October 2015

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 oct 2015

In the recently published World Bank report, 'Ending Extreme Poverty and Sharing Prosperity: Progress and Policies' (Authored by Marcio Cruz, James Foster, Bryce Quillin, Philip Schellekens), it is estimated that the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in the world is expected to decline from 12.8% (902 million) in 2012 to 9.4% (702.1 million) in 2015. Although India had the largest number of poors in 2012, but its poverty rate estimate of 12.4% (Modified Mixed Reference Period or MMRP method) is one of the lowest among those countries with the largest number of poor. The report also mentioned that India might have been overestimating the number of its poors depending upon the method applied to collect data - 21.9% (Uniform Reference Period or URP method) for 2011-12 and 29.5% (Mixed Reference Period or MRP method). However the recent report, 'India Rural Development Report 2013-14' (Authored by Surinder S. Jodhka, P. S. Vijay Shankar, Himanshu Kulkarni, Siddharth Patil, Sanchita Bakshi, Mekhala Krishnamurthy, Kaushal K. Vidyarthee, Amita Baviskar), prepared by IDFC Rural Development Network and endorsed by the Ministry of Rural Development (Govt. of India), estimates that nearly 7% of India's rural population is still living in 'extreme poverty', an issue of great concern for the policy makers. But a good sign is that the number of 'very poor' in rural India came down much faster in the period 2004-12 as compared to the preceding decade - 16.3% in 2004-05 to 6.84% in 2011-12. Report mentions that Chhattisgarh (15.32%) has the highest percentage of 'very poor', followed by Madhya Pradesh (15.04%), Odisha (11.46%), Bihar (10.45%) and Jharkhand (9.23%). Moreover, poverty among marginalized groups like Scheduled Tribes (45%) and Scheduled Castes (31%) in rural areas remains high in 2011-12. When occupational groups are considered for poverty estimates in rural areas, agricultural laborers (40%) have the highest poors, followed by other laborers (33%), self-employed in agriculture (22%) and self-employed in non-agriculture (18.63%). Read on...

The Indian Express: Why poverty in rural India is still a concern
Author: Ruhi Tewari

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 21 oct 2015

In a highly competitive automobile industry in India, companies have to safeguard and secure their industrial designs by going through a registration and validation process. Sarthak Saran of BananaIP explains the step-by-step procedure to file a design application in India and how the companies should devise strategies and protect their designs. According to Mr. Saran, 'Industrial design means the shape and configuration of an article. Design does not protect the functionality of any product. It protects only the ornamentation of the product.' He also explains situations in which a design is considered to be invalid by the Controller of Design. In case there are no objections to the design by the Examiner and the Controller of Design accepts the application, it is registered and published in the patent office journal ordinarily within one month. The design is generally valid for a period of 10 years and can be renewed for another 5 years. The total number of registered designs by major companies in the automobile industry are - Tata Motors (396); Mahindra & Mahindra (205); Hero MotoCorp (85); TVS Motor Company (72). Read on...

Sinapse Blog: Industrial Designs for Automobile Industry in India
Author: Sarthak Saran

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 06 oct 2015

Indian PM Narendra Modi's recent visit to Silicon Valley and meetings with the top executives of US technology giants, have possibilities and opportunities to build partnerships and collaborations for 'Digital India' concept. Moreover access to the attractive 1.25 billion people's market that India offers would be too hard to refuse for Silicon Valley companies. But what these companies also expect is the faster pace of economic reforms, ease of doing business and less bureaucratic hurdles and regulations. The recent exit of global commodities trader and hedge fund manager Jim Rogers from the Indian market gives a negative signal to the global investor community. India's digital upgrade holds a promise for educational and social modernization leading to advanced and skilled workforce, that are preconditions for a thriving economy along with sufficient consumption. Although India's literacy rate continues to rise since independence but it is still well short of projected world literacy of about 90% this year. A lot is still desired in educational infrastructure particularly in rural areas. Internet and latest educational technologies and platforms can help in this regard. India's internet penetration is only 20% of the population and the government's digital thrust can boost this number. Expertise from tech giants can be utilized to improve internet access. Moreover the digital strategy will also spur consumption through ecommerce. According to World Bank, at present consumption accounts for 60% of India's GDP, while Wall Street Journal mentioned that only 1% of India's population shops online. Also 80% of India's population lacks means to pay electronically for goods, says Morgan Stanley research report. The report also mentioned that India's internet market could rise to US$ 137 billion by 2020. All these statistics points towards a better scope and opportunities for businesses in a 'Digital India'. Read on...

Fortune: How Silicon Valley can turn India's economy around
Author: S. Kumar

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