Competition ZENITH

Introduction Section 66A defines the punishment for sending “offensive” messages through a computer or any other communication device like a mobile phone or a tablet. A conviction can fetch a maximum of three years in jail and a fine. The Supreme Court saved the day for Indian democracy when it struck down the appalling Section 66A of the Information Technology Act last week. The apex court was sagacious, but the real heroes were those young Indians like Shreya Singhal who petitioned the Supreme Court, and Faisal Farooqui of Mouthshut.com, who campaigned against the law. What is the problem with that? The vagueness about what is “offensive”. The word has a very wide connotation, and is open to distinctive, varied interpretations. It is subjective, and what may be innocuous for one person, may lead to a complaint from someone else and, consequently, an arrest under Section 66A if the police prima facie accepts the latter person’s view. How did the controversy begin? T...

Question - Who publishes HDI ?  Answer -  United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) In 1990s Human Development has emerged as an important concept of development. Human Development means enlargement of human capabilities to enjoy all types of freedom – economic, political, social and cultural. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), an agency of UNO, has constructed various indicators of human development such as Human Development Index (HD1), Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) and Human Poverty Index (HPI). The most important and most popular of these is HDI. HDI is basically a composite index of three attainments of development: health, education and standard of living. Computing the HDI: To construct the Index, fixed minimum and maximum values have been established for each of the indicators: i. Life expectancy at birth: 25 years and 85 years; ii. General literacy rate: 0 per cent and 100 per cent; iii. Real...

 What exactly is the demographic dividend? When a developing country reduces child mortality, it experiences a population explosion in which the proportion of dependants to workers rises. This is a sort of egative dividend — workers have to support a much higher proportion of dependants, depressing per capita income. But in the next phase the birth rate falls sharply, even as the original baby boomers enter the workforce . So, the proportion of workers rises sharply, even as the proportion of dependants falls. In many countries, the ratio of workers to dependents goes from 40:60 to 60:40, giving a huge boost to per capita income. Demographic Dividend Demographic Dividend is the economic benefits that derive from demographic change. It is a population bulge in the working age category. It occurs when a falling birth rate changes the age distribution of a population so that fewer investments are needed to meet the needs of the youngest age groups and resources ...

Introduction The process of economic liberalisation in India, as much as the economic repression that preceded it has had economists in a leadership position in both the formulation and implementation of the relevant policies. But the only one who will live on as the architect of the Indian reforms is Manmohan Singh, and I am delighted to be able to honour him on this occasion. I.  THE NEXT STAGE OF INDIAN REFORMS Even in the areas of past reform there is a great deal of unfinished business: notably to eliminate quotas on consumer good imports, and to move to full convertibility of the rupee by eliminating exchange controls. There are also whole areas which the reform effort has not yet touched. The common feature of this next phase of reform can be succinctly described as the rescinding of the unviable entitlements to income streams that past dirigisme has created. These have both deleterious macro and micro-economic effects. On the macroeconomic front, problems re...

What is Sustainable Development ? "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainable Development stands for meeting the needs of present generations without jeopardizing the ability of futures generations to meet their own needs – in other words, a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It offers a vision of progress that integrates immediate and longer-term objectives, local and global action, and regards social, economic and environmental issues as inseparable and interdependent components of human progress. Sustainable development will not be brought about by policies only: it must be taken up by society at large as a principle guiding the many choices each citizen makes every day, as well as the big political and economic decisions that have. This requires profound changes in thinking, in economic and social structures and in consumption a...