♦ Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the 25th issue of its publication titled “Women and Men in India 2023” on 12 August 2024. According to this by 2036, population of India is expected to reach 152.2 Crore, with a slightly improved female percentage of 48.8% as compared to 48.5 percent in 2011. The proportion of individuals under 15 years is projected to decrease from 2011 to 2036, likely due to declining fertility.
Highlights:
♦ India's population in 2036 is expected to be more feminine compared to the 2011 population, as reflected in the sex ratio which is projected to increase from 943 in 2011 to 952 by 2036.
♦ It is evident that from 2016 to 2020, Age Specific Fertility Rate in the age group of 20-24 and 25-29 has reduced from 135.4 and 166.0 to 113.6 and 139.6 respectively.
♦ Infant Mortality Rate has been decreasing over the years for both male and female. Female IMR had always been higher than that of male but in 2020, both were equal at the level of 28 infants per 1000 live births.
♦ Up to the 15thNational Election (1999), less than 60% of women electors participated, with men's turnout being 8 percentage points higher. However, the 2014 elections marked a significant change, with women's participation increasing to 65.6%, and further rising to 67.2% in the 2019 elections.
♦ For the first time, the voter turnout percentage was marginally higher for women, highlighting the impact of increasing literacy and political awareness among women.
♦ The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognized a total of 1,17,254 start-ups since its inception in January 2016 up to December 2023. Among these, 55,816 start-ups are led by women, constituting 47.6% of the total recognized start-ups.
Posted Date: August 12, 2024Economy
♦ According to the Paysecure report, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed nearly Rs.81 lakh crore transactions in the 2024 April-July period. This transaction number converts to a 37% increase on a year-over-year (YoY) basis.
♦ With 117.6 billion transactions in 2023, India leads in digital transactions.
♦ UPI processed 3,729.1 transactions per second, which is a 58% surge over the 2,348 transactions every second registered in 2022.
♦ With this data, UPI surpassed China’s Alipay, Paypal and Brazil’s PIX in the number of transactions processed.
♦ UPI processed 117.6 billion transactions in 2023 – the highest in the world. In July, UPI processed Rs 20.6 lakh crore worth of transactions – marking the highest-ever monthly transaction value for UPI, surpassing the Rs 20 lakh crore mark for the third consecutive month.
♦ Fitch Ratings has reaffirmed India’s sovereign debt rating at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings has released its report on 29 August 2024. In this it has attributed to the country’s robust medium-term growth prospects and solid external finance position.
♦ On the growth front, Fitch projected India’s GDP growth at 7.2 percent in Financial Year 2025 and 6.5 percent in Financial Year 2026, bolstered by public infrastructure investments, strong private sector investment in real estate, and a resurgence in manufacturing.
♦ The ‘BBB’ rating reflects low default risk expectations, where the capacity to meet financial commitments remain adequate despite potential vulnerabilities from adverse business or economic conditions.
Moody’s Ratings raised India’s growth forecast for 2024-25 to 7.2 percent from 6.8 percent projected earlier on 29 August 2024. It has also raised its growth projections to 6.6 percent for 2025, up from 6.4 percent. Moody’s said, these forecast changes assume strong broad-based growth and we recognize potentially higher forecasts if the cyclical momentum, especially for private consumption, gains more traction.
♦ Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd (TPSSL) has signed an agreement with ICICI Bank to provide financing for solar units to residential and corporate customers. As part of the agreement, the customers can avail themselves of loans up to Rs.90 lakh with collateral-free options and tenure extending up to 5 years.
♦ TPREL is an arm of Tata Power, is a developer of renewable energy projects.
♦ Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has lowered India’s growth forecast by 20 basis points each for 2024 and 2025, citing a contraction in central government expenditure.
♦ Goldman Sachs expects the nation’s economy to expand at 6.7% in calendar 2024, and 6.4% in 2025.
♦ Bandhan Bank announced the launch of ‘Avni’, a savings account exclusively for women on 23 August 2024. Avni comes with a debit card that offers free airport lounge access, personal accident insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh, and lost card liability of Rs.3.5 lakh, among other offers.
♦ Avni also offers a 25 percent discount on locker rentals and a 50 percent discount on gold loan processing fees. Customers are required to maintain an average quarterly balance of Rs.25,000.
♦ The bank also launched an enterprise-wide loyalty programme, Bandhan Bank Delights, where customers can earn reward points called Delight Points and use the accrued points for purchases.
♦ According to the Brand Finance Food & Drink 2024 report, Amul has been recognized as the strongest food and dairy brand globally. This is an annual report on the most valuable and strongest food, dairy & non-alcoholic drinks brands by Britan's BrandFinance.
♦ The Amul's brand strength was evaluated with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 91.0 out of 100, earning it the prestigious AAA+ rating.
♦ Amul’s brand value saw an 11 percent increase from 2023, reaching $3.3 billion in the latest ranking. In 2022-23, Amul clocked its highest ever sales of Rs 72,000 crore (about $8,5 billion), a jump of 18.5 per cent over the previous year (2021-22).
♦ The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Small Business Administration (SBA) of the Government of the United States of America to promote Cooperation on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The MoU was signed between Secretary, Ministry of MSME S. C. L Das and Administrator, SBA, Government of the United States of America, Isabel Casillas Guzman in New Delhi on 13 August 2024.
♦ It aimed at enabling MSMEs from both countries to participate more effectively in global markets and foster trade.
♦ The MoU also provides for the joint conduct of programmes for women entrepreneurs to empower them and facilitate trade partnerships between women-owned small businesses in the two countries.
Posted Date: August 14, 2024♦ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the limit for making payments through UPI from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.5 lakh. According to the RBI, the UPI user base has reached 42.4 crore. The proposal to introduce ‘Delegated Payments’ in UPI is expected to increase the reach and usage of digital payments across the country.
♦ Payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) reported a 45 percent yearly growth, according to data from the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). The value of transactions also saw a growth of over 35 percent, totaling Rs.20.64 trillion. This marks the third consecutive month when total transactions exceeded Rs.20 trillion.
♦ In June 2024, the total UPI transaction value was Rs.20.07 trillion, while in May it was Rs.20.44 trillion.
Posted Date: August 8, 2024♦ Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) maintained the highest-ranked Indian firm on the 2024 Fortune Global 500 list. Globally it was in 86th rank. The company has gained 69 places in the last three years from 155 in 2021. Reliance has been on the 500 list for 21 years now. It had revenues of $108.8 billion and a profit of $8.4 billion in 2023-24.
♦ US retailer Walmart remains No.1 for the 11th consecutive year while Amazon reached the No.2 spot. Chinese state-owned electric utility State Grid is ranked at No.3 on the list which also has two other Chinese firms in the top 10 - Sinopec Group at No.5 and China National Petroleum at No.Q6.
♦ Saudi Aramco fell to No.4 from being at No.2 in 2023. Apple was ranked at No.7.
♦ Indian firms in this list:
♦ India has nine companies in the 2024 Fortune’s Global 500 list. They are:
| Company | Rank |
| Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) | 86 |
| Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) | 95 |
| Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) | 116 |
| State Bank of India (SBI) | 178 |
| Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) | 180 |
| Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) | 258 |
| Tata Motors | 271 |
| HDFC Bank | 306 |
| Rajesh Exports | 463 |
Posted Date: August 6, 2024
♦ India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) upped India's GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.5 percent from 7.1 percent projected earlier on expectation of improved consumption demand. It said the ongoing growth momentum led by government capex, deleveraged balance sheets of corporates/ banks, and incipient private corporate capex cycle has now found support from the union government budget.
♦ The revised growth projection by India Ratings is higher than most other estimates including the Reserve Bank of India (7.2per cent), Economic Survey (6.5 to 7per cent), the International Monetary Fund (7per cent) and the Asian Development Bank (7per cent).
♦ According to the ratings agency, growth in private final consumption expenditure is likely to accelerate from 4 per cent in 2023-24 to 7.4 per cent in the current financial year, the highest in three years.
Posted Date: August 5, 2024♦ According to a World Bank report, India may take nearly 75 years just to achieve one-fourth of US income per capita. More than 100 countries, including India, China, Brazil, and South Africa face serious challenges in becoming high-income countries in the next few decades. The report titled 'World Development Report 2024: The Middle Income Trap'.
Highlites:
♦ At current trends, it will take China more than 10 years just to reach one-quarter of US income per capita, Indonesia nearly 70 years, and India 75 years.
♦ At the end of 2023, 108 countries were classified as middle-income, each with annual GDP per capita in the range of $1,136 to $13,845. These countries are home to six billion people—75% of the global population—and two out of every three people living in extreme poverty.
♦ Since 1990, only 34 middle-income economies have managed to shift to high-income status and more than a third of them were either beneficiaries of integration into the European Union, or of previously undiscovered oil.
Posted Date: August 2, 2024♦ India’s goods and services tax (GST) collections rose 10.3 percent to athree-month high of Rs.1.82 lakh crore in 2024, July as compared to Rs.1.74 lakh crore in the 2024, June. This is the third-highest monthly collection recorded since the indirect tax regime was rolled out seven years ago on July 1, 2017.
♦ The Gross GST revenue stood at Rs.1,82,075 crore, which includes Central GST of Rs.32,386 crore, State GST of Rs.40,289 crore, and Integrated GST of Rs.96,447 crore. The compensation cess mopup was Rs.12,953 crore.
Posted Date: August 2, 2024