Shrinking economy, equality and hopes for better tomorrow

Vaccines + Workshop Alert + Strikes

Mar 21, 2021

Hello! This week we talk about Indian Middle Class, recent bank strike, vaccine policy and the outcomes of the QUAD summit.

Also we have a workshop coming up next week, do register and follow for more updates.

The Shrinking Indian Middle Class

Due to the pandemic economy has been impacted the most. India’s GDP contracted by 23.9 % during the April and June Quarter of 2020. As per a study conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center, a year into the pandemic the number of people who constitute the middle class has shrunk to 66 million, down a third from a pre-pandemic estimate of 99 million.

“India is estimated to have seen a greater decrease in the middle class and a much sharper rise in poverty than China in the COVID-19 downturn,” the Pew Research Centre.

The report claims the reason for this could be the economic recession, hike in fuel prices, job losses and salary cuts.

(Source: Aljazeera)

Privatisation and Bank Strikes

In Budget 2021, privatisation has been one of the key economic moves by the Indian Government. In the budget speech, the Finance Minister talked about the disinvestment of 2 banks and 1 insurance company but their names were not disclosed. To show discontent, more than 10 lakh bank employees went on a two-day bank strike with the support of the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine banks. Something to simplify it for you:

Vaccine Diplomacy and Setbacks

India already has the world's largest vaccination- drive. And has vaccinated many for diseases like diphtheria, measles, etc. But when it comes to the Covid 19 vaccines, India's vaccination drive is much slower than targeted in the first two weeks.

While India has become the sixth country to cross 2 million doses, why is it not able to vaccinate all?

As per the sources, the Serum Institute of India, which produces Novavax and AstraZeneca have been raising concerns about the shortage of raw material, which is equally concerning for the country dealing with the surging cases. They might have to put a hold on their plans to supply to the UK and Nepal.

It's chief executive, Adar Poonawalla focused on the export bans from the USA, which has led to the shortage of certain specialised bags and filters needed to make the vaccines.

India needs to take important steps like intervening in the export ban situation and improving its healthcare system 5 to 10 times more than what we have now.

(Source: BBC News)

Ripped jeans and Women

Uttarakhand Chief Minister came into the news with his controversial statement stating that women wearing ripped jeans cannot provide the right environment at home for children. He made this statement in a workshop conducted by the Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

Twitter reacted to it in its own way with trending hashtags #GirlsWhoWearRippedJeans and #RippedJeansTwitter as a protest against his statement.

Quad Summit and Takeaways

The Quad Summit which took place on 12th March 2021, yielded some important plans and strategies on how to go about the Vaccination Drive in the countries. The Summit was attended by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the United States President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga. India’s Prime Minister defined the Summit as the ‘Force of the Global Good’.

Some interesting things happened at the summit and those are, firstly, the four countries planned to pool their financial resources and logistical strength to double the manufacture and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. The plan is called ‘The Quad Vaccine Partnership’ which will build on the Vaccine Maitri Initiative.

Moreover, the summit was conducted to counter the growing influence of Beijing in the Indo-Pacific region. It’s because China has sour relations with almost everyone in the QUAD, Territorial disputes with India and Japan, Relation with Australia plummeted as Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the Covid pandemic and with the US trade war is going on. Let’s see what China’ next strategy is to counter the influence.

(Source: Money Control and Hindustan Times)