11.05.2008

• Women and glass ceiling
• While there are only nine women ministers in Manmohan Singh’s 80-member council of ministers, the number of women IAS officers in the country is 592 out of a total of 4,671, according to latest government data. In other words, female officers in India’s highest bureaucratic echelon constitute mere 12% of the total.
• As far as the Cabinet ministers are concerned, only two women find place, which in percentage terms works out to be a mere 6%. Among the 30 chief ministers in the country, only three, i.e. 10%, are women. Similarly, among 35 chief secretaries in various states and union territories, only the Gujarat chief secretary is from the fairer sex.
• According to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, 75% of the world’s activities are executed by women, but they own mere 0.01% of the total assets.
• One more buzzword for us to learn
• Agflation: It stands for inflation in agricultural commodities.
• Pokhran II and some comment about the aftermath
• The decision to go nuclear was a secret closely guarded by Vajpayee, home minister L K Advani, national security advisor Brajesh Mishra and Jaswant Singh. Defence minister George Fernandes was told about the government’s intentions only 48 hours before the tests.
• But India had made it clear that it was no longer ready to sit on the margins of the nuclear pecking order. The sanctions stayed in place, but the world’s leading powers were forced to change the terms of engagement with India.
• The US started a process of rapprochement with the visit of President Bill Clinton to India in 2000. Other influential countries also softened their attitude. Over the years, China, Japan and other countries have forged strategic partnerships with India.
• Ten years after the 1998 tests, India, which was once sought to be isolated, is now hailed as a rising power. It has become one of the fastest growing economies and every country is keen to do business with India.
• Microsoft and online advertising
• We all know the botched attempt by Microsoft to acquire Yahoo!
• Some comments by analysts about internet advertising and Microsoft’s possible future role and challenges it faces currently are worth our attention.
• It may be impossible to catch Google in search advertising. The company dominates the market, taking in 77% of the revenues from those little text ads that show up alongside the results for Internet search queries. Microsoft, after years of trying, is at 5% of US search revenue.
• Although the display market is smaller than search, it’s expected to grow faster over the next few years because of a surge in video ads. Market research firm IDC figures that by 2012 the display market will double, to $15.1 billion; revenue from search will reach $17.6 billion.
• So far the shift to online software is more of a drip than a flood. But the shift seems sure to accelerate in the years ahead, and no company has more to lose than Microsoft. If the tech giant doesn’t develop a strong ad business to pay for programs it will eventually have to offer online, it will face big trouble.
• India’s demographic dividend
• An ageing population will make the developed world, and even China, dependent on India which will have a surplus workforce of 4.7 crore people by the year 2020. At the same time, the US will face a shortage of 1.7 crore people while China and Japan will have deficits of one crore and 90 lakh, respectively. This will make India, which will have a predominantly young population, the human resource pool for the world, helping the country tide over an expected unemployment crisis.
• The demographic differentials reveal that over the next 20-30 years, India’s population profile will be concentrated in the younger age group, as against the other countries.
• Though India is at an advantageous position, it will have to take various initiatives to make the most out of this situation. One such initiative is to ensure the promotion and development of market determined skill sets across the entire economy with emphasis on 20 high-growth employment sectors.
• A budget of Rs 300 crore has been kept aside for skill development during the annual plan 2008-09 and a total sum of Rs 22,800 crore has been earmarked for skill development during the Eleventh Five Year Plan period.
• On the global food crisis
• Just as we have lapped up everything about the US subprime crisis for the last one year and a half, it is time now to lap up everything about the global food crisis. You can’t afford to miss any new insight or idea, or even a comprehensive presentation of all the known insights in one piece. In to the latter category falls today’s Special Report that appeared in ET. It is here.
• On the question “Why food prices are rising across the globe”, there is an excellent and comprehensive answer given in today’s ET. It is here. Follow this and read it; it is a must.