Do it yourself

 Si tting on the banks of river Betwa, overlooking the majestic Orchha palace and Lord Raja Ram’s temple, I had a fascinating talk with two farmers from a nearby village. During the course of our discussion, I learnt that they are real brothers; have a family of 11 people, including grandfather, parents and five children aged 3yr to 13yrs including three sons and two daughters; own less than one acre of land and have been tilling another acre on rent; besides they own one cow. They mostly plant wheat during rabi season and vegetables in kharif and intermediate period. Caste wise they were from Kushwaha community that falls in other backward class (OBC) category. Their families are mostly dependent on government schemes for ration, education of children and healthcare. They live in a semi pucca house constructed five years ago with the help of government subsidy. They have six bank accounts for their family members, mostly used to receive various benefits from the government and o...

Last week, the National Statistical Office (NSO) released first advance estimates of the National Income for FY23. These estimates are important because the budget estimates for FY24 would be based on these estimates. The finance ministry will use these estimates to project the GDP, savings, tax revenue, expenditure and allocations for various sectors of the economy. Some key highlights of the data released by NSO could be listed as follows: FY23 real growth (2011-12 prices) GDP (at 2011-12 prices) may increase by 7% to against 8.7% in FY22. This estimate is marginally higher than the RBI’s latest estimate of 6.8%. Per capita GDP may increase by 5.8% to Rs1,13,967, in FY23, against a growth of 7.6% in FY22. Per capita private consumption may be Rs65,237, a growth of 6.6% over FY22. FY23 Nominal Growth (current prices) GDP may increase by 15.4% to US$3.3trn, against 19.5% growth in FY22. Per capita GDP may grow by 14.2% to Rs1,97,468 (US$2394), against a growth of 18.4% in FY22. Per cap...

  The latest edition of the World Economic Forum’s global risk report ( The Global Risk Report 2022 ) offers some valuable and interesting insights into the current global risk perceptions and areas of concern. The key message is that “A divergent economic recovery from the crisis created by the pandemic risks deepening global divisions at a time when societies and the international community urgently need to collaborate to check COVID-19, heal its scars and address compounding global risks.” The clear and present global challenges include “Supply chain disruptions, inflation, debt, labour market gaps, protectionism and educational disparities are moving the world economy into choppy waters that both rapidly and slowly recovering countries alike will need to navigate to restore social cohesion, boost employment and thrive. These difficulties are impeding the visibility of emerging challenges, which include climate transition disorder, increased cyber vulnerabilities, greater barr...