According to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, India’s GDP is anticipated to suffer the greatest decrease in South Asia as a result of the Covid-19-related school shutdown.
School closures resulted in a drop in global GDP and employment. This scenario is projected to worsen with time.
India was one of the countries with the longest school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Impact on GDP: GDP is expected to fall by 0.19 percent in 2024, 0.64 percent in 2028, and 1.11 percent in 2030, totaling $943 billion.
Impact on Skilled Labor: School closures will prevent approximately 5.44 million persons from entering the skilled labour force globally by 2030.
Employment is expected to fall by 0.05 percent in 2024, 0.25 percent in 2026, and 0.75 percent in 2030, for a total salary loss of $94.86 billion.
Unskilled labour employment is expected to fall by 0.22 percent in 2025, 0.51 percent in 2027, and 1.15 percent in 2030.
In 2030, about 35.69 million persons would shift to the unskilled labour force, resulting in $121.54 billion in lost pay.
Across Asia, the worst-affected economies are those with large rural student populations, as well as those in the poorest and second wealth quintiles. This is due to challenges with internet connectivity, making online education inaccessible.
As many impacted students transitioned to unskilled labour, economies with a large proportion of unskilled labour employment suffered significant learning and earning losses.
Impact on GDP in India: In percentage terms, its GDP will fall by 0.34 percent in 2023, 1.36 percent in 2026, and 3.19 percent in 2030.
By 2030, India will account for 10% of the $943 billion global GDP loss.
Impact on Labor: India currently has 408.4 million unskilled workers and 72.65 million skilled workers.
With a 1% and 2% reduction in skilled and unskilled labour jobs, respectively, a large migration towards unskilled labour is predicted.
GDP is a measure of a country’s economic activity. It is the total worth of a country’s annual products and services output. It represents the economic output generated by customers.
GDP = Gross Domestic Product + Gross Investment + Government Investment + Government Spending + (exports-imports)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was founded in 1966.
It consists of 68 people. India is a founder member of the organisation. 49 are from Asia and the Pacific, while 19 are from elsewhere.
Its goal is to encourage social and economic development throughout Asia and the Pacific.
ADB’s five largest shareholders as of December 31, 2020 are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6 percent of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4 percent), India (6.3 percent), and Australia (5.8 percent ).
Its headquarters are in Manila, the Philippines.
The Indian government is taking aggressive steps to stabilise the economy, including monetary easing, fiscal stimulus, and supportive financial regulation. It also recently launched the e-Shram portal. However, greater investments in education are required, as well as a focus on closing the digital divide, to offset the impact of learning deficits during the pandemic.
Assessments for pandemic-affected pupils can help with learning recovery.
The government should emphasise education spending in the budget. Adequate funding and resources must be directed toward students from rural, economically disadvantaged, and socially disadvantaged communities who were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Furthermore, young skill training programmes for those who have previously graduated from high school must be launched.
Why in the news?
The first year of the Covid-19 shutdown saw the highest instances of people dying from respiratory ailments in a decade, according to the 2020 report on Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD).
What exactly is an MCCD Report?
The Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) scheme was implemented in the country in accordance with the terms of the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act of 1969.
It has been operational across the country since then, but with variable degrees of efficiency across the states/union territories.
The Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) gets data on medically certified causes of death as collected, prepared, and tabulated by the respective Chief Registrars of Births and Deaths of the States/UTs under the system.
What are the Main Points of the MCCD Report?
Total number of fatalities: In 2020, the total number of fatalities from all causes was 81.2 lakh.
According to the research, India’s excess mortality rate for 2020 and 2021 will be 47.4 lakh.
According to data from the Civil Registration System (CRS), there were 4.75 lakh more deaths from all causes in 2020 than in 2019.
Medically Caused Deaths: Medically Certified Deaths account for 22.5 percent of all recorded deaths at the national level, but when any form of medical assistance received by the deceased at the time of terminal illness is considered, the figure rises to 54.6 percent.
How many people were killed by Covid-19?
How many people died as a result of respiratory illness?
Why in the news?
The Ministry of Coal has developed a National Mission statement with the goal of achieving 100 MT (Million Tonnes) of coal gasification by 2030.
What exactly is coal gasification?
Coal gasification is the process of partially oxidising coal with air, oxygen, steam, or carbon dioxide to produce a fuel gas.
This gas is then used to generate energy instead of piped natural gas, methane, and other fuels.
In-situ gasification of coal, also known as Underground Coal Gasification (UCG), is the process of turning coal into gas while it is still in the seam and retrieving it through wells.
Syngas production: It generates Syngas, a mixture predominantly composed of methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and water vapour (H2O).
Syngas can be converted into a variety of fertilisers, fuels, solvents, and synthetic materials.
What Importance Does Coal Gasification Have?
Coking coal is commonly used in the manufacturing process of steel businesses. The majority of coking coal is imported and hence pricey. Plants can use syngas from coal gasification plants instead of coking coal to save money.
It is mostly utilised to generate energy and chemical feedstocks.
The hydrogen produced by coal gasification can be utilised for a variety of applications, including the production of ammonia and the operation of a Hydrogen Economy.
India’s hydrogen demand is expected to rise to 11.7 million tonnes by 2030, up from 6.7 million tonnes currently. Now, the major users of hydrogen produced from natural gas are refineries and fertiliser factories.
What are the Issues Concerning Coal Gasification Plants?
Environmental Point of View: Coal gasification emits more carbon dioxide than a traditional coal-fired thermal power station.
According to CSE estimates, one unit of energy produced by burning gasified coal produces 2.5 times the amount of carbon dioxide produced by burning coal directly.
In terms of efficiency: The syngas process converts a relatively high-quality energy source (coal) to a lower-quality state (gas), consuming a significant amount of energy in the process.
As a result, conversion efficiency is similarly low.
What exactly is the Hydrogen Economy?
It is an economy that relies on hydrogen as a commercial fuel to deliver a significant portion of a country’s energy and services.
Hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel that is used as an alternative to fossil fuels and a primary source of clean energy.
It can be produced using renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.
It is an envisioned future in which hydrogen is employed as a fuel for automobiles, energy storage, and long-distance energy delivery.
The various hydrogen economy channels include hydrogen production, storage, transportation, and utilisation.
John Bockris coined the phrase “Hydrogen Economy” in 1970.
He stated that a hydrogen economy may eventually replace the current hydrocarbon-based economy, resulting in a cleaner environment.
The Way Forward
To meet present and future demands, businesses must adopt new technologies and establish digital infrastructure.
There is a need to guarantee that technology is used optimally in the business.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
Year All Current Affairs Magazine 2021
Ethics – Answer Writing Masala
₹99.00
Mains Combo Magazine
₹149.00
Maps and Places in News
₹29.00
Art & Culture Current Affairs
₹29.00
Your information will never be shared with any third party
