[SmartCat]

Looks like Muizzu is getting his backside kicked for trying to ditch India/West and tilt towards China. China tilt was a bad decision for a country that has its currency (Rufiyaa) pegged to US dollar! Magically, Maldives is now facing foreign exchange crisis. The ex-FM's statement gives a hint that US does not like the geopolitical decisions taken by the Maldives Govt

Maldives is heading towards crisis, says former FM as usable dollar reserves run out
https://www.businesstoday.in/world/s...942-2024-08-25

The former finance minister also alleged the Muizzu government makes decisions based on the response they get at negotiations to raise money. The government "does not understand" the diplomatic responses, he said.

[vaibhav_a_a]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

In fact, for many years ISM (now IIT) Dhanbad would simply not admit women for their degree in mining.

This has a long tail and a legal one. The Mines Act, 1952, prohibited women from working in any underground mine at all hours or in an above-ground mine between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. ISM couldn't admit a female student for they would essentially not be able to complete practical training. I think a British-era law was the basis of this act.

This was changed in 2019.

I totally agree with you on all other points - equal work for equal pay should be the norm rather than an exception.

[Samurai]

This is one of the most important welcome schemes that ever happened in India. Getting insurance for elderly is very difficult and very expensive. Most of them can't afford it since they usually have don't have income. When my mom got admitted to hospital, she had no insurance, and I had to take care of the entire expense. This scheme would have really helped me then.

https://youtu.be/EneMOeieZR8

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Samurai

This is one of the most important welcome schemes that ever happened in India. Getting insurance for elderly is very difficult and very expensive. Most of them can't afford it since they usually have don't have income. When my mom got admitted to hospital, she had no insurance, and I had to take care of the entire expense. This scheme would have really helped me then.

This can only be a first step. For the scheme to be effective, it should have universal acceptance and practical limits (covering a large portion of the expense).

The current limits seem to be too low for metro cities i.e unless one opts for Govt hospitals.
If one has the means, (barring some exceptional care providers like Jayadeva) one would choose a private hospital. And the cost would be several times what is covered.

Link to procedures and the limits: https://pmjay.gov.in/sites/default/f...Website_V2.pdf

[dragracer567]

An excellent video that really shows a mirror of how we view ourselves. The wealth in India is such that 0.5% live like an average Singaporean resident, 2% live like an average Polish resident, 5% like a Mexican resident and the remaining 92.5% like in Sub-Saharan Africa. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that most of us in this forum come in the first two categories.

It is a fascinating point on how luck contributes to your success - for example, I hail from Kanyakumari District - which is the most educated & literate district (because of various factors going back to the British days) in Tamil Nadu which in itself is one of the more literate states. Further, I'm the fourth or third generation (depending on which line you pick) to go to university in my family and the fact that my dad gave me a pretty big headstart given he moved out of India thirty years ago. Not to say that I didn't work hard to reach where I am now BUT had I hailed from say a poor district in Bihar/UP to an uneducated/illiterate family, it's inconceivable that I would reach where I am regardless of how hard I work.

Bridging this gap would be crucial to ensure that India doesn't end up as a two-speed economy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Ie...el=MohakMangal

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

It is a fascinating point on how luck contributes to your success - for example, I hail from Kanyakumari District - which is the most educated & literate district (because of various factors going back to the British days) in Tamil Nadu which in itself is one of the more literate states. Further, I'm the fourth or third generation (depending on which line you pick) to go to university in my family and the fact that my dad gave me a pretty big headstart given he moved out of India thirty years ago.

I suppose location matters more than inter-generational factors. My parents were not graduates, neither were my grandparents. My parents never owned a car either. But I was in Bangalore when IT revolution took off, which pushed me out of similar fate than my parents. Never aspired/applied for IIT or IAS. Despite being from a 4-tier college, I ended up working in USA by age 24. And I have had plenty of kids of bluecollar workers, joining my company as engineers.

Recently I was in my native village hobnobbing with couple village farmhands digging ditches, I have known them all my life. Both their kids have master's degrees and are working for MNCs. Meanwhile, my cook's daughter is studying for IPS. Jumping to the next level is lot easier in India due to free education schemes available for low-income groups, provided they have some guidance and determination. Even medical facilities via ESI and Ayushman Bharath makes healthcare lot easy to obtain for them. So sub-Saharan comparison is quite a stretch.

[V.Narayan]

Thank you @dragracer567 for your thought provoking post backed by data. i like the way several of your posts are supported by data.

Originally Posted by dragracer567

An excellent video that really shows a mirror of how we view ourselves. The wealth in India is such that 0.5% live like an average Singaporean resident, 2% live like an average Polish resident, 5% like a Mexican resident and the remaining 92.5% like in Sub-Saharan Africa. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that most of us in this forum come in the first two categories.

I won't question the data though it seems a little harsher than I would have thought. Nevertheless, putting that aside we may want to factor in purchasing power parity here to reflect true standard of living. as you know I am in the social sector for healthcare dealing with poorest segments of Indian society. Now I rarely observe the dire poverty I used to routinely see in my childhood. It is there but much much less. There is a large layer of Indians in the layer below lower middle class and their biggest attribute is to get their children educated and move up to lower middle class and better.

[SmartCat]

When the Youtuber says "lives like", he means GDP per capita.

India population:1.42 billion
GDP per capita: $2,500

0.5% live like avg Singaporeans = Top 7.1 million Indians have GDP per capita of $82,800
Next 2% live like avg Polish = Next 28 million Indians have GDP per capita of $18,700
Next 5% live like avg Mexicans = Next 71 million Indians have GDP per capita of $11,500

Now as soon as somebody says "sub-saharan Africa", which is essentially (entire africa minus Arab states in the north), we assume that its GDP per capita will be in triple digits. But it is not! GDP per capita of sub-saharan Africa is $1,700. Which is not very far away from India's number.

Next 92.5% live like avg sub-saharan Africans = 1313 million Indians have GDP per capita of $1,700

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Now I rarely observe the dire poverty I used to routinely see in my childhood. It is there but much much less. There is a large layer of Indians in the layer below lower middle class and their biggest attribute is to get their children educated and move up to lower middle class and better.

Indeed, this is a point that I missed. While a couple of decades ago, poverty probably meant unable to even afford food, living in a house without a solid roof etc, right now based on the example in the YouTube video, the life in poverty would’ve been deemed a quite comfortable life 3-4 decades ago. I guess the goalposts keep shifting as the society evolves and get richer, so when we put it this way, there has indeed been upward mobility.

Originally Posted by SmartCat

When the Youtuber says "lives like", he means GDP per capita.

India population:1.42 billion
GDP per capita: $2,500

0.5% live like avg Singaporeans = Top 7.1 million Indians have GDP per capita of $82,800
Next 2% live like avg Polish = Next 28 million Indians have GDP per capita of $18,700
Next 5% live like avg Mexicans = Next 71 million Indians have GDP per capita of $11,500

Both Poland and Mexico would be a quite a bit richer than that based on 2024 data, Mexico at around $15k and Poland at around $23k.

The Mexico example is quite intriguing though since I have quite a lot of friends there. Mexico is in itself a very unequal nation where you’ve 1% living like Americans,
3% living like a Spaniard and 25% living like say a lower middle class living in Maharashtra with the remaining living in relative poverty though I haven’t seen it with my own eyes to giving a judgement on how it would compare. Offcourse, the US, Spain and Maharashtra are also very unequal places, so this is not a very straightforward comparison. I guess the goal of the YouTube was to show the data in such a way that people would be able to consume it, which he has succeeded in a very thought provoking manner.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

Mexico is in itself a very unequal nation where you’ve 1% living like Americans

There is a metric to measure income inequality called the GINI COEFFICIENT.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient

Lighter shade is better (less inequality). Darker shade means more income inequality

which he has succeeded in a very thought provoking manner.

One more dataset (statewise GDP per capita). Look at GDP per capita of Bihar/UP! Among large states, Telengana/Karnataka have one of the highest GDP per capita, probably powered by IT employees.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

It is a fascinating point on how luck contributes to your success -

It does. These days a lot of emphasis (social media, influencers) is being placed on the ability to "better" oneself. You can be anything you want and all that sort of stuff.

Endless research in the West shows that a few simple factors determine your social standing and financial situation (e.g. income/wealth).

One of the main factors is who your parents are/were. That determines, statistically, how much you will earn and how well you will be doing on the social ladder to a very large extent.

Parents with a good education will emphasise good education for their own kids. They are likely to have more disposable income, likely to live in a nicer, healthier neighbourhood and so on.

The kids are growing up in an environment where study is encouraged. They grow up in a more healthy and stimulating environment.



These factors carry through your whole life. All the way to life expectancy. Even in a pretty egalitarian society such as the Netherlands, there is a 5-6-year gap in life expectancy between well-educated and less-educated people.

Education is incredibly important. In countries such as India, many parents with no or little education will be acutely aware and they will bend over backwards to ensure their kids get the best education they can afford.

It is very different in the West. Less educated people are less encouraging and supportive towards their kids to get a good education.

Irrespective, your parents are a huge factor in what you will become. In all societies. Of course, there are always exceptions. And you can't pick your parents. It's down to luck.

Jeroen

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

It is a fascinating point on how luck contributes to your success - for example, I hail from Kanyakumari District - which is the most educated & literate district (because of various factors going back to the British days) in Tamil Nadu which in itself is one of the more literate states.

My family originally hails from doaba region in Punjab. My maternal grand dad had a Phd and my paternal grand dad was an engineer who was pivotal in creation of the Bhakra Dam in Nangal Punjab. My dad graduated from a top IIT.

Punjab was historically one of the most prosperous areas in India. But the rise of militiany in punjab halted its progress and south and west India surged ahead. The highly enterprising Banians of Punjab moved out( Bansal/Mitalls/Munjals/Mahindras/Goyals etc.). Now there are no high quality jobs in the region.

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

One more dataset (statewise GDP per capita). Look at GDP per capita of Bihar/UP! Among large states, Telengana/Karnataka have one of the highest GDP per capita, probably powered by IT employees.

Attachment 2663658

The status of Andhra Pradesh is quite perplexing. I was of the assumption that the districts in Telangana were poorer relatively which contributed to the state secessionist movement. Offcourse, Hyderabad being present in Telangana skews the ratio by a fair margin - as is the case for Bangalore vs rest of Karnataka and Mumbai vs rest of Maharashtra. I’d say Tamil Nadu is relatively more equitable but the northern and western districts do generally get access to more investments than the Southern and coastal districts, I’ve heard of similar disparities in Gujarat as well where the growth has also been more equitable. Tamil Nadu also has a much more older and aging population which will really depress future growth.

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Punjab was historically one of the most prosperous areas in India. But the rise of militiany in punjab halted its progress and south and west India surged ahead. The highly enterprising Banians of Punjab moved out( Bansal/Mitalls/Munjals/Mahindras/Goyals etc.). Now there are no high quality jobs in the region.

Punjab is a very interesting example. I’m not sure how much the militancy contributed to the decline but another aspect is the fact that Punjab was a victim of its own success. The agricultural sector was so much more advanced than the rest of India that it never really incentivised the state to invest in manufacturing and services as the residents of the state were enjoying a much higher standard of living than the rest of the country as is. I’d say it’s a form of Dutch disease.

Coming to the inter-state comparison, the recent EAC paper gives some interesting insights:

https://youtu.be/LPM-BvzH6Yw?si=vJMvFIWy5Myci6uS

[Mystic]

A philosopher’s take on Poverty:

“Food, clothing and shelter — these are the basic needs. Beyond that, if you want anything, it is the beginning of self-deception.”- UG

Dictionary meaning of Poverty:

Poverty is the state of being poor; that is, lacking the basic needs of life such as food, health, education, and shelter.

India has one of the oldest civilisations with gurukul kind of education and very wealthy communities. Some of the oldest universities were established in India. Now it is living on less than a 2 USD per day ( majority of population).

Modern India’s problems are different now. We are one of the biggest democracies and secular. We are proud of our unity in diversity. Our glorious past thousands of years back is not helping. There is no sincere effort by the people who are in power to solve poverty. In fact they don't want to solve poverty due to their own agenda.

I agree that a good supporting system at home helps a child to succeed in life but it is by a very small margin. Most of the “who is who” in India are from a not a very good supporting background and had seen poverty at close quarters. They came up to the top setting an example that anyone can succeed if one has the will.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India

[am1m]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

It is a fascinating point on how luck contributes to your success -...Not to say that I didn't work hard to reach where I am now BUT had I hailed from say a poor district in Bihar/UP to an uneducated/illiterate family, it's inconceivable that I would reach where I am regardless of how hard I work.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Irrespective, your parents are a huge factor in what you will become. In all societies. Of course, there are always exceptions. And you can't pick your parents. It's down to luck.

This is something I think a lot of us don't realize and are losing touch with the fact. Somehow it then becomes "I did this, I worked for this and I deserve this." Which is still ok, but it also leads to things like "Poor people are lazy, they deserve their fate" and "Why should the government subsidize anything (with my tax money)?!"

Most of us, certainly almost all of us on this forum (Internet access, typing in English, probably own a car in India) are incredibly lucky and were born with advantages that we didn't really do anything to 'deserve'. Just won the genetic lottery. But I've seen that doesn't make most of us any more considerate to people without those advantages, in fact, it seems to make us go in the opposite way.