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The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 10 aims at reducing inequalities in different aspects. The Niti Aayog of India has been monitoring progress achieved by different states and sets out a collaborative agenda. This paper specifically looks at the trends in Gini coefficient in different states, impact of high-income inequality on index of health in developed economies and how political ideology and progressive taxation policy can play a decisive role in thwarting the present disturbing trends. The paper brings out how income share of the 40% middle class in national GDP has come down after economic liberalization, while the share of top 10% has gone up significantly. In developed countries, acute income inequality seems to dampen the index of health and general well-being. The paper looks at Kuznet's inverted U curve hypothesis, which contends that after achievement of a high level of per capita income, inequality will come down, was proved to be un-true by Thomas Piketty. The paper brings out, how the Laffer Curve (1986) mooted by Arthur Laffer provided the economic justification for bringing down tax rate on top rich from 71% to 35% in the USA. The paper rebuts the general assumption that high tax rates would disincentive investment. The author recognizes that substantial increase in tax rates and high wealth tax in a market oriented political economy may not be a feasible proposition. In order to achieve distributive justice, greater attention to tools like progressive taxation, increasing investment in merit goods and ensuring shared prosperity must be seriously addressed. Also, a more proactive approach towards tax collection, rather than increasing borrowing would help to reduce income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of institutions indicates the level of economic development in the country. Institutions are a part of a system that is based on human interactions and that leads to the generation of incentives. These incentives can deal with uncertainties and foster economic, social, political growth, provided the human interactions are moderated well. This paper reflects on the strength of the interventionalist institutions like cooperatives in India and promotes institution building for a better future. The base of the paper focuses on the lessons learnt from dairy cooperatives in Gujarat state and discusses the current situation of the cooperatives and challenges faced by them. The cooperatives in India have been old institutions with a great history of success as also failures. Though there are various types of cooperatives in India, the dairy cooperatives have been able to gain more attention in the international market due to the Operation Floods I, II, and III. India has secured its position as one of the largest milk producers in the world. At present, India produces 20% of the total milk production in the world. This paper is a blend and analysis of theoretical perspectives and ground realities of the dairy cooperative sector in India. The paper follows theoretical perspectives from institutional theory to analyse the present scenario of dairy cooperatives in India. It addresses the gaps in the dairy cooperative development sector with an in‐depth analysis of ground realities and contributes to future policy formulation and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to verify whether the transportation infrastructure investment carried out by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has promoted the economic development of its recipient countries. Since the establishment of the AIIB, its investments in infrastructure development, aimed at promoting economic growth in Asian developing countries, have garnered considerable attention. This study selects India, the largest recipient country of the AIIB, as the research object and chooses the Gujarat Road Project as the research case, since it is a completed infrastructure construction investment project in the transportation field. This paper provides an overview of the project's operation and summarizes key factors in the project's implementation. In the data analysis section, the per capita GDP is selected as the explained variable to measure economic development, and the LASSO regression method is used to select several variables that affect economic development. Moreover, the random forest model is used to obtain the causal relationship between road construction and the per capita GDP from 2001 to 2022. The results indicate that road construction in India has a significant positive effect on per capita GDP growth, the Gujarat Road Project supported by the AIIB also has a positive effect on per capita GDP growth, and this effect is stronger than that at the national level. The main contribution of this work is the validation of the investment strategy of the AIIB and the quantification of the economic contribution of AIIB investment projects to the local area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is regularly pointed out that despite impressive economic growth India has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. It also has the largest number of people with diabetes despite moderate levels of obesity. These two observations may in fact be linked; poverty breeds malnutrition in children and chronic diseases in adults. This article reviews evidence on the critical role of early nutrition both for long-term health and also for reducing the intergenerational transmission of poverty. (JEL codes: I12, I14, O15) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Indo-Pacific region is believed to be of immense strategic significance given the dynamism of the region in propelling economic growth and cooperation between nations. However, the region has attracted significant attention from major powers and is being reimagined as a contested geo-political space. The emergence of the term has led to a restructuring of the popular perception in which the world has traditionally and strategically perceived this geographical area. This paper delves into the manner in which the India and Australia as important actors in the region conceptualize the 'Indo-Pacific' and how it has shaped India-Australia relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic profile of women in any country reflects the overall status of women. Economic development of any country significantly depends upon the participation rates of its women. Women's empowerment is crucial for raising their living standards and well-being. India is a country of diversity regarding the wide geographical, cultural and social variations. Haryana is known as one of the developed states of India, but even then there is prevailing much gender-based inequality and male dominance in all dimensions of life. The position of women in Mahendergarh district of Haryana is no better than the other districts of Haryana. The objective of the paper is to understand the demographic profile of women status in Mahendergarh District, Haryana as per Census 2011. It reveals the three main indicators sex ratio, women literacy and her work participation in the process of their empowerment with special attention to the gender perspective. This paper will examine the regional disparity of sex ratio, literacy rate and female work participation and the improvement of empowerment of women in the Mahendergarh district state of Haryana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of US-Indian higher education partnerships affects those students who are most marginalized. This article explores the development, implementation, and reception of such partnerships to meet the needs of students who remain on the borders of educational access in India. This article addresses the ways higher education policies systematically universalize the marginalization of certain students, explores the impact of how policies of partnerships will address the needs of such students, and seeks to explore how administrators in higher education institutions see the growth of such partnerships shifting the status quo of privilege and power. Through the evaluation of policy papers, historical documents, media reports, survey data and informal conversations with stakeholders, the findings will address the underlying consequences and effects on higher education policy development in India. This article seeks to deconstruct the directions such relationships might take and consider the impact on students who remain on the periphery of higher education in India.

India aims to become the world’s third largest economy (US$ 5 trillion) by 2025, a dream which was derailed to a certain extent because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several ways to achieving the target set, albeit with some time lag. One way to support the economy in such a high-pressure situation is through infrastructure development. A positive correlation between infrastructure development and economic development has been proved beyond doubt. Infrastructure development also supports socio-cultural development. The present paper is an attempt of understand the trends and status of infrastructure development in India. It is very important to take stock of the domestic situation in a global context, to have a more realistic picture and understand the gaps. The second part of the paper presents a comparative picture of infrastructure development in India and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the dynamic nexus between economic complexity index (ECI), technological development (TIN), human capital (HC) and environmental quality in India for transition towards a sustainable environment. This study is based on secondary data covering the period from 1985 to 2018. For empirical analysis, this study applied "Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology" (STIRPAT) model framework under the estimation of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and vector error correction model (VECM) model. The empirical findings of model 1 show ECI, TIN, HC and urbanization (URB) as the helping hands to mitigate the problem of environmental degradation by shrinking the level of EF, whereas for model 2, ECI and TIN failed to influence the CO 2 emissions, but HC served as a stimulant for environmental quality enhancement by declining the level of CO 2 emissions. In contrast, GDP growth and URB strengthen the CO 2 emissions levels. Moreover, in VECM framework, estimated findings reveal that the covariables Granger-cause EF and CO 2 emissions, inferring that causality flows asynchronously from its covariables to EF and CO 2 . Impulse response function (IRF) revealed that the responses in EF and CO 2 emissions ascribed to changes in its covariables. The outcome of the study has some implications for environmental policy strategists to prepare sustainable environment policies and other responsible authorities for sustainable development goal (SDGs), academician and scholars. All the stakeholders involved in environmental economics and policymakers can evaluate this study to design proper policy framework with respect to the environment. There are few studies that explore the dynamic nexus between ECI, TIN and HC with environmental quality in the control environment of URB and GDP growth using the STIRPAT model for India., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper reviews the economic policies adopted by the Indian government under different policy regimes, provides a political economy perspective of economic growth in the country during 1950–2020 and examines the inclusiveness of the rapid economic growth in recent decades. The growth performance of the economy improved as the economy moved from inward-looking policy regime to the regimes of pro-business and pro-market policies. India's political economy was supportive of the changes in policy regime. After growing at a sluggish rate during the first three decades after 1950–1951, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated significantly after the pro-business reforms in the 1980s, and there was further acceleration after the pro-market reforms since 1991–1992. It has, however, slowed down in recent years. Nevertheless, it has not been inclusive, as the benefits of growth have not reached all sections of the population and all regions of the country equally. On the contrary, disparities in income across regions and inequalities in income, wealth and consumption among individuals have exacerbated, and the problems of unemployment and poverty have been persisting in the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are well-functioning formal judicial institutions important for economic development, or can informal contracting arrangements provide adequate substitutes? This paper aims to answer this question using variation across industries in their reliance on contracts along with variation across Indian states in the average speed of courts. The identification strategy is motivated by theory from the incomplete contracting literature, in which it is argued that transactions involving relationship-specific investments are more exposed to postcontractual opportunism and hence have greater need for efficient contract enforcement. The paper finds that the interaction between state-level court efficiency and industry-level relationship specificity is highly predictive of future growth in India's formal manufacturing sector. The threat of omitted variable bias is minimized by the inclusion of state and industry fixed effects, while a number of robustness checks and placebo tests rule out competing explanations and provide additional confidence in the hypothesized mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the evolution of the Indian State's role in governance, and the implications this has for goal setting. We find that the Indian government's activist role in governance marked a change from the colonial period. This, we suggest, was not due to changes in the relative influence of different stakeholder groups. It was instead due to new national developmental goals, particularly industrialization. Fairly quickly after independence, we find that higher education governance came to be exercised in different ways between the center and the states. Control over the system's governance was to later become an arena of contest between the national (central) government and the provinces (states), leading to disagreements on strategies, such as on funding and regulation. In later phases, particularly in the third phase that began in 1984 and continues to the present, the disagreements intensified because educational priorities started changing due to the changes in the relative influence of stakeholder groups and new forces such as globalization.

This paper estimates the distribution of educational returns by gender for India. While previous studies focus on mean returns, the variance of educational returns has important implications for policy-making and micro-level decision making with respect to education. If the variance of educational returns is large, it can leave large sections of the population with negative returns; if the variance of educational returns is gender specific, it can influence households' decisions to educate girls versus boys. Our econometric results provide evidence that India's labor markets are characterized by significant uncertainty and that the uncertainty is systematically larger for women. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

Tourism industry has been defined as one of the largest and fastest growing industries. This industry is also considered to be one of the ancient industries of the world. Tourism industry in India is experiencing a boom at the moment. India has tremendous potential to become a major global tourist destination and Indian tourism industry is exploiting this potential to the hilt. A state like Rajasthan has all the elements to become a model state for tourism in the country. It has a rich cultural heritage and the tourists from all over the world visit it due to its climate, scenic beauty and ecological resources. The statistical figures reveal that Rajasthan gets the lion's share of total tourist arrivals, both foreign and domestic, due to its special climate and culture. The present paper assesses the impact of tourism demand on the economic development of Rajasthan. The paper measures the economic development of Rajasthan in terms of Gross State Domestic Product. It assesses the impact of tourism on various developmental activities. Various statistical techniques such as correlation, regression and neural network are used to measure the relation between these two factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the aggregate economic effects from India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which provides up to 100 days of labor to rural laborers at the mandated minimum wage. We examine the within-district change to nighttime lights, a proxy for economic development, and banking deposits using the staggered program rollout for identification. We find consistent and robust evidence that NREGS increased aggregate economic output by 1% to 2% per capita measured by nighttime lights. This effect, however, is not equal across districts. We observe no positive effect of the program in poorer districts, illuminating an important source of heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship has been recognised as an important factor of development and has been playing a crucial role in capital creation and accelerating economic growth in India. Women entrepreneurs are also increasingly contributing towards the economic growth. By Women Entrepreneurs we mean, women who are engaged in an act of business and business creation that empowers women economically, builds financial stability as well as create a position for themselves in the society. Although incredible opportunities exist, few business challenges as inadequate funds, lack of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) knowledge etc. deter women entrepreneurs. This paper attempts to find the potential of ICT to support women entrepreneurs' in business ventures, and address certain problems peculiar to women, since ICT has helped expansion of many businesses and carry it to the international level too in quite a short span of time as compared to conventional business practices. This paper uses the qualitative research strategy and primary data collected from women entrepreneurs of northeast and eastern India. The result highlights, that there is limited use of ICT by these entrepreneurs in their business operation in such areas as purchasing system, website designing, internal communication etc. The present study may provide insight to existing and prospective entrepreneurs in considering use of ICT for business expansion and may help policy makers in getting relevant information to provide a sound support and information system to women. Conducive legal and institutional provisions will help future growth of women entrepreneurs and will also motivate more in creating new ventures with new hope in the future and a win-win situation for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary education is essential for the economic development in any country. Most studies give more emphasis to the final output (such as literacy, enrolment etc.) rather than the delivery of the entire primary education system. In this paper, we study the school level data from an Indian district, collected under the official DISE statistics. We use several indicators to capture the multi-dimensional aspects of primary school education system in India. Our analysis reveals serious discrepancies in deprivation, social and policy indicators that infringes upon efficiency in a negative way. (Contains 7 tables.)

Developing nations including Bangladesh are significantly lagging behind the millennium development target due to the lack of science, technology and engineering education. Bangladesh as a least developing country has only 44 engineers per million people. Its technological education and gross domestic product growth are not collinear. Although limited progress was made in humanities, basic sciences, agriculture and medical sciences, a vast gap is left in technical and engineering education. This paper describes the present condition of engineering education in the country and explores ways to improve engineering education in order to meet the national as well as global skills demand. (Contains 3 tables and 7 figures.)

The current study projects the increase in surface temperature and CO 2 emissions using the EGM (1,1, α, θ) grey model for the six most significant CO 2 contributing countries, namely China, the USA, India, Russia, Japan, and Germany. The study uses time series data for surface temperature (in degree celsius) from 2010 to 2020, and CO 2 emission (metric tons per capita) data from 2009 to 2019. The empirical results show a downward trend in CO 2 emissions from Japan, Germany, the USA, and Russia by 2028. However, in the same time period, CO 2 emissions are expected to increase for India and remain nearly constant for China. This study indicates an increase in surface temperature at a significant rate in all the 6 countries: by 6.70 °C for China, 7.52 °C for Germany, 2.95 °C for India, 2.66 °C for Japan, 3.61 °C for Russia, and 13.48 °C for the USA by the end of 2028. The study compares the EGM (1,1, α, θ) grey model with the general EGM (1,1) grey model and finds that the EGM (1,1, α, θ) model performs better in both in-sample and out-of-sample forecasting. The paper also puts forward policy suggestions to mitigate, manage, and reduce increases in surface temperature as well as CO 2 emissions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial sector development and poverty reduction in India using annual data from 1970 to 2012. The paper attempts to answer the critical question: does financial sector development lead to poverty reduction? Design/methodology/approach – Stationarity properties of the series are checked by using Ng-Perron unit root test. The paper uses the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to co-integration to examine the existence of long-run relationship; error-correction mechanism for the short-run dynamics and Granger non-causality test to test the direction of causality. Findings – The co-integration test confirms a long-run relationship between financial development and poverty reduction for India. The ARDL test results suggest that financial development and economic growth reduces poverty in both long run and short run. The causality test confirms that there is a positive and unidirectional causality running from financial development to poverty reduction. Research limitations/implications – This study implies that poverty in India can be reduced by financial inclusion and financial accessibility to the poor. For a fast growing economy with respect to financial sector development this may have far-reaching implication toward inclusive growth. Originality/value – This paper is the first of its kind to empirically examine the causal relationship between financial sector development and poverty reduction in India using modern econometric techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports on a field experiment conducted among poor women organized in self-help groups in the north-east of India. The experiment tests in a simple game whether overly optimistic expectations with respect to the benefits of exercising agency reduces one's appreciation of remaining with agency in the future. If so, unrealistic expectations may trigger behaviour that jeopardizes empowerment processes. It is hypothesized that negative emotions, such as disappointment, bring about such risks. We find that overstretched expectations may indeed work against empowerment if the gap between achieved and expected outcomes following increased agency is sufficiently wide. However, modest expectation gaps have the opposite effect and tend to promote attitudes conducive to empowerment. A tentative explanation for this result is offered by combining insights from recent work on the role of aspirations.

While higher education is regarded a high priority for economic development in many countries, public budgets often fall short to support desired levels of expansion in higher education. This leads to cost-sharing: students and their families are required to contribute more to the costs of higher education. This paper explores worldwide trends to cope with this issue based on the following questions: Is it fair to ask for larger contributions from students? What are the global patterns and forms of higher private shares in the costs of higher education? And what is the impact of cost-sharing on higher education access and equity? (Contains 4 tables and 2 footnotes.)

This paper analyses and compares the measurement of indicators and variables in the construction of education index in Human Development Index (HDI) at the global, national and 18 sub-national human development reports in India since 1990. The results show non-comparability of measurement of the education indicators and variables. This implies that vertical and horizontal comparability of HDI may not be plausible for India. Implications of these analyses are highlighted for measurement of quality of life indices with special reference to physical quality of life index. Policy lessons are derived for future measurement of education index for India in particular, and other developing countries in general.

This paper discusses the transition from a national focus on food security during the last half of the 20th century to an emerging strategy on helping small-scale farm households increase farm income to reduce rural poverty. The basic proposition is that if extension is going to help increase farm incomes and rural employment, then it must shift from being a "supply-driven" to a more "market-driven" extension system. This shift requires at least three major institutional changes. First, extension must give higher priority to high-value, labor-intensive crops/products where there is real demand in domestic and/or export markets. Second, small-scale producers must get organized into groups to achieve economies of scale and to become linked with the "value chains" that supply these markets. Third, extension planning and decision-making must become decentralized to determine the most suitable crops and/or enterprises vis-a-vis the interests and resources of different farmer groups, in light of agro-ecological conditions and available markets for different products.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the factors that lead to the failure of startups in India and proposes a 'Four Dimensional (4D) Strategic Framework' to drive success. Design/methodology/approach: This study is exploratory and uses a narrative analysis methodology to analyse the accounts of key startup stakeholders – founders, investors, former employees and consumers; to identify their failure factors. A conveniently selected sample of 165 startups was studied to understand better the reasons for their failure within a thematic framework developed from David Feinleib's (2012) handbook "Why Startups Fail". Findings: Results indicate that a dearth of capital or running out of money and inadequate sales and marketing strategy, which leads businesses to fall behind rivals and lose money on each transaction, are the most common factors for startup failure in India. Originality/value: "Startups" are substantial for emerging economies like India because they fuel technological innovation and economic progress and provide for the modern workforce's needs and aspirations. However, they seem to be typically unprofitable, with a modest probability of survival. Subsisting studies mainly focus primarily on success factors and very few on why startups fail, with significant disagreement on an appropriate methodology. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that analyses failure factors of Indian startups using narrative analysis of its key stakeholders. It aims to aid the conception of profitable entrepreneurship by reducing the failure frequency in the startup and small business ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discussed about FDI in education sector of Indian scenario. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has long been a source of concern for India. Although 100% FDI is allowed in the education sector by the government, it also has some obstructions or barriers in addition to its main benefits. The authors of this study have made an effort to highlight both the positive and negative effects of FDI on the education sector. In India, this is noted that education is key to developing the nation. It is also a well accepted fact that empowering young people with the right knowledge and skills can ensure societal advancement and economic growth. According to the Indian educational system, education plays a role in establishing values such as libertarianism, respect for majority rule traditions, universal liberties, and the pursuit of equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the potential implications of digital interventions for social accountability through the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) in India. The SCM represents India's transition to a new political economy based on rapid urbanization and wide-scale application of digital technology to reform public service delivery while simultaneously creating new markets for urban transformation. Within this wider context, the paper considers the future of democratic practices in urban governance. We argue that while citizen-led accountability practices were trialed by civil society organizations since 1990s, the SCM presented unique opportunity and challenge to institutionalize these tools within the framework of multi-scalar governance — between central-, state- and local-level institutions and between communities, private vendors and public bodies. Zooming into the four smart city projects — Indore, Kakinada, Panaji and Ranchi — we explain how each city engaged with citizen groups, communities and civil society and what their experiences tell us about the prospects and challenges of democratizing digital urban futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what conditions do policy paradigms succeed in historically weak states? To answer these questions, this paper examines the subnational case of Bihar in India. The existing literature portrays Bihar as lacking capacity. Yet, between 2005 and 2010, astounding improvements have taken place in sectors of transparency and accountability and law & order. How do we explain this? This paper shows that ideas are consequential in initiating changes in policy paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue explores the operationalization of the triple helix system in developing countries by examining the university-industry relationship and its implications for national and regional innovation systems. The five papers in this issue attempt to set in perspective the role of universities in capacity building in four developing countries (India, Mexico, Chile and Thailand). The papers are based on in-depth case studies drawing on system theories such as the national and regional systems of innovation, national innovative capacity, and the triple helix system. They draw useful lessons of policy import for university managers and higher education policy-makers, local government officials and regional industry associations. They also underline the importance of policy initiatives for networking and collaboration between industry, university and government agencies. The key factors that would need to be taken into account by policy-makers and university authorities in order to ensure continuing, effective, working relationships with industry are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to examine the impact of education on income growth in India for the time period 1966-1996. Education is broken down into the categories of primary, secondary, and tertiary. Time series techniques are used to determine whether education, for each category, has a causal impact on growth. Furthermore, the education variables are also broken down by gender and analysis is carried out to determine whether the causal results vary by gender. The results indicate that primary education has a strong causal impact on growth, with more limited evidence of such an impact for secondary education. Finally, the evidence is quite compelling that it is female education at all levels, that has potential for generating economic growth.

The process of globalisation and modernisation of the south through "the development project" continues to "invite" resistance to ecological destruction and displacement of rural and forest-based communities. Post-developmentalist critics emphasise the significance of social movements in ushering in a new partnership for social justice at the margins as "alternatives to development". Meanwhile, scholarship on popular education and social movements continues to document and advance the importance of popular education in social movement activism. However, despite the successes of localised popular education efforts/movements in the south, these movements face considerable obstacles. This paper reports on a study that was undertaken to assess the "brakes of domination" on such attempts at constructive resistance. The study has been undertaken as "one research moment" within the context of a longitudinal participatory action research initiative that commenced in 1995. Partners involve a Canadian development NGO, a partner local NGO located in the east coast state of Orissa, India and Kondh Adivasi and Dalit (pejoratively referred to as "untouchables") communities located in over 100 villages in the forested areas of the eastern ghats (hilly range) of Orissa. The emerging local autonomy movement in the area, where there has been a conscious attempt to engage a process of popular education, has made significant progress in terms of the scope of the movement; mobilising government resources; politicising/galvanising and organising a population that is continually struggling against historic/contemporary forms of domination; and in terms of addressing issues pertaining to access/control over forests, land and water. Research participants (members of the local NGO) are of the conviction that "struggle" is not dead and that people will not give in to apathy and hopelessness, despite the overwhelming odds. This study addresses some of these "odds" or the social structural constraints (brakes of domination) that impinge on movement activism for social justice at the margins.

This paper attempts to examine the influence of microfinance interventions on the poor living in India and Bangladesh. Both the countries have attracted the attention of the world towards the latest and effective means of combating destitution. The paper commences with a historical overview, evolution and a quick snapshot of the current status. In the second half of this paper, an impact analysis is undertaken to perceive the impact of microfinance interventions on poverty alleviation, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and social upliftment. An intensive discussion of a number of programs initiated by the microfinance institutions directed towards the social upliftment of the poor and their impact on the poor communities are presented in the paper. Finally, the study also presents suggestions and recommendations for maintaining sustainability of the sector to deal with dynamic and challenging environment. The relevance of innovative techniques like sand-boxing, credit plus products and capacity building are emphasised to assist the long-lasting economic growth and social well-being of poor in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is a crucial input for a country's economic development. Increasing Population creates pressure on the power sector to meet the demand of present generation keeping in mind the needs of the future generation. Power sector in India is characterized by consistent losses and poor performances. Reforms like electricity for all (24*7), controlling electricity theft, systematic planning, etc. have been initiated by the government for the enhancement of the sector. A considerable improvement can be seen after the implementation of these reforms but still the power sector suffers from huge transmission & distribution (T&D) losses, shortages in the supply of electricity during peak season, electricity theft, high power purchase cost etc. The Government of India is striving hard towards uplifting the power sector and is introducing various policies and schemes which aim towards the betterment of the sector. This paper attempts to review the policies initiated towards the development of power sector and the path that lead to the unfolding of these reforms and their relevance in the present scenario. Further the paper analyses the outcomes of these strategies and their success in the attainment of the specified targets and concluding the initiatives that can be taken in the near future for the growth of power sector in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian economy is the agricultural economy and real India is in the villages. Without rural economic development, the objectives of economic planning cannot be reached. So, banks and other financial institutions are considered a vital role in rural economic development in India. NABARD is playing a vital role in the economic development of rural India. A developing country, like India, ought to be an ideal environment for micro-finance programmes seeking to reach the poor and attain financial sustainability. Microfinance is regarded as a central poverty alleviation strategy and a means of deriving economic growth and employment of small, micro & medium enterprises (SMME). A complex set of best practice models and a network of active members and support of rural people in an organized form and the active support of banks and NABARD in India have emerged to support a thriving industry. Bank credit is available to farmers under the short-term credit for the shape of agricultural products and financial programs such as the medium-term/long-term debt financing for capital investments in agriculture and related activities such as land, including land purchases, minor irrigation, farm mechanization, program development, the domestic poultry animals, fishing, plantation, and horticulture. The loans are available for storing, processing and marketing agricultural products needed now days the long-term and short-term credit of these institutions are also achieved by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). It is the evolution of agricultural finance. In this paper, an attempt has been made to understand the concept of rural finance in India and the role of NABARD in the priorities of the credit sector and also various programs initiated by the NABARD for the sustainable development of rural India. The study could also lead to the strengths and weaknesses of Rural Finance in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the causes of the demise of community development and shows how a community development department could become the major agency for social and economic development. (JOW)

Bhasin argues for a clear and scientific analysis of the structure of poverty and exploitation that keeps Indian women illiterate, unequal, hungry, and ill. Ellis explores ways of linking women's issues with adult, nonformal, and literacy education to help women meet the challenges of development. (CT)

Presents recommendations from a January 1979 seminar held in Bengal, India, of representatives from different voluntary agencies associated with the national adult education program. Three groups discussed program components (literacy, awareness, and functionality), integrating development with adult education, voluntary agencies and government coordination, learning motivation, and educational and economic development. (MF)

States that 99 percent of India's education budget is spent on formal education, which is not relevant to the needs of most Indians whose many languages and socioeconomic conditions require the traditional nonformal methods. Sharply criticizes others' emphasis on "elitist" imposition of uneconomic, one-language, formal educational methods. (MF)

This series of articles presents a variety of studies related to employment opportunities for the disabled, stimulating economy and employment, and new job creation. These studies are related to both developed and developing countries and are also concerned with the international division of labor. (SSH)