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Skilling is one of the major challenges facing India today. India has at present roughly 65 percent of the population below 35 years of age. It raises the possibility of economic growth provided India can leverage its <keyword id="576921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="demographic-dividend">demographic dividend</keyword> by empowering people with skills. Over the next five years, the present 9-14 age group people will enter the workforce. In addition, a large proportion of people drop out of the formal education process in India. Skilling also imparts opportunities to these people who have not been able to pursue formal education. Four points are critical for '<keyword id="6569577" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Skill-India">Skill India</keyword>' to be successful and being fully equipped to leveraging India's demographic dividend. 

	First, the focus should be on mapping skills across various sectors for employment. It's means that the industry, as well as the government, should look at enlisting the skill requirements of the country. The industry should also interact frequently with institutions is telling them their requirements so that there is no mismatch between industry expectations and institutional curriculum. It also ensures that people who go to these institutions and imbibe the skills become job ready. The focus of skilling should be on future skills and jobs of the future and not on curriculum that is outdated and redundant in the industry.
 Second, mapping the skills with location's requirements, and institutions is very important. At a national level, the need is to map the skill requirement of the world and impart skill training appropriately where there is a huge demand for the workforce at the international level. It also means that states and, in particular, cities should identify areas in which they have conventional strength. For instance a location like Hyderabad that is good in the <keyword id="189164" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="pharmaceutical-industry">pharmaceutical industry</keyword> should focus on providing skills for that particular sector. Similarly, a place like Shimla, which attracts tourists, should focus on skills for development of its tourism cluster. These have to be locally identified and then taken to appropriate institutions that can provide training in these areas. Third, it is important to build institutions that not only provide formal training but also provide certification to people. It is often a neglected dimension of skilling. An automobile technician working in a factory in say <keyword id="87" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Germany">Germany</keyword> takes pride in his job. In India, one often find low self-esteem and low worth of such individuals in the society. Certifications and instilling a sense of confidence and pride is a must for development of skill potential of India. Certifications should also be provided to people who can pass basic tests but have no formal recognition at present. Finally, formalizing the process of skilling and provision of multiple skilling are the need of the hour. It is because formalization would lead to a better and a systems-oriented approach to skilling that to date has been a largely informal process. For instance, driving is often learnt not by training institutions but by some other driver teaching the newer one. If the process is formalized, it would certainly lead to better outcome during the process of learning and even post that once the driver has finished training. Similarly, a large number of people often face problems in operating mobile phones. If training is provided for learning the basic functionality, a large number of problems will be taken care of. In the present time, the need is to look for multiple skills and constant up gradation of existing skills. The issue of <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">entrepreneurship</keyword> is also related to the issue of skilling with people having multiple skills often wanting to start their venture. Thus, skilling empowers and at the same time is necessary for realizing the aspirations of people. If India focuses on these broad points, it can surely leverage its demographic dividend at the same time solving the problem of <keyword id="6358907" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="unemployment">unemployment</keyword> of youth. It would require a concerted effort on the part of policymakers at various levels, technical institutions as well as the industry in understanding the skill gap and in taking steps to reduce the gap. In the years ahead India has the potential to become the human capital of the world. Realizing this dream cannot be achieved without systematic thinking and implementation of the 'Skill India' mission. 
	 
	(The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India.) 
	 
	(Image credits: bankersguru)

Skill in India

<keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> has a very high proportion of the workforce that are employed in the informal sector. It poses several distinct challenges that are unique in the Indian context. Some of these include mapping informal sector labour, understanding the employment and <keyword id="6358907" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="unemployment">unemployment</keyword> in this crucial segment, providing them access to labour benefits as well as well as making them aware of their rights and responsibilities. The recently concluded 46th Indian Labour Conference laid stress on some important elements of understanding the labour challenge that India faces at present. 
 First, the need is to understand the present woes of the <keyword id="6357125" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="labour-market">labour market</keyword> in the context of the institutional setting. It includes bringing to the table a tripartite delegation having representatives from the Government, the industry and the labour unions. Rather than having just a few meetings between the government, industry representatives and labour union representatives the goal should be to have continuous ongoing discussions to formulate better policy and law for all the stakeholders. A one-sided perspective often acts as a hindrance to the overall balance that needs to be achieved between these three entities forming the basis of labour policy in the country. 
 
Second, the issue of having a low self-esteem of people employed as labour needs to be tackled at all levels. It calls for changing the societal mindset that forces labour to have and maintain a low self-esteem. Often people employed as labour are looked down upon which results in this flawed outcome. It also has to do with the fact that there is often a mentality of non-recognition of employee and overt dependence on the employer leading to exploitation at the workplace. Recognising this through certification that the government is keen on pursuing is thus a step in the right direction. 
 
Third, there needs to be a simplification of laws in the labour domain. Post independence some of the labour laws are enshrined in the Indian Constitution. However, culling of unnecessary laws and simplification from the present labour law is necessary. It is one of the major reasons why India has such a massive workforce in the unorganised sector. Employers often find it exceedingly difficult to hire. They also stay small in scale precisely to not come under the ambit of laws that apply to bigger enterprises. A plethora of laws has resulted in a situation where often it is difficult to decipher the precedence of what applies where. The laws rather than acting as an enabler for better employment often end up producing precisely the opposite result. The laws thus require a careful relook and will have to be simplified at both the central and the state level. 
 
Fourth, the need is to provide skills to people who are not employed at present. There is often a mismatch between skill sets imparted at the educational institutes and the industry requirements. The company often asks for previous work experience, while the employee often asks for being given the work experience. The situation can be resolved by upgrading the curriculum and training methodology as well as providing more apprenticeships. The need is also to provide career-counseling services to students. This is where the recently dedicated national career service that plans to connect the 978 employment exchanges through IT will go a long way in improving job-related services for job seekers. 
 In the years ahead the opportunities for labourers needs to grow. The tripartite system of government, labour unions, as well as industry, needs to ensure that the opportunities expand at a rapid pace. They along with citizens also need to ensure that there is societal acceptance of people who work as labourers and there is the dignity of labour. Skilling of people in India holds the key for a <keyword id="576921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="demographic-dividend">demographic dividend</keyword> that will propel economic growth. India's Labour Woes 
 
(The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India.) 
 
(Image credits: Indiatimes)

India's labour woes

We are all familiar with the challenges for <keyword id="6375224" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="higher-education">higher education</keyword> in India. Not enough capacity – the danger that we will not be able to cope with sheer numbers and provide direly needed education to the majority of our young in the years to come, turning our so called <keyword id="576921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="demographic-dividend">demographic dividend</keyword> into a disaster. Very poor quality – our existing institutions are in decline and the quality of new institutions are generally sub-par. Obsession with specialisation – in a society hankering for employment the emphasis on studying engineering, management, law, medicine, commerce, etc., is creating legions of trained manpower rather than problem-solvers and leaders. The government is making tremendous efforts to expand capacity by creating greenfield institutions, but there is only so much the government can do. It needs to be given a leg up by the private sector, but deplorably the regulatory <keyword id="6356826" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="environment">environment</keyword> remains constraining even for legitimate private players to set up institutions – most private institutions tend to be perceived as money-making rackets, with little or no concern for their students. In this context, much has been written and said about how to solve India’s higher education mess. Let me suggest three ideas that could radically change our country’s trajectory. While these ideas may seem far-fetched, I believe we, other than any country, have the opportunity to innovate in higher education and, in fact, have no choice but to do so. 
 
• Create education SEZs 
• Offer surplus land within existing public institutions to new public or private institutions 
• Rapidly expand Massive Open Online Courses) (MOOCs ) 
 
Creating SedZs Creating <keyword id="776571" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Special-education">Special education</keyword> Zones (SedZs) akin to the industrial Special economic Zones (SeZs) can transform access to and the quality of higher education in this country. every year hundreds of thousands of our bright young students have no choice but to go abroad for higher studies. They spend billions of dollars and thousands of crores to get this education. What is worse, a simple demand-supply analysis of higher education suggests that these numbers will continue to grow, and grow exponentially. We are, in effect, outsourcing higher education to the US, UK, Australia and <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>. Recently, one of my employees sent her son to study dentistry in <keyword id="6358826" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword> even though she could ill-afford it. The new craze is “twinning programmes” where you study in an Indian university for 2 years and then complete your graduation and get a degree in the foreign university. <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword> and <keyword id="6354539" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Dubai">Dubai</keyword> are ostensibly building education hubs for Asia, but the reality is that it is Indian students hungry for a good education who are swarming new institutions in these locations. The tragedy is that home-grown public and private institutions are now setting up campuses in neighbouring and far-away foreign locations to escape overpowering local regulatory constraints. In effect, even though we can ill-afford to, as a country, we are outsourcing, and increasingly so, our higher education to the west. Given that both the supply of students and the demand for college graduates are right here in India, why not replicate the “overseas and higher-quality” experience in India by creating SedZs along the lines of the manufacturing SeZs. Interestingly, the concept of SeZs for education first seemed to have surfaced in 2004. In a then oped, the <keyword id="2776992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="erstwhile-commerce-Secretary">erstwhile commerce Secretary</keyword> <keyword id="2776991" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="P-P-Prabhu">P.P. Prabhu</keyword> had made a case vigorously for SedZs saying, “The Special education Zone (SedZ) institution should be treated as though it is deemed to have been established in a foreign enclave, and, therefore, freed from all domestic controls and restrictions. An SedZ institution...should not be required to seek any approvals for its courses; it would need to be allowed to charge any fees, follow its own admission criteria and award its own degrees, and so on. However, if an SedZ institution wants recognition of its degrees and diplomas in our country, it would be required to meet the standards and conditions of affiliation and recognition.” 
 
Leveraging surplus land in existing institutions 
I have recently been part of an effort to build a new private university in India. With our poor infrastructure it is impossible to build a high-quality institution away from a large urban centre in India. Faculty are unwilling to teach and live in a place that does not offer employment opportunities for their spouses and an excellent school for their children. A case in point are the new IITs and IIMs, several of which, established in far-flung areas of the country on vast tracts of land in isolated settings, are struggling to attract faculty for the lack of adequate social infrastructure around their campuses. Clearly, for new institutions, urban or suburban locations make most sense. Urban and suburban locations make sense also because of the emerging trend of inner-city university campuses that are tightly integrated with their host cities. As <keyword id="2776994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kerstin-Hoeger">Kerstin Hoeger</keyword>, full <keyword id="2776990" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="professor-of-architecture">professor of architecture</keyword> and urban design at Norwegian university of Science and Technology points out, “worldwide, universities and their host cities are evolving into ‘knowledge cities’.” She and others in the field argue that the erstwhile ideal of a mono-functional and isolated greenfield campus removed from the city, providing academics and students the distance to reflect on humanity, is fast becoming obsolete in the context of modern knowledge societies, and is giving way instead to open campuses that share a close relationship with their host city. In fact, when seen today many of the top 50 universities of the world – for instance, <keyword id="54274" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="MIT">MIT</keyword>, LSE, <keyword id="53675" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="harvard">Harvard</keyword> and TU Berlin to name a few – are embedded in such ‘knowledge ecosystems’ enabling them to perform better. However, the model demands tracts of centrally located urban or semi-urban land that are increasingly hard to come by and come at exorbitant prices. For a new university to incur the high cost of land acquisition in its early stages is crippling – most new institutions end up investing large amounts in <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> even before they get started, unless they get subsidized and free land from the Government. Even so, most urban centres do not have unutilised land that the Government can allot for higher education. By contrast several central universities and institutes have vast tracts of land within urban areas that are underutilised. As an example, the <keyword id="58265" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Jawaharlal-Nehru-University">Jawaharlal Nehru University</keyword> (JNU) in Delhi has a 1000-acre campus that is largely unused. <keyword id="105777" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Osmania-University-in-Hyderabad">Osmania University in Hyderabad</keyword> has a 2000-acre campus. Why not allow new institutions to co-build and co-habit campuses for a fee and ensure more efficient utilisation of scarce and precious space. The “rentals” for the land will help supplement and improve the <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> of existing institutions and not needing to spend their initial capital on land acquisition will help the new institution, in addition to giving them an attractive location to launch from. At the very least, the government should expand capacity and diversify areas of study in its central and public universities and institutes of national importance situated in central urban locations and built on vast tracts of land. 
 
Rapidly scaling up Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) India has no option but to <keyword id="819920" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="embrace">embrace</keyword> online education in a big way. This is because MOOCs are capable of solving two of India’s most pressing constraints at once – access and quality. It is near impossible for the country to provide a high-quality university education to the millions of deserving students with the existing numbers and quality of faculty. Current faculty-student ratios will just not get us there. The only way to fundamentally shift that ratio is to have “massive” classes made possible by the new MOOCs. In online education, unlike in traditional education, a few high-quality professors can reach manifold students. Of course, people will get into a debate whether this has the potential to replace teachers but we have also seen developments like Kindle and music players which have redefined usage patterns. There is also the classic intellectual debate about whether online education will work in isolation, in the absence of a classroom full of students, peers and teachers, but new theories show that self-learning is a new model whose time has come. But more importantly, we need to ask ourselves if we can afford to engage in such debates. India seemingly has no choice! Unlike in the West, where online education only adds to what already exists (more like education for the educated), in India it has the potential to be the first port of call for millions of students who are currently left out of the higher education system, or are having to settle for lower quality alternatives. Even if this model is the second or third choice for developed countries, it is a luxury for India to spurn it out of hand. In fact, many young Indians are already taking to MOOCs in a big way. At roughly 10%, Indian students form the second-largest group on Coursera, the biggest US-based MOOC, which has 4.3 million enrolments from over 190 countries. On Udacity and EdX, the other top-3 MOOCs, Indians represent equally large proportions. Clearly, innumerable Indian students see great value in MOOCs since the demand for education, particularly high-quality education, is way higher than supply and availability. At the very least, online education provides another chance to students who cannot understand or clear a course in the first attempt, and acts as a great democratiser. Agreed that distance or online learning is not the newest idea on the block – it has been around for a while. There are 176 institutes in India that offer distance learning programmes and 26% students are enrolled in them. However, there is a need to deregulate and scale up the distance/online learning model to be much larger than what it currently is. If we are ever to achieve quality with access, there is also a need to mainstream this sort of learning. The ideal solution has to be a blend where online education plays an important role in mainstream education. 
 
(The <keyword id="842" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="author">author</keyword>, Pramath Raj Sinha, is <keyword id="1535570" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="founder-and-managing-director">founder and managing director</keyword> 9.9 Media. He has also served as the founding <keyword id="6548521" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="dean">dean</keyword> of the <keyword id="6357275" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-School-of-Business">Indian School of Business</keyword>. This article was contributed to Thinkers, a quarterly thought leadership magazine that features the brightest thinkers in the areas of economics and governance, philosophy and literature, science and technology, and management. To learn more about the magazine, please visit: <a href="http://www.thinkers.in/">www.thinkers.in</a> )

Thinkers/Thinkers 50: 3 big ideas that will reform India's ailing higher education system

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Jason Lee</div></div><keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> announced that it would <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-announces-change-to-one-child-policy-2013-11">loosen its decades old one-child policy</a> at the third plenum. Couples will be allowed to have more than one child if at least one of them is an only child. 
Not only did the policy exacerbate labor shortages, it also skewed China's sex ratio.
"China's demographic dividend is gradually turning into a deficit, adding headwinds to underlying growth momentum," write Morgan Stanley's Yuande Zhu, Helen Qiao, and Yin Zhang.
We picked out 8 key charts from Morgan Stanley that show how the <keyword id="386231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="demographics">demographics</keyword> of the nation have changed and what it means for China's economy. 
1. China has had three baby booms since the People's Republic was founded in 1949. The first was in the post-war period between 1949-1958. The second boom came after the great famine and lasted from 1962-1972. The last boom came in decade from 1981-1991 as "the second generation of baby boomers entered childbearing age, the high base naturally pushed the birth rate to a higher level."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div>
2. China's fertility rate fell from 5.5 in 1970, to 1.6 by 2012. Meanwhile the birth rate fell from 33 per 1,000 in 1970, to 12 by 2012. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div> 
3. The population growth rate fell from a high of 2.6% year-over-year in 1970 to 1.2% YoY in 1980.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div> 
4. China's population growth is set to decline from here and contract from 2030 on. Post-war baby boomers have already entered retirement age, which Zhu says is speeding up China's aging process.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div>
5. The working age population is expected to decline as early as 2017, which is more significant for the economy.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div>
6. Companies are having a harder time hiring employees despite the economic slowdown.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div>
7. While the one-child policy was created to alleviate population pressures on the economy, it skewed the gender ratio towards boys. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div> 8. People typically save while they work and spend post-retirement. "The economic structure will skew towards consumption rather than investment," as China's total dependency ratio begins to turn and baby boomers begin retiring.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Morgan Stanley</div></div>Thanks to Morgan Stanley for giving us permission to feature their charts.

8 Charts That Explain What's Really Happening With Chinese Demographics

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">Reuters</div></div>The future of an economy is determined heavily by its evolving demographics.
Knowing how young or old a country's population will be is crucial for investors and businesses.
Many point to population growth in developing nations as a source of rising domestic demand. But there's a lot more to be considered. For example, the Arab Spring was an extreme, but important reminder of what can happen when you have a young and able workforce with little access to jobs.
With that in mind we drew on George Magnus' presentation to The Conference Board titled <a href="https://conferenceboard.adobeconnect.com/_a984803641/p6pfpbsi1k0/?launcher=false&amp;fcsContent=true&amp;pbMode=normal">"The Age of Ageing: Global demographics, destinies and coping mechanisms."</a> In it, Magnus highlights five big demographic trends shaping the world right now.
1. The ratio of children to older citizens is declining: The ratio of children to older citizens stands at about 3:1 but is declining. By around 2040, there will be more older citizens than children. By 2050, there will be twice as many older citizens as there are children. Some exceptions to this however are China and Russia.
"The number of over-60s in the rich world is predicted to rise by 2.5 times by 2050 to 418 million, but the trajectory starts to level off in about 20 years time. Within this cohort, the number of people aged over 80 will rise six times to about a 120 million. 
"In emerging and developing world, the number of over 60s will grow by more than 7 times to over 1.5 billion by 2050, and behind this, you can see a 17-fold increase in the expected population of those aged over 80, to about 262 million."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Conference Board/George Magnus" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/535e74076bb3f7ef4cd4a33e-960/screen shot 2014-04-28 at 11.29.09 am.png"></a><a href="https://conferenceboard.adobeconnect.com/_a984803641/p6pfpbsi1k0/?launcher=false&amp;fcsContent=true&amp;pbMode=normal">Conference Board/George Magnus</a></div></div></div> 2. There has been a sea-change in the nature of illness to non-communicable diseases: One of the consequences of rapid aging and rising longevity is the "sea change in the nature of illness and disease and therefore scientific and pharmaceutical businesses," said Magnus. "I'm referring, of course, to what the World Health Organization has called the invisible epidemic of non-communicable diseases, which is now responsible globally for about 60% of deaths, and nearly half of the actual and effective life years due to disability."
"By 2030, depression is expected to become the biggest single cause of disability affected life years, which is a composite measure of years of life lost to premature death and disability. The arrows show a complete turnaround in the principal burden of disease."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Conference Board/George Magnus" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/535e746fecad04b8791f7328-960/screen shot 2014-04-28 at 11.31.18 am.png"></a>Conference Board/George Magnus</div></div></div>
3. The speed of aging is rising rapidly in emerging economies: The time taken to double the share of those over 60 years old from 7% to 14% of the population took a long time in western countries. But the emerging markets are aging "at an astounding pace," according to George Magnus.
In France it took over a century to cross this milestone. And in most developed countries it took about 40 - 80 years. In emerging markets, however, the process is playing out in about 20 years with China taking the lead in speed. "It's this that gives that rise to the common mantra of 'growing old before you get rich,'" said Magnus.
What this means is that emerging markets have far less time to build the financial infrastructure and social security systems to deal with consequences of an aging and rising old age dependency.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Conference Board/George Magnus" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/535e749769bedd4b259c915b-960/screen shot 2014-04-28 at 11.32.03 am.png"></a>Conference Board/George Magnus</div></div></div> 4. Old age dependency ratio is rising rapidly in Japan, European countries, but at a slower pace in Anglo Saxon economies: The rising dependence of those over 65 on the working age population is referred to as the old age dependency ratio. This is a product of weak fertility and rising longevity.
The old age dependency ratio in countries like Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain is expected to rise rapidly. These countries are characterized as the "hares" because of the rapid progression of old age dependency. The number of workers per older citizen is expected to fall from about 3-5 today to about 1.5 by the mid-century mark.
Meanwhile, the Anglo-Saxon economies like Sweden and France are "tortoises" by comparison. Here the support ratio will fall from 4-5 workers today, to about 2-2.5 by the mid-century. This is because of higher fertility rates and a more open immigration policy..
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Conference Board/George Magnus" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/535e7588ecad04307f1f7328-960/screen shot 2014-04-28 at 11.35.57 am.png"></a>Conference Board/George Magnus</div></div></div> The tortoises of the emerging markets have a support ratio of 10-20 workers per older citizen, and this is expected to get to where developed countries are by mid-century. But in some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the pace of aging is much slower than say in Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil.
India is a "demographic darling" because one-third of its population is aged under 14, and its working age population will grow in the next 20 years, to more than the existing stock of working age people in Western Europe today.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Conference Board/George Magnus" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/535e7676eab8eaf554d4a33e-960/screen shot 2014-04-28 at 11.39.53 am.png"></a>Conference Board/George Magnus</div></div></div> 5. It's getting harder to exploit demographic dividend: This is a phase that countries go through when child dependency is falling and the working age population is expanding. But they're also in a phase just before old age dependency starts to rise. Typically, this phase comes with stronger trends in income, savings, investment, and technical progress. This is where where other emerging markets countries hope to be in the next few decades.
Once the old age dependency ratio starts to rise, however, the demographic dividend can't be exploited and it tends to drag on growth. The demographic dividend creates the opportunity to draw on these benefits, but doesn't guarantee it. Exploiting your demographic dividend depends on four Is, according to Magnus - better institutions, investment climate, infrastructure, and innovation.

GEORGE MAGNUS: These 5 Big Demographic Trends Are Shaping The World Right Now

FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.
<a href="http://www.gluskinsheff.com/Home">The Dividend Theme Is Far From Over</a> (Gluskin Sheff) 
Though dividend-paying stocks are trading at 15x trailing multiples compared with 14x P/E for the rest of the market, David Rosenberg says the divided theme is far from over because baby boomers are still looking for a "retirement map".
"Dividend-paying stocks generated a total return of 42% in the past five years, handily beating the 26% return triggered by the rest of the universe. So where we go from here is quite clear. It's not just about 'yield' any more but about the company's ability to grow the dividend over time and do so without resorting to debt markets or sacrificing reinvested growth in the company. It is a fine line but dividend growth is now vital and there are now industrials and consumer products companies (not just utilities and telcos) who fit that bill.
"..What so many pundits are missing –and this is so evident in the bond market as well – is how the secular demographic shifts are causing a semi-permanent reassessment of how much 'income' in general – whether in income equity, long-short strategies or in fixed income – and this theme has many more legs to go, in my opinion."
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324880504578300311439227952.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">A Massachusetts Regulator Wants The SEC To Ban A Mandatory Arbitration Clause </a>(The Wall Street Journal)
A Massachusetts regulator is asking the SEC to ban an arbitration clause found in contracts between advisors and their clients. The clause prevents clients from taking their claims on losses or other damages to court. 
Nearly half of investment advisors surveyed in Massachusetts had the clause in their contracts and Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin wrote to the SEC saying this clause was "troubling and a cause for regulatory concern".
<a href="http://www.advisorone.com/2013/02/11/vanguards-brennan-embrace-innovation-beware-prolif?ref=hp">ETFs Are One Of The Key Reasons That It's Such A Great Time To Be An Advisor </a>(Advisor One)
Vanguard Group's Chairman Emeritus Jack Brennan said this is "the best time ever" to be a financial advisor and this is in large part because of products like ETFs. ETFs he said give advisors time to build their business since they offer diversity and are transparent and tax-efficient. "For 19 basis points, you get the Harvard endowment." Brennan did warn against too much innovation among ETFs for instance actively managed ETFs since that would introduce manager risk.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-response-to-the-sotu-2013-2">How The Stock Market Has Reacted To Every State Of The Union Since 1934</a> (LPL Financial)
President Obama delivered his State of the Union (SOTU) speech last night in which he called for $9 minimum wage. 
Most SOTU speeches cause a less than 1 percent move in stock markets. Here is a look at the post-SOTU stock market moves since 1934.
<table class="image-container" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div><a href="http://lplfinancial.lpl.com/Documents/ResearchPublications/Weekly_Market_Commentary.pdf">LPL Financial</a></td></tr></table>
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/thoughts-on-the-great-rotation-2013-2">Why The Great Rotation Won't Be As Good For Stocks As You Think</a> (Marc To Market)
Those talking about the Great Rotation have argued that money is moving out of bonds into stocks and that there is more money in equity funds now that there was in all of 2012. But Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman disagrees. 
"There is a third asset class that needs to be integrated into the analysis: cash. After surveying the data and various reports, it looks to us that the flows into equities is not coming out of fixed income but rather money market funds and deposits
"Through last week, equity funds (counting ETFs) saw an inflow of around $70 bln (compared with $23 bln in all of 2012). The $30 bln inflows being reported by bond funds is a major argument against the "Great Rotation", though this is a bit off the pace seen last year ($40 bln inflows during the same period)."

FINANCIAL ADVISOR INSIGHTS: Baby Boomers Are Keeping The Dividend Investment Strategy Alive

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Oregon's universal basic income measure failed, with 78.8% of voters opposing the policy.</li><li>The measure proposed giving $1,600 annually to state residents, funded by a corporate tax increase.</li></ul>Oregon's effort to institute a statewide <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-pros-and-cons">universal basic income</a> failed on November 5. With 73% of the total votes counted, The Associated Press reported that 78.8% of those voters opposed the policy.Measure 118 — also known as the Oregon Rebate — planned to give $1,600 annually to all residents who spend more than 200 days in the state. If it had passed, Oregon would have been the first state to implement a UBI policy giving all residents no-strings-attached cash. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-sovereign-wealth-fund-alaska-universal-basic-income-2024-9">Alaska</a> also has a program that resembles basic income, but it's structured differently than Oregon's proposal.To fund the initiative, Oregon planned to increase the corporate minimum tax rate by 3% on in-state sales exceeding $25 million.Prior to November 5, the policy was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oregon-rebate-universal-basic-income-ballot-measure-november-election-2024-8">unpopular among both Republicans and Democrats</a>, many of whom said the rebate could lead to increased prices for consumer goods and slower job growth. Major corporations also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oregon-opposition-measure-118-basic-income-corporate-tax-2024-9">spent millions to oppose the measure</a>.The opposition movement to Measure 118 raised over <a target="_blank" href="https://yesonmeasure118.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=83d9dbb6664b4a19cbb44709d&amp;id=e6a64e8b7d&amp;e=f1e85bc7c7">$16 million</a> — more than <a target="_blank" href="https://yesonmeasure118.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=83d9dbb6664b4a19cbb44709d&amp;id=9037925dd4&amp;e=f1e85bc7c7">26 times</a> what the Oregon Rebate support PAC raised.The measure failure comes as basic income programs across the country <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-basic-income-study-results-2024-7">gain popularity</a> as an approach to poverty reduction. Advocates for Oregon's measure hoped that cash assistance would create a "fairer and more just economy" for state residents.<h2 id="c8a738cb-bbf3-486c-a8b4-1675fd1c244d">Oregon's UBI policy failed, but basic income is still gaining national momentum</h2>Business Insider has previously reported on<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/basic-income-helps-people-get-jobs-earn-higher-pay-gbi-2024-9"> basic income research</a>, and state-level efforts to create lasting cash assistance programs. Oregon's ballot measure resembles basic income experiments in other <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/which-states-cities-have-guaranteed-basic-income-programs-low-income-2024-4">cities</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/countries-with-universal-basic-income">countries</a>.Over <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/basic-income-gbi-ubi-low-income-americans-afford-housing-food-2024-5">100 guaranteed basic income pilots</a> have launched across the US, and participants told BI they used the money to pay for housing, groceries, childcare, transportation, and medical bills. These pilot programs are often funded through philanthropy, local governments, or private donors. Some states, like California and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/immigrants-new-mexico-basic-income-for-housing-healthcare-ubi-gbi2024-5">New Mexico</a>, are also making efforts to incorporate basic income into state policy.But GBI differs slightly from UBI. Although the guaranteed basic income pilots offer no-strings-attached cash, the money is limited for a set time period and selected participants, many of whom are low-income and fit specific demographics such as single parents, artists, or students.Universal basic income would give everyone ongoing cash payments, regardless of their income level. A UBI program hasn't been successfully launched in the US.During his 2020 presidential run, Democratic Candidate Andrew Yang pitched the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-basic-income-2016-8">Freedom Dividend</a>, a federal basic income policy that would give $1,000 monthly to every American over the age of 18.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alaska-permanent-fund-basic-income">The Alaska Permanent Fund</a>, which began in the 1970s, is a model similar to universal basic income. It gives state residents annual payments (which were $1,312 per person in 2022) funded through the state's oil revenue.Some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ubi-universal-basic-income-ai-risks-destroying-jobs-solutions-2024-7">tech leaders</a> have also suggested that cash assistance programs will become more necessary as artificial intelligence disrupts the job market.Still, any program like the Oregon Rebate would require funding and any major tax changes would need to be approved by voters.

Corporations raised $16 million to oppose Oregon's universal basic income plan. They won.

The department for promotion of industry and internal trade (<keyword id="19952901" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="DPIIT" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="DPIIT" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="DPIIT">DPIIT</keyword>) on Monday asked <keyword id="19957196" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="white-goods" source="keywords">white goods</keyword> manufacturers to participate in large numbers to avail fiscal benefits under the <keyword id="19952889" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="production-linked-incentive" source="keywords">production linked incentive</keyword> scheme for the sector as the response has been muted so far. Additional Secretary in the DPIIT Rajeev Singh Thakur said that the department has again reopened the application window for the PLI (production linked incentive) scheme for white goods (<keyword id="20360726" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ACs" source="keywords">ACs</keyword> and LED lights). The application window is open from July 15 to October 12. "In the PLI in white goods scheme, somehow the response has been muted. ...Probably due to various reasons not sufficient response has come. So I request (the industry) to have a look and probably this time, you can consider (applying)," Thakur said at the CII Consumer Electronics and Durables Summit 2024 here. So far, 66 applicants with committed investment of Rs 6,962 crore have been selected as beneficiaries under the PLI scheme. The Union Cabinet had given approval for the PLI scheme for white goods for <keyword id="19914449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manufacturing" source="keywords">manufacturing</keyword> of components and sub-assemblies of Air Conditioners (ACs) and LED lights on April 7, 2021. The scheme is to be implemented over a seven-year period, from 2021-22 to 2028-29, and has an outlay of Rs 6,238 crore. He added that the department can hold talks with the industry separately on issues like quality control orders and logistics. Thakur told the industry that the time is right to increase investments into the country as the government has enhanced its capex and taken steps to promote <keyword id="19996629" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ease-of-doing-business" source="keywords">ease of doing business</keyword>. The public capex in the last 10 years is growing at a fast pace in areas like highways, expressway, ports, airports and railways, but the commensurate response of the private sector "somehow is not up to the expectation", he said. Earlier speaking at the event, DPIIT Secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia said that a lot of steps have been taken to promote ease of doing business, cutting down compliance burden and decriminalisation of minor offences. The government has also recently approved 12 industrial townships and the industry can look at investing there. He added that capital availability is not an issue now and the government has also provided protection to the industry from predatory imports. Schemes like PLI and semiconductor mission have been rolled out to promote manufacturing and "now we want the industry" to ensure that they have necessary collaborations in place for technology and investments. The industry should do collaborations not only to target the domestic market but also become part of global value chains. "That is an expectation we are having from the entire industry and I think industry will rise to meet these expectations... We have a huge demographic dividend and the industry should take advantage of this otherwise we will miss it," Bhatia added. He also said that there is no paucity of adequate skilled labour in the country and logistics costs too are coming down. On logistics, he cited examples of Amazon and Flipkart selling goods in the remotest part of the country. "I don't think industry should look at the current domestic demand only for collaborations. They should look at the future and export market also in addition to the domestic market," he said, adding expenditure on research and development is "abysmally" low and that needs to be enhanced. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-launching-in-india-in-october-2024/slidelist/113809612.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-launching-in-india-in-october-2024/slidelist/113809612.cms" target="_blank">Upcoming cars launching in India in October 2024</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/upcoming-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-october-2024/slidelist/113804125.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/upcoming-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-october-2024/slidelist/113804125.cms" target="_blank">Upcoming smartphones launching in India in October 2024</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/krn-heat-exchanger-ipo-allotment-check-allotment-status-gmp-listing-date-and-more/articleshow/113801258.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/krn-heat-exchanger-ipo-allotment-check-allotment-status-gmp-listing-date-and-more/articleshow/113801258.cms" target="_blank">KRN Heat Exchanger IPO allotment – Check allotment status, GMP, listing date and more</a>

Govt asks white goods industry to apply for manufacturing sops in large numbers

<keyword id="20779198" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chief-Economic-Advisor" source="keywords">Chief Economic Advisor</keyword> V Anantha Nageswaran emphasized the crucial and positive role that artificial intelligence (<keyword id="19899640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI" source="keywords">AI</keyword>) can play for the <keyword id="22505095" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-demography" source="keywords">Indian demography</keyword> and <keyword id="20278114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="labour-force" source="keywords">labour force</keyword> during a press conference on the <keyword id="20613906" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Economic-Survey" source="keywords">Economic Survey</keyword> 2023-24. He noted that within the next decade, India is poised to become the world's third-largest economy and will benefit significantly from its demographic dividend. However, Nageswaran also acknowledged potential challenges posed by AI, particularly for India's <keyword id="20811086" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-process-outsourcing" source="keywords">Business Process Outsourcing</keyword> (BPO) sector. He stated, "The short-term challenge of generative AI could slow <keyword id="22505093" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BPO-sector-growth" source="keywords">BPO sector growth</keyword>, affecting <keyword id="21300718" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="customer-services" source="keywords">customer services</keyword>. It is possible that the jobs related to BPO will be under threat whereas AI may actually turn out to be a booster." Furthermore, Nageswaran also pointed out that the emergence of AI might reduce annual <keyword id="21420133" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="productivity-growth" source="keywords">productivity growth</keyword> by approximately 0.3 percentage points in the coming years. This indicates a potential short-term dip in productivity as industries adapt to new technologies. Despite these challenges, Nageswaran added that the long-term potential of AI is promising. The broader adoption of AI could lead to significant improvements in critical areas such as healthcare and education, thereby enhancing human capital. The economic survey presented in the Parliament by finance minister Nirmala Sithraman says in the medium term Indian economy can grow at a rate of 7 per cent. The economic survey stated, "In the medium term, the Indian economy can grow at a rate of 7 per cent plus on a sustained basis if we build on the structural reforms undertaken over the last decade. This requires a tripartite compact between the Union Government, State Governments and the private sector." Achieving a sustained growth rate of over 7 per cent will require a tripartite compact between the Union Government, State Governments, and the private sector. India's financial sector is undergoing critical transformations. During FY24, primary capital markets facilitated capital formation of Rs 10.9 lakh crore, accounting for approximately 29 per cent of the gross fixed capital formation of private and public corporates in FY23. It further adds India faces a unique blend of opportunities and challenges amid global trends such as geo-economic fragmentation, a push for self-reliance, looming climate change, the rise of technology, and limited policy space. (ANI)

AI could slow BPO sector growth: Chief Economic Advisor Nageshwaran

Raising concerns over growing <keyword id="20260846" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="obesity" source="keywords">obesity</keyword> and increase of consumption of highly <keyword id="20490015" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="processed-foods" source="keywords">processed foods</keyword> laden with sugars and fat, the Economic Survey said 54 per cent of the total disease burden in India is due to <keyword id="21833035" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="unhealthy-diets" source="keywords">unhealthy diets</keyword>. Obesity presents a "concerning situation" and <keyword id="19948547" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="preventive-measures" source="keywords">preventive measures</keyword> must be taken to enable citizens to have a <keyword id="20000886" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="healthier-lifestyle" source="keywords">healthier lifestyle</keyword>, it said. "Obesity is emerging as a serious concern among India's adult population," said the Survey, which was tabled on Monday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament. If India needs to "reap the gains of its demographic dividend, it is critical that its population's health parameters transition towards a balanced and diverse diet", it said. Citing a report from the Indian Council for Medical Research, the Economic Survey observed that the rise in consumption of highly processed foods laden with sugars and fat, coupled with reduced physical activity and limited access to diverse foods, exacerbate micronutrient deficiencies and overweight/obesity problems. Estimates show that the adult obesity rate in India has more than tripled, and the rise in children is the steepest in the world for India, behind Vietnam and Namibia, the survey stated, referring to a World Obesity Federation report. The survey further said as per National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the incidence of obesity is significantly higher in urban India than in rural India. In urban India, it is 29.8 per cent in men versus 19.3 per cent of rural India. The percentage of men facing obesity in the 18-69 age bracket has increased to 22.9 per cent in NFHS-5 from 18.9 per cent in NFHS-4. For women, it has increased from 20.6 per cent (NFHS-4) to 24 per cent (NFHS-5). "Combined with an ageing population in some states, obesity presents a concerning situation. Preventive measures must be taken to enable citizens to have a healthier lifestyle," the survey said. In some states, such as in the NCT (Delhi), the proportion of women with obesity is 41.3 per cent, as against 38 per cent for men. In Tamil Nadu, for men, obesity is 37 per cent and it is 40.4 per cent for women. In Andhra, it is 36.3 per cent for women while for men it is 31.1 per cent. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-to-launch-in-india-on-august-14-alongside-the-pixel-9-series/articleshow/111855704.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-to-launch-in-india-on-august-14-alongside-the-pixel-9-series/articleshow/111855704.cms" target="_blank">Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold to launch in India on August 14 alongside the Pixel 9 series</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/oneplus-nord-4-vs-realme-gt-6t-which-mid-range-phone-should-you-buy-under-35000/slidelist/111803604.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/oneplus-nord-4-vs-realme-gt-6t-which-mid-range-phone-should-you-buy-under-35000/slidelist/111803604.cms" target="_blank">OnePlus Nord 4 vs Realme GT 6T – which mid-range phone should you buy under ₹35,000?</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-and-airtel-added-3-45-million-subscribers-in-may-2024-while-vi-lost-nearly-a-million/articleshow/111800758.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-and-airtel-added-3-45-million-subscribers-in-may-2024-while-vi-lost-nearly-a-million/articleshow/111800758.cms" target="_blank">Reliance Jio and Airtel added 3.45 million subscribers in May 2024, while Vi lost nearly a million</a>

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