright@shravancharitymission

A controversial ad for a Tel-Aviv hospital portrayed a fetus wearing a military beret, with a caption ‘recipient of the presidential award of excellence, 2038.’ The ad was later withdrawn but the idea it spoke of was very clear.

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The sun never sets on the British Empire has been used to describe the vast expanse of the British Empire where there was always daylight, at least in one part of their Empire spread across the world.

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 England, Wales and Scotland are  part of an island forming Great Britain, adding Northern Ireland across the sea makes up the United Kingdom. Add a few miscellaneous islands and the Republic of Ireland to that, and we have the British Isles.

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When politicians quarrel over diverse interpretations of the constitution it shows that they, knowingly or unknowingly hold it in high regard.

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Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere, and its short-term variation in minutes to weeks. Whereas, climate is the weather of a place averaged over a period of time, often 30 years.

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According to a 2015 Nielson report India is the second largest English language print book market in the world with over 9000 publishers producing 90,000 books annually. According to some estimates, an incredible 94% of global content passes through India at some stage of publishing.

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Nearly 200 million books were sold in the UK last year and the industry is worth 5.7 billion pounds. And whilst the UK remains the largest exporter of physical books in the world, the UK Publishers Association noted last year that India has to have the most exciting publishing industry in the world.

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According to the Congressional Research Service, Americans own nearly, 50% of the 650 million guns available worldwide, which would bring it to about one gun for every man, woman, and child in the country. Indeed, it is a country where many children—including man-child—do have access to guns. Nearly half of all Americans said they grew up in a house with guns, and almost four in 10 say they grew up in a home with guns.

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According to the Census 2011, 41% of India’s population is under 18. Yet only 4.5% of the total budget is earmarked for them.

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Have you seen or heard of a bigger glutton and despot than Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe who celebrated his 91st birthday with elephant on menu for guests at the lavish 1-million pound bash. According to the mirror, two young elephants were shot and feasted on by the president’s 20,000 guests while the country’s poor, struggle to scrape a living. A farmer had donated the elephants to Mugabe along with a lion and a crocodile to be stuffed.

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India is posed to be world’s 3rd largest construction market by 2025.

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What do the four horses of apocalypse mean: Four figures in the Book of Revelation who symbolize the evils to come at the end of the world. The figure representing conquest rides a white horse; war, a red horse; famine, a black horse; and plague, a pale horse. They are often called the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

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Lakshadeep has in all 36 islands.

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Indian wedding industry is now valued at 25.5 billion dollars a year.

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Did you know that every person in the world with an email address receives on an average 72 emails per day?

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Now lets come to some interesting quotes:

We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far—SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

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The biggest danger of this terrorism and extremism is the tarnishing of the reputation of our beloved religion … we will not allow this to happen—MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN CROWN PRINCE SAUDI ARABIA RIYADH

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The promise given was a necessity of the past, the word broken is a necessity of the present—Machiavelli

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What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and value of nothing—OSCAR WILDE

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I believe in being strong when everything is going wrong–Anonymous

***

By Kamlesh Tripathi

*

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

*

Share it if you like it

*

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers that includes both children and adults and it has a huge variety in terms of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)  

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be its undying characteristic. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW -interesting facts episode 4

Copyright@shravancharitymission

 

China’s economy today is 30 times larger than what it was three decades ago. And in PPP terms China’s economy is already larger than that of America’s.

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The length of the Mexican wall to stop illegal immigrants entering the US from its southern borders of Mexico is expected to be around 900 miles long.

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A typical 300 room five-star hotel generates direct employment for around 500 people, 90% of whom are waiters, housekeeping staff, front desk and concierge staff. And besides cooks, chefs, managers, financial and clerical staff, there are a host of others employed in associated services such as spa, gift shops and swimming pool.

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China’s staunch opposition has ensured that Taiwan remains the only major country in the world outside the UN.

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US and India are able to export only a quarter of what they import from China.

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In China there has been a massive explosion of higher education leading to more than 30 million university enrolments this year.

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The Real Estate sector accounts for roughly 10% of India’s GDP. Thus, a 10% decline in sales could chop off 1% from India’s GDP growth directly and maybe another 1% by dampening downstream industries and services ranging from cement steel and other building material.

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80% Indians make less than Rs 1,32000 (per capita income) a year. Only 6% Indians earn more than Rs 2,40,000 a year.

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The current Lok-sabha is the oldest ever with its average age of 57.5 years as opposed to the average age of the general population which is 27.8 years.

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Millennials (personal reaching young adulthood) constitute 47% of the working age population in India—a considerable vote bank. Yet on an average only 29.49% of them are enrolled to vote.

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India has made significant improvements in reducing HIV infections—from 5.1 million in 2003 to 2.1 million in 2017—but it still has the world’s third largest HIV-infected population after South Africa and Nigeria.

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India has the highest population of cattle in the world.

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Indore is India’s cleanest city and so a winner of the Safaigiri Award of 2018.

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Gotra is the male bloodline that links Hindus with a range of ancient sages.

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A country of 50 lakh population Croatia plays in the finals of the world cup soccer, while India, our country of 135 crore only keeps playing the Hindu Muslim card.

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Nearly 50% of India is below the age of 25.

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25% of cement produced in India comes from Chhatisgarh.

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Nearly half of India’s farms are less than half a hectare, a size too small to yield adequate living standard for a family of five says Arvind Panagariya.

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The global market of merchandise exports today is approximately $15 trillion. Share of India in these exports is only 1.6%, compared to 12% of China. China’s share in the world exports as recently as 2000 was only 4%.

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India is set to emerge as the youngest country in the world by 2020. However, the youngest country doesn’t translate into a fit country necessarily. Also we are the world’s third most obese country and also the diabetic capital of the world says Sachin Tendulkar

***

By Kamlesh Tripathi

*

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

*

Share it if you like it

*

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers that includes both children and adults and it has a huge variety in terms of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)  

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be its undying characteristic. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

 

 

 

INTERESTING FACTS

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

 

 

The Chinese economy is five times bigger than India’s.

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The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) reserved for India just 19.48% of the total waters of the six-river Indus system

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India is selling 25 million smart phones per quarter and the anticipation is 700 million smart phones in hand by 2020. Internet penetration is growing with 332 million internet users in India. Is now second largest international market, ahead of the US.

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Aadhar is the only billion-user platform outside the US and the only government one.

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India is the largest young country in an ageing world and will continue to have a young population for the next 25 years, whereas China has started ageing.

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Thailand has 25 million international visitors per year while India has only 8 million.

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The International monetary fund estimates that Indian per capita income more than tripled from about $550 in 1991 to $ 1800 last year.

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In 1991, the world’s most populous country accounted for a scant 3.6% of global gross domestic product. By 2015 this had nearly doubled to 7%.

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WHO estimates that the average Indian lives 10 years longer today (68 years) than a quarter century ago. But he has yet to catch up with the average Indonesian (69 years), and continues to lag behind the average Chinese (76 years).

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Between 1991 and 2015, India slashed infant mortality by more than half- from 86 deaths to 38 deaths per 1000 births.

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The international Telecommunications Union estimates that mobile subscriptions in India reached 79% of population last year, up from 62% just five years earlier. That sounds awfully impressive until you realise that in China the mobile penetration is 93% and in Indonesia it’s a stratospheric 132%.

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Back in 1950s and 1960s, US steelworks and auto workers were by far most productive in the world, and could demand high, rising wages. But today the workers in developing countries have acquired skills that are almost as good.

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Before the industrial revolution, China and India accounted for over half of world GDP, but their share fell to barely 7% in the 20th century.

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In the 20th century Europe was twice devastated by World Wars, letting the US forge ahead. US hegemony followed in the second half of the 20th century. Even US workers without college degrees had skills that were globally scarce, and so attracted high pay.

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The world Bank says the number of poor people globally more than halved from 1.75 billion in 1990 to just 702 million in 2015; the proportion of people in extreme poverty fell from 37% to 9.6%; and the world Gini coefficient (which measures inequality) fell from 75% to 62%.

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The US is indeed a great country, but for completely different reasons. It has been the most welcoming country for immigrants in history. Half the start-ups in Silicon Valley are by people of Chinese or Indian origin. Many Nobel Prizes have been won by first or second generation immigrants.

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What a lie: Out of the 6753 candidates of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections that were scrutinized, only four admitted that they had exceeded the limit of election spending as prescribed by ECI while 30 said they had spent 90%. The rest claimed that they had spent 52-55%.

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The telecom industry saw only 40% of the spectrum on offer being sold in 2016. In particular, the complete absence of any bids in the 700 MHz and 900 MHz bands came as a rude shock.

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Recently, interesting though intriguing data from 70-80 countries show that anxiety levels increase when there is less work (James Tozer in the Economist, citing a study done by the World Bank, in 2015).

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Economic liberalisation in China and India are commonly thought to have started in 1978 and 1991 respectively.

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IS LITERACY RATE OF INDIA BEGINNING TO DRIVE INDIAN POLITICS?

Copyright@shravancharitymission

123

    The working definition of literacy in the Indian census since 1991 is as follows: Literacy rate: The total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding. Here the denominator is the population aged seven years or more.

    At the time of independence in 1947. India had a population of approximately 390 million. This got divided as follows after partition: 330 million people remained in India, 30 million in remained in West Pakistan and another 30 million in East Pakistan.

    The literacy rate of independent India in 1947 was 12%. By around 1950-1951 it had increased to around 18.33% with a population of 35 crore as you can see in the (literacy and population) table below. As compared to 1947 the current average literacy rate of India as per 2011 census, is 74% when the world average is 84%. Of the big states of India some laggard states are below 8% and some above by 20% as compared to the national average of 74%.

LITERACY RATE OF INDIA POPULATION
YEAR PERSON MALE FEMALE YEAR CRORE
1951 18.33 27.16 8.86 1950 35
1961 20.3 40.4 15.35 1960 43
1971 34.45 45.96 21.97 1970 54
1981 43.57 56.38 29.76 1980 69
1991 52.21 64.13 39.29 1990 83
2001 64.83 75.26 63.67 2000 101
2011 74.04 82.14 65.46 2000 117
        2015 124

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    In the early stages of independent India. Nothing else mattered than the sweet hangover of the freedom struggle and the newly formed Bharat Mata. That wheeled Pandit Nehru to rule for almost 17 years, as the longest serving Prime Minister (15.8.47 to May 1964). During his tenure the literacy rate rose from 12% to around 25%. The major event that shook India then was the Chinese aggression in the year 1962.

    India was an unquestioning country then. Just rising from the dust of the long colonial rule. And during that period, there was little or no political resistance to the Indian National Congress. That had spearheaded the freedom movement, and most iconic political leaders that mattered then were from this party.

    After Pandit Nehru expired post India-China aggression in 1964 the vacancy was filled in by another firebrand Congress leader Lal Bahadur Shastri. Who, served the country only for around 19 months and expired in Tashkent, part of the erstwhile USSR and today’s Uzbekistan.

    After Shastri’s sad demise. The mantel was adorned by Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi. Who, ruled for eleven years from 1966-1977. The three major events during her tenure, happened to be the liberation of East Pakistan and creation of Bangla Desh in 1971 followed by a full blown battle with Pakistan in the same year and declaration of emergency for the third time in India, and this time for internal reasons. Indira Gandhi started at an average literacy rate of around 32% in 1966 but in 1977 when Congress lost, the literacy rate had crept up to around 40%. It was for the first time Congress had gone out of power since independence. And in a manner it took literacy rate to jump by 28% (12% to 40%) to throw out a long standing ruling party at the centre. This goes to prove that literacy rate one way or the other increases the political appetite of the citizenry.

    In the Indian scenario increase in literacy rate has made voters change their minds. That has demanded for a dispensation of a different nature to govern the country. Indira Gandhi had imposed ‘emergency’ in the year 1975 when the average literacy rate was around 40%. This made her lose the general elections and gave entry to the first non-Congress government headed by Morarji Desai in 1977.

    When the average literacy rate of India was around 30%. India could see. In some states, certain state and regional parties gaining ground such as the Dravidian parties that have dominated since 1967. DMK routed Congress in 1967 and in 1972 MGR split DMK into AIDMK. Such incidents clearly dawned an era of new politics.

    Some states of India, such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu have always been ahead of the average Indian literacy rate. In the 2011 census as against the average literacy rate of 74%, Kerala was at 94, Tamilnadu at 80%, Maharastra at 82% and the big laggard states were Bihar at 62%, Jharkhand 66%, AP 67% Rajasthan 66% and UP 68%

    Bihar witnessed JP movement when the literary rate was between 35-40% and Lalu became the Chief Minister of Bihar in 1984 when the literary rate of Bihar was > 45%. In U.P. Mulayam Singh became the chief minister in 1991 and Mayawati in 1995 when the state literacy rate had crossed 45%. Signalling, the thinking minds wanted a change from two national parties, Congress and the BJP. In West Bengal too Congress ruled till 1977 but when the Bengal literacy rate rose to around 40% it was taken over by the Communist rule. And when literacy rate went passed 52% the voters even rejected Communist Party that was getting irrelevant and pulled out Trinamul Congress from the stable of Congress.

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    The literacy rate map below shows how certain states maintain their lead in literacy rates. Where, one would find a distinct differentiation within the political set ups of states such as Kerala and Maharastra with that of Bihar and Jharkhand.

2011_Census_India_literacy_distribution_map_by_states_and_union_territories.svg

INDIA WHEN ABOVE 64% AVERAGE LITERACY RATE

    India decided to open up when the literacy rate had gone past 52% in the year 1991 when wide spread reforms were announced. And, as the literacy rate went up, ethics in politics came down. Perhaps, thinking minds made politics much more competitive- resting on the theory of ‘survival of the fittest.’

    Beyond 2001 when the average literacy rate had just crossed 64%. India saw a sea change in terms of, all the four estates. To begin with the first estate (clergy) now tampers with politics without fear. Second estate (Bureaucracy) has become irresponsible, subservient, corrupt and even callous towards the general public. Third estate (Commoners) is perennially pained but have become more knowledgeable and demanding. And the fourth estate (Press and Media) have become all powerful. Yet they remain the saving grace of modern India

INDIAN POLITICS AT 74% LITERACY RATE

    At 74%, politics of India doesn’t remain the same and is deluged by the heft of thinking minds. For in the recent past it attracted grandstanding of agitations, like ‘India against Corruption’ where revered activist like Anna Hazare had to take the centre stage.

    Besides, even the mind space of an Indian voter has got more and more complex. Because of which we could see for the first time. A political leader of the stature of Narendra Modi, to create space in voters mind traveled 3 lac km across 25 states, addressed 473 big public rallies with 5827 public interfaces, including Chai pe charcha and 3D broadcasts. More so. BJP fought more under the banner of Narendra Modi than BJP, like presidential election. In Delhi elections we saw AAP party following the new ‘volunteer’ cult to create tailor made space in voter’s mind that wiped out BJP and Congress. In J&K also it was a star struck and out-of-the-box variety of a political campaign. It was an expensive opportunity that forced BJP to abandon relevant political-IZMS just to form the government.

    As we move towards 100% literacy. The route to State Assembly and Parliament will become more and more arduous. Political Parties will have to change their tone and tenor to address 100% literacy in all their political communication and behaviour. Where, corruption, scams and VVIPSM will have no place. What will simply matter is performance. This indeed will effect hoodwinkers under the garb of individual politicians.

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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