Five Issues That Are Hurting the Indian Economy https://thewire.in/economy/indian-economy-inflation-adani-press-freedom-politics Apart from economic issues such as high inflation and crony capitalism, mental health, majoritarian politics and press freedom also impact the overall growth of the economy.
Five Issues That Are Hurting the Indian Economy

India’s ‘developed’ status by 2047 depend on empowering its blue-collar workforce https://price360.in/articles-details.php?url=indias-developed-status-by-2047-depend-on-empowering-its-bluecollar-workforce Dr. Rajesh Shukla September 14, 2023

Data from PRICE’s ICE 3600 surveys (2016 and 2021) provide some major insights into the current status of this population.

In terms of size, they form a third of the country’s population: 500 million people equivalent to 100 million households who earn their livelihood through daily wages. Nearly half of them are residents of just five states - 15% are residents of Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra (11%), Bihar (9%), West Bengal (8%) and Tamil Nadu (7%). If the effect of population is removed, the top five states with the highest concentration of labour are: Bihar (50%), Madhya Pradesh (46%), West Bengal (42%), Jharkhand (40%) and Odisha (38%).

The labour households have an average annual income of Rs 126,000 (2020-21) which is one-eighth of the national income. Undoubtedly, a large segment has been able to extricate itself from grinding poverty, but their economic condition continues to be precarious at best. For the overwhelming majority of these households, savings is minimal. They spend almost all of what they earn and regularly borrow to meet their routine expenses. In 2016, 28% labour households reported that they were in debt and by 2021 this figure had risen to 40%. The share of indebted households (ranging from 13% to 57%) is highest in Bihar, Maharashtra and Telengana where more than half of labour households were reported in debt in 2020-21.

The significance of financial support and subsidies to this population cannot be over-emphasised. The pandemic threatened to push them back into crippling financial crises. Nearly 72% of labour households surveyed by PRICE revealed that they had received food or free rations from the government during the lockdowns. Another 58% reported receiving subsidised rations. NGOs provided food support to 14% of households while for 19% of such households, food support came from friends, relatives and neighbours.

Cash transfers from the government helped mitigate the financial crunch for nearly 32% of households and free medical aid was a much-needed resource - 23% received this from the state government and 15% from the central government. Another 23% confirmed that they had benefited from LPG subsidies.

While hailing the contribution of the workforce in our quest for economic development, we need to reiterate our commitment to building the skillsets, and social and economic well-being of this very large and significant segment of our population. Only then will we truly realize the potential of the “trinity of demography, democracy and diversity” in fulfilling our objective of becoming a developed economy by 2047.

DECODED - Is India's Economy Really Booming? | What do the numbers say? | Akash Banerjee & Manjul  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVgo5DFza4A The Deshbhakt Oct 18, 2023 JPMorgan’s MD today made a 'bold' forecast - that India will become 3rd largest economy in the world by 2027 & size of our economy will reach $7 trillion by 2030. While much of that will be driven by the massive size of our population - what does this spectacular achievement mean for the average Indian who's only seeing shrinking savings / lesser jobs / more inflation / less manufacturing. Even if India does a 8% growth for 4 years in a row and becomes No3 in the world - Where will it take you?

https://www.thequint.com/news/india/poor-in-india-lose-half-their-income-in-last-5-years-rich-got-richer-survey A new survey, which highlights the economic impact of the pandemic on Indian households, found that the income of the poorest 20 percent of the country declined by 53 percent in 2020-21 from that in 2015-16. The survey, conducted by the People's Research on India's Consumer Economy (PRICE), a Mumbai-based think tank, also shows that in contrast, the same period saw the annual household income of the richest 20 percent grow by 39 percent.

How Congress is changing with a non-Gandhi at the helm  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np2uQvYUIJE   24th Oct 2023 D K Singh ThePrint

Kharge is rebuilding Congress brick by brick, taking a leaf out of Prashant Kishor’s playbook https://theprint.in/opinion/politically-correct/kharge-is-rebuilding-congress-brick-by-brick-taking-a-leaf-out-of-prashant-kishors-playbook/1815318/    D.K. SINGH 23 October, 2023
This harmony with the Gandhis marks a positive in Kharge’s first year as the party chief. But his real achievement is using his equation with the Gandhis to implement what looks like poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s ‘4 M’ formula to revive the Congress—Messenger, Message, Machinery, and Mechanics.

As it is, the Congress doesn’t have a coherent message yet — it’s largely banking on anti-incumbency by focusing on failures of governance. But it seems to be working on a message now. It is experimenting with Other Backward Classes (OBC) politics through caste census demand, rich-versus-poor narrative through attacks on big businessmen and industrialists like Gautam Adani, freebies to match welfarism, love-versus-hate, and Kamal Nath-style I-am-a-bigger-Hindu campaigns to counter Hindutva. Jury is out on whether this message can counter Modi’s or the BJP’s in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The Court's 'no fundamental right to marry' is wrong - Anand Grover  https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-courts-no-fundamental-right-to-marry-is-wrong/article67450210.ece   The Hindu

There is no fundamental right to marry, it holds. On that account, the Court decided that same sex persons cannot marry. In my view this is a wrong decision. However, to the credit of the Court, it directed, unanimously, that same sex couples have to be protected from any harassment

https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/the-courts-no-fundamental-right-to-marry-is-wrong/ The LGBTQI community’s call for equality in marriage is not just a legal battle but a societal transformation. A correction of the recent judgment is a step towards ensuring that no citizen is deemed “not fit for marriage” based on their sexual orientation.

Comment & Notes:
S S: Right to marry = Right to obtain social and legal legitimacy for a stable social-sexual partnership of  ne's own choice. Earlier, same-sex relationship was decriminalised.
In the teeth of vicious opposition from the regime and diverse religious establishments.
But, that was before Modi 2.0.

The Quest to Reclaim Lost Humanity: Anticipating the Next Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC-0nxOtFas We are all infected by a virus eroding our humanity, as our minds become enslaved to memes that generate more violence in society and harm the environment. If you've ever questioned whether your choices and the memes you've shared contribute to injustice, my dialogue with environmental and human rights activist Medha Patkar offers an alternative perspective to ponder.

 Gaza: ‘History is watching’ warns UN relief chief, saying aid access is key priority https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142382

desperate situation facing around one million Gazans uprooted in the last week, after the Israeli military warned of an imminent offensive following the deadly 7 October attacks on Israel by militant group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza strip since 2006.

“Aid access is our overwhelming priority. And we are in deep discussions hourly with the Israelis, with the Egyptians, with the Gazans about how to do that,” Mr. Griffiths said, adding that he was optimistic about hearing “some good news” soon that a solution could be found to the political impasse which has prevented aid convoys crossing from Egypt’s Rafah into southern Gaza.

The UN Security Council is due to meet in emergency session later on Monday in New York to discuss different resolutions from Council members related to the fast-moving crisis in and around Gaza.
Hostage crisis

Among the key issues facing diplomats is securing the release of a reported 199 Israeli hostages, seized during the Hamas raid, the UN emergency relief chief continued.

“This war was started by taking those hostages. Of course, there's a history between Palestinian people and the Israeli people, and I'm not denying any of that. But that act alone lit a fire, which can only be put out with the release of those hostages.”

The top UN aid official was speaking before heading to the Middle East, “trying to help, working with diplomats from all countries” to secure aid access and de-escalate the tinderbox situation, which UN Secretary-General described on Sunday as being on the “verge of the abyss”.

https://youtu.be/yBjMbe24Vu0

six slide history of the palestine question..  https://infogram.com/timeline-dont-edit-1h7v4pwzpjwqj6k

The UN Security Council is due to meet in emergency session later on Monday in New York to discuss different resolutions from Council members related to the fast-moving crisis in and around Gaza.
Hostage crisis

Among the key issues facing diplomats is securing the release of a reported 199 Israeli hostages, seized during the Hamas raid, the UN emergency relief chief continued.

“This war was started by taking those hostages. Of course, there's a history between Palestinian people and the Israeli people, and I'm not denying any of that. But that act alone lit a fire, which can only be put out with the release of those hostages.”

Legal Alternatives to War (LAW not War): Increasing the universality and effectiveness of the International Court of Justice   https://globalsolutions.org/event/legal-alternatives-to-war-law-not-war-increasing-the-universality-and-effectiveness-of-the-international-court-of-justice/ Oct 23

A n ew global campaign which aims to:

• Increase the number of States accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ;
• Encourage more frequent use of the ICJ as a dispute resolution mechanism provided in international treaties;|
• Appeal to States to make use of ICJ jurisdiction through mutual agreement for specific disputes;
• Support UN bodies to request ICJ Advisory Opinions on critical issues;
• Encourage states to adopt constitutional amendments or legislative measures to affirm the UN Charter prohibition of war and the obligation to resolve international disputes peacefully including through recourse to the ICJ.

The campaign supports efforts of like-minded States to enhance the use of the International Court of Justice including the Handbook on accepting the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice published by Switzerland, Netherlands, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Japan and Botswana, and the Declaration on promoting the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice released by Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and Switzerland in 2021 and now endorsed by 33 States.

India Will Bid to Host Olympic Games in 2036, Modi Says  https://uk.news.yahoo.com/india-bid-host-olympic-games-100903921.html Bibhudatta Pradhan Sun, 15 October 2023 https://uk.news.yahoo.com/india-bid-host-olympic-games-100903921.html 

Peter Tatchell under ‘house arrest’ and ’24-hour police surveillance’ in India https://uk.news.yahoo.com/peter-tatchell-under-house-arrest-170537913.html
Sat, 14 October 2023 at 10:35 pm Peter Tatchell has said he is under house arrest with a 24-hour police presence at a hotel in Mumbai after his planned Olympic protest was declared illegal.

https://www.petertatchellfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PTF-Briefing-on-IOC-Bidders.pdf