Business
Union Budget 2022-2023 garners mixed response from country’s leading educationalists
The Union Budget gains applause for digitalization of education and making it accessible at the grassroots level. Still, many believe more could have been done to elevate the quality of education as well.
The leading names among the country’s higher education fraternity welcomed the Union Budget 2022, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The sector appreciated the budget being in line with promoting human capital through digital tools such as the ‘one class one TV channel’ programme proposed under the PM e-Vidya scheme.
It laid out a progressive vision the Government holds for capitalizing on India’s demographic advantages by suggesting a digital university, creating a conducive environment for inter-university collaborations, and introducing a number of skill development programmes. The Union budget 2022-2023 has allocated Rs 63,449.37 crore to the Department of School Education and Literacy, an increase of about 6.6 per cent (Rs 9,000 crore) over the current financial years. It sets a straight road for the Government to achieve its long-term mission of increasing the employability of the country’s youth by promoting upskilling, reskilling and several learning measures equipping them with new-age skills.
Dilip Puri, Founder & CEO, Indian School of Hospitality, appreciated the move stating, “We welcome the new initiatives introduced by the Government in the Union Budget 2022 to revive and boost our economy. The Government has identified areas that need financial assistance and support, and a clear focus is laid on the education sector. The setting up of digital universities is a progressive move by the Government – by reaching out to every student in the remote corners of our country, they will give them access to education by collaborating with world-class institutes and educators. We hope the execution comes through swiftly and accelerates the growth of edtech. We are also delighted that the Government showed specific interest to promote and facilitating upskilling and reskilling programmes. We hope through continuous skilling avenues we are able to direct our efforts towards skilling aspirants and increase employability in the hospitality sector.”
Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman FICCI Arise and Chairman Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, also commended the government’s efforts in aligning the budget provisions with the progressive elements of National Education Policy 2020.
Shishir Jaipuria said, “The Union Budget 2022 takes forward the vision of universalizing quality education as enshrined in the National Education Policy 2020. The decision to expand the PM e-VIDYA scheme to 200 TV channels and to also develop high-quality e-content in all spoken languages will benefit the students of grades 1 to 12, who suffered learning loss due to the closure of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The formation of Digital University, as announced in the budget, will be a laudable initiative. The Digital University will help to make world-class education accessible in different Indian languages to all students, even in far-flung areas. The simultaneous proposal to train teachers to build their competency and empower them to develop quality e-content will ensure better learning outcomes. I welcome the move to set up 750 e-labs in science and mathematics and 75 skilling e-labs that will nurture scientific temperament and critical thinking skills important for 21st-century learners.
“Going beyond the e-learning initiatives, the government has rightly decided to designate five academic institutions as ‘centres of excellence to deliver courses in urban planning and design. The move will take forward the vision of India-specific urban development. The budget 2022 is aimed at providing a major push to e-learning, reduce learning gaps and make education inclusive.”
Niranjan Hiranandani, Provost – HSNC University appreciated the government’s construct of a well-rounded budget, promoting equal accessibility of education and growth mindset among students, irrespective of their backgrounds.
Hiranandani said, “Industry lauds & welcomes the thrust to the digital ecosystem while focussing on building and upgrading the digital infrastructure for quality education. Setting up of digital universities will enhance the availability of education to the rural students following the hub and spoke model. With easy access to education in regional language, every student will get an opportunity to empower and equip themselves.
“Moreover, measures for quality e-content appear promising to educate teachers effectively for better e-teaching outcomes. Besides, there is a surge in the scope of personalized learning, especially in the digital ecosystem. The budget also puts required emphasis on skilling, which makes an individual employable and sustainable. The skilling courses will not just encourage learners to apply critical thinking and creativity but also make them industry-ready, which is evidence of shaping the youth of India for a better future.”
Understanding the need for skill-based education, Bikram Agarwal, CFO, Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, praised the budget offerings.
Agarwal said, “The most important takeaway of the Union Budget 2022 is the slew of decisions that have been taken to empower the digital learning ecosystem in the country. The formation of Digital University and the initiative to create quality e-content in all Indian languages will make learning inclusive for all. Besides these moves to nurture academic rigour, the decision to launch the DESH-Stack e-portal will help to skill and upskill learners.
“At the same time, the Government aims to improve learning at Agriculture University by revising and revamping the syllabus to address the practical needs of modern agriculture. I also appreciate the decision to involve academia in defence research and development for better designing and development of military platforms and equipment. The scope of this budget is quite wide. It touches upon several aspects of the education sector and is to be lauded.”
While many applauded these moves, some believed that the government could have done more. The budget critics felt that this year saw lesser investments and initiatives relative to the last year’s budget for promoting quality education across all strata of society.
Reacting to the budget, Professor Tarun Jain, Associate Professor of Economics, IIM Ahmedabad, said, “The Finance Minister has mentioned supplementary teaching through additional TV channels (PM eVidya) to make up for the education loss of the last two years. This is minuscule given the tremendous learning loss that our children have experienced. Significant investments in improving school quality are critical for ensuring that our demographic dividends are actually realized. This has to run against the reality that barely 8 per cent of rural students and 23 per cent of urban students have access to the Internet.
Even when students have Internet access, the quality of online education remains poor. We have to benchmark the budget commitments against the aspirations of the Indian people. High-quality education is both a critical component of what young people hope for, and also have some of the highest returns on investment in the economy. Thus, the Government should consider boosting investments in public education considerably.”
Overall the Union Government received a favourable response for its budgetary recommendations to promote skill-based learning powered by digitalization. From short-term skilling programmes to upskilling, reskilling, apprenticeships and lifelong learning, a wide range of training opportunities have been put across by setting up thousands of skill centres and special training centres. The budget ensured that the Government’s focus on skill training would continue to make youth employable, further contributing to the country’s growth and economic health.
Business
India Set To Lead The World In 6G, Says Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia
In a bold declaration at the inaugural address of the Indian Mobile Congress 2024 (IMC) on Tuesday, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has said that India will lead the world in the adoption of 6G.
In his address at the event, Scindia emphasized that India is now prepared to lead the world in the development of 6G technology.
India’s Technological Rise: From Following to Leading
“It is our belief and commitment that India, which followed the world in 4G and marched with it in 5G, will lead the world in 6G,” Scindia stated.
The minister highlighted India’s remarkable achievements in the telecommunications sector over the last ten years, the country has become a global leader in innovation and technology.
“It’s a fundamental change in approach towards technology development,” he said, attributing this transformation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Telecom Sector Growth Under PM Modi’s Leadership
“Prime Minister who has always put people at the heart of progress Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishvas aur Sabka Prayas combined with his second motto, One Earth, One Family and One Future. It is combination of these two mottos that leads India under PM Narendra Modi leadership one of the leading sectors in the committee of Nations,” Scindia said.
Scindia underscored government’s initiatives to bridge the digital divide, particularly through the BharatNet program, the world’s largest rural broadband connectivity initiative to connect every panchayat of the nation. Over the past three years, the government has invested more than USD 10 billion and laid 7 lakh kilometres of fiber across rural India.
Digital Payments and UPI: Pillars of India’s Digital Economy
He cited staggering growth in mobile and broadband connectivity, with mobile connections rising from 94 million to 1.16 billion, and broadband users growing from 60 million to 924 million in just a decade. India’s optical fibre cable (OFC) networks has expanded from 11 million kilometers to 41 million kilometres over the last ten years, he added.
The minister further said that this growth is accompanied by the success of India’s digital payment systems, the 4G stack, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which serve as pillars of India’s digital economy are expected to contribute significantly to the global digital infrastructure.
Scindia further noted that the government’s efforts to ensure that policy frameworks keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital landscape. “The recent changes to the Telecommunications act 2023 is a case in point. It has been drawing light upon hither to undressed areas such as a high potential sector of satellite communications, addressing the challenges of the digital leader. The most important being cyber security. The telecom sector much like other growth critical sectors in India is aggressive, is ambitioushe said.
“The telecom sector much like other growth critical sectors in India is aggressive, is ambitious and its outlook in our Journey from Amritkal to Shatabdikal is to lead the world,” Scindia said. By mid-next year, India will have achieved 100 per cent saturation of 4G across the entire country, covering even the most remote villages, the minister said.
He emphasised PM Modi’s vision of India as a first mover in 6G technology, underscoring the nation’s resolve to lead the world in future telecom innovations.
“The attitude put forward by the prime minister of not just embracing, but raising ourselves to becoming the first mover in the 6G technology,” he added.
Business
Indian Markets Gave Better Returns Than China In Last 5 Years, Says Sebi Member
Sebi Whole-time Member Ananth Narayan G on Monday reminded investors that Indian equities have consistently delivered 15 per cent returns over the last 5 years whereas the same has been zero or even negative in China.
Terming the Indian markets “sone pe suhaga” for delivering higher returns for lower risks, Narayan also flagged a few areas of caution for investors and asked them to be conscious of the risks.
“There’s a lot of talk about China markets over the last few days. But over the last five years, while Indian markets have given around 15 per cent compound annual growth rate consistently, Chinese markets are nowhere close to that. It’s almost zero. In fact, in some cases, like in Hong Kong, it’s actually negative,” Narayan said.
Speaking at an event marking the start of the Investor Awareness Week at NSE, Narayan said FY24 was a “remarkable” year for India, with the benchmark indices returning 28 per cent and the volatility just 10 per cent.
“That’s like ‘sone pe suhaga’. It’s like the best of all worlds: low risk and very high return,” Narayan said, underlining that there are side effects of this as well.
Making it clear that it will not be the same going forward and investors should not assume it to be a one-way street, Narayan said such handsome returns can lead to complacency and pointed to a lot of youngsters opening up demat accounts to join the bandwagon.
Educating people about risks is very important, Narayan said, giving the analogy of driving a car. “There has to be a light push on the accelerator to get more investors to provide risk capital for the economic growth, we also need to be aware of risks and use the brakes if need be.” He said that 40 per cent of the small and midcap scrips have shot up by 5 times in the last five years, because of an imbalance between inflow of investor money and supply of new paper.
On its part, the capital markets regulator is trying hard to ensure that fund-raising clearances are done early so that there is a steady stream of quality paper supply in the market.
From a broader, longer-term perspective, Indian markets will only go north from here given the economic growth prospects in the country, Narayan said, issuing specific advice to investors.
Investors need to have the right intermediaries to capitalise on this opportunity presented by India, and not fall for the unregistered and fly-by-night ‘finfluencers’ who might be driven by vested interests, he said.
Using the oft-repeated idiom of “all roads lead to Rome”, Narayan remarked that Rome is not a traveller-friendly place and one may get scammed there as well. Therefore, it is important to seek advice from the right people for the investors, he said.
He also said that it is in investors’ interests to trade less and stay invested for longer for higher returns, and added that studies prove the same.
Sebi, which has flagged certain areas like derivatives recently, is not against speculation or participants taking short-term trades, but it would want investors to understand the risks, Narayan said.
Business
Ratan Tata Rubbishes Rumors Of ‘Critical Health’; Says No Cause For Concern
Tata Group’s Ratan Tata has denied rumours of his critical health that have been reported and have surfaced in the recent hours.
Ratan Tata’s associates took to his official Instagram account to debunk the news of him being ‘Critical’.
In the post, Ratan Tata said, “I am aware of recent rumors circulating regarding my health and want to assure everyone that these claims are unfounded. I am currently undergoing medical check-ups due to my age and related medical conditions.
There is no cause for concern. I remain in good spirits and request that the public and media respect refrain from spreading misinformation.
For more than fifty years, Ratan Tata has led the Indian business community’s entrance hall. The 86-year-old has been suffering from illnesses associated with ageing. Tata has participated in social life to the best of his limited ability despite his health issues.
Recently, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, on October 2, Ratan Tata, expressed his congratulations to the Prime Minister on this occasion. “I congratulate the honourable Prime Minister on the 10-year commemoration of programmes that have benefitted millions in rural India.”
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