12 Feb 2024

#GS3 –01. Who are Middle Class?

In the West the term “middle-class” denotes the well-heeled. ut there’s no Indian definition. Several surveys have tried to identify the income levels to define this group.According to a 2022 report by People Research on India’s Consumer Economy (Price), households earning between ₹5-30 lakh annually are middle class. Analysis based on a decade-old data shows many who loosely describe them selves as middle-class may actually fall in the top1-5% of the population,meaning that households truly in the “middle” have meager earnings. The extent can only be know nonce updated consumer expenditure and Census data is in.

A Brookings Report says the basis of the definition falls into one of three broad categories: cash, which relates to income; credentials,which include educational achievements and qualifications; and culture, which includes attitudes and mindsets.

According to data released last year,the highest number of tax returns were filed in the income range of ₹5.5-9 lakh a year. Until 2018-19,33% of income tax filers were in up to ₹5 lakh bracket,29% in the ₹5-10 lakh bracket,and 38% above ₹10 lakh. According to a 2023 SBI study, the weighted mean income among tax filers has increased from
₹2.3lakh in assessment year 2011-12 to ₹13 lakh now.
– Commentary in News

#GS3 — 02. Technology

This is my 32nd year at Microsoft, and I’ve seen these four big Platform shifts—the PC client server,web internet,mobile cloud and now AI.
– Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

#Essay –03. Hope

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
– Martin Luther King Jr.

#GS1 — 04. Globalization

Globalization has also undeniably led to such deep economic concentrations that much of the world today depends on production of a few geographies. The global agenda in so many ways today is about restoring the world to its natural diversity.
-EAM S. Jaishankar

The rise of Donald Trump in US politics Was itself a response to the uneven benefits of globalization, and he dramatically changed the American political discourse on the issue. From climate and energy transitions to the regulation of artificial intelligence, the role of the Global South and nations such as India should be critical, and for that new coalitions and a more focused agenda will have to be formulated.
-ORF VP Harsh V. Pant

#GS1 — 05. Swami Dayanand Saraswati

The faith that Swami Dayananda had about India has to be converted into nation’s self-confidence in ‘Amrit Kaal’. Swami Dayananda was an advocate and guide of modernity. National Education Policy is taking the vision of Swamiji forward and asked the students and institutions of Arya Samaj to contribute to Vocal for Local, Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Mission Life, water conservation, Swacch Bharat, sports, and fitness.

-PM Modi

#GS2 –06. Global Order

The global order is set to be reshaped in the coming decades as the interplay of three big structures— demographic transition, climate change and a global middle class—causes immense ‘turbulence’ and ‘disruption’. The lower latitudes are going to experience increasing temperatures and lower precipitation, historically associated with the Sahara Desert. Roughly 1/10th of the world’s landmass is going to disappear in terms of liveability and most of it is going to be ironically in the South. The north tends to view this largely in terms of cost, and without proper management, failed states could emerge and this could exacerbate tensions and conflicts. global middle class will be the subject of a “superpower brand competition”, wherein it will be courted by the emerging and established world powers. In times of uncertainty, superpowers will seek to deepen economic and political ties with the rising consumers.