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PRICE INDIA PAYS FOR GENDER INEQUALITY

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India is a vast country both in terms of natural resources and human resources. To make it a world power, the first step should be to strengthen the citizens in terms of knowledge and their ability to earn. As a country, we pay a huge price for the inequalities that are still consistent in our society based on gender, religion, caste, and creed. I would like to address the issue of the costs, India as a country pays for the gender inequality present. According to the World Economic Forum, India ranks 108 in Global Gender Gap index slipping down by 21 positions in 2017. Its rating is 10 notches down than in 2006 when the WEF first started calculating this index. Women are generally considered the weaker sex. There are both evident and hidden indicators of this inequality against women. Their low social status in quite evident in the rural parts of the country but it persists even in the urban area. The equality is just not our birthright but it also has some economic and political co
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Financial Literacy in India

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Financial literacy, in lay man language refers to the ability to understand largely how money works. But specifically, it requires the competence to properly make decisions relating to matters of personal finance, particularly, areas like investing, real estate, insurance, taxation, saving and retirement. This doesn’t mean one is required to comprehend the various instruments and modes of the investments.  Financial literacy is very critical for developing countries like India where the majority find financial literacy beyond comprehension. A survey conducted by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (S&P) found out that 3/4th of the Indian adult population was incapable of properly understanding the basic financial concepts. This becomes more problematic when governmental policies are focusing on financial inclusion among the masses. As per this survey, India’s position in financial literacy is poor as compared to rest of the world and further, this can be a hindrance in In
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Cryptocurrency And The Changing World

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Cryptocurrency aims to revolutionise the way we transact in a world no longer only physical, but also virtual. It has aimed to remove middlemen such as our central banks and to give much power back to the people in the money market. And as expected, our governments are fighting back. There is a lack of clarity and homogeneity in how the states treat and think about cryptocurrency. A legitimate form of virtual money? A commodity? or a financial security? All these terms and labels have different ramifications because of which the values of cryptocurrencies have fluctuated so massively. While both sides on the debate of crryptocurrency fight, the world deals with the consequences. But what are these impacts on the global financial sector and world economy? Let's have a look. The use of cryptocurrencies does not require authorization by any middlemen which means there is no surveillance for what it is used. Transaction fees are minimal, as low as a couple cents for some cryptocurren
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Rich God, Poor Man

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As inhabitants of the subcontinent of India, we certainly cannot dismiss the fact that we live in a highly religion-oriented country. There is religion in politics, government, jobs and even in the days of the week! The 21st century is a very confusing and complicated era. While some people realize the importance of not wasting resources on stone structures, some still endeavor to organize the biggest (and the loudest) pandal in their neighborhood. With a population of over a billion religious people, the resources spent on religious practices inadvertently have a mammoth impact on the economy of the country. Now the question arises, are the resources being put to good use like helping contribute to the economy or are they just being wasted. The answer though is not that simple. There are two faces to the same coin. How religious practices benefit the economy : ASSOCHAM  estimates that Ganesh Utsav generates business worth about Rs 20,000 crore annually across the country, par
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Rhino Horn Trade: A Very Pointed Bubble

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Can you imagine a horn having more value than gold in the international black market? Well, I was as shook as you are when I found out! The Rhino horn trade is far more complex than it seems to be. Rhinoceros  poaching was banned in India in 1910. Yet Rhino poaching trends have been high and not so surprisingly the horn is the most sought after body part of Rhinos. Despite it being a punishable offence, these poachers who are generally skillful sharpshooters take the risk as the yields are beyond believable! A kilo of Rhino horn is pegged at around $100,000 in the international market with an average horn being around 1-3 kg. The price is perhaps more than that of Gold or Cocaine. Why? Let’s look at the demand. The ever increasing demand of Rhino horns has seen upto 30% rise in the past 13 years. This insane demand comes from Vietnam, and China, as it’s believed that Rhino horns have Cancer curing properties. This belief was strengthened by a rumour that swept Vietnam in mid 2000’s
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THE BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING IS PERHAPS TOO FAT FOR OUR ECONOMY

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Weddings are a feast anywhere in the world. But in India, weddings are a full blown festival with vibrant colors, jolly faces and beautiful memories. The Big Fat Indian weddings are as magnanimous as the ones shown in bollywood. Technically similar to any other (usually) small ceremony, a key difference is the money spent on everything. People usually spend all of their savings just to make that one day, a big day for them. So when it comes to weddings, Indian parents don’t even do any kind of cost-benefit analysis and it’s more like a reflex where the moment their children decide to get married, they open this treasure trove of money and jewellery that they have been collecting/saving since the day their children were born. Indian cinema has been the protagonist in this community wide change of preferences for weddings that people have recently had. But now the question that arises is- Is it worth it for people to spend all their savings in one day? Why have people changed their pref
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Budget Series: Taxation

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Presenting the Budget 2018 the Finance minister said as government had made many positive changes in the personal income-tax rate applicable to individuals in the last three years. Therefore, govt do not propose to make any further change in the structure of the income tax rates for individuals. It has only increased 1% cess on personal income tax. Budget 2018 proposed a standard deduction of Rs40,000 in lieu of transport allowance and medical reimbursement, giving relief to the salaried people(a revenue sacrifice of Rs8,000 crore for govt).Some of the experts say that it is a very nominal for the salaried people as earlier  medical expense reimbursement of 15,000 per annum and transport allowance exemption of Rs1,600 per month was anyway leading to a total tax-free salary of Rs34,200. Also, Budget 2018 has reduced the corporate tax rate for companies with an annual turnover of up to Rs250 crore to 25%.This will benefit the the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) but
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