Wednesday, December 07, 2022

7: India

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How British colonialism killed 100 million Indians in 40 years Between 1880 to 1920, British colonial policies in India claimed more lives than all famines in the Soviet Union, Maoist China and North Korea combined. ......... Two years ago, a YouGov poll found that 32 percent of people in Britain are actively proud of the nation’s colonial history......... extreme poverty in India increased under British rule, from 23 percent in 1810 to more than 50 percent in the mid-20th century. Real wages declined during the British colonial period, reaching a nadir in the 19th century, while famines became more frequent and more deadly.

Far from benefitting the Indian people, colonialism was a human tragedy with few parallels in recorded history.

............. the period from 1880 to 1920 – the height of Britain’s imperial power – was particularly devastating for India ........ the death rate increased considerably during this period, from 37.2 deaths per 1,000 people in the 1880s to 44.2 in the 1910s. Life expectancy declined from 26.7 years to 21.9 years.......... Robust data on mortality rates in India only exists from the 1880s. If we use this as the baseline for “normal” mortality, we find that some 50 million excess deaths occurred under the aegis of British colonialism during the period from 1891 to 1920. .......... Fifty million deaths is a staggering figure, and yet this is a conservative estimate. Data on real wages indicates that by 1880, living standards in colonial India had already declined dramatically from their previous levels. ............ prior to colonialism, Indian living standards may have been “on a par with the developing parts of Western Europe.” We do not know for sure what India’s pre-colonial mortality rate was, but if we assume it was similar to that of England in the 16th and 17th centuries (27.18 deaths per 1,000 people), we find that 165 million excess deaths occurred in India during the period from 1881 to 1920. ........... somewhere in the vicinity of 100 million people died prematurely at the height of British colonialism. This is among the largest policy-induced mortality crises in human history .......... larger than the combined number of deaths that occurred during all famines in the Soviet Union, Maoist China, North Korea, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, and Mengistu’s Ethiopia. ......... Britain effectively destroyed India’s manufacturing sector. Prior to colonisation, India was one of the largest industrial producers in the world, exporting high-quality textiles to all corners of the globe. The tawdry cloth produced in England simply could not compete. This began to change, however, when the British East India Company assumed control of Bengal in 1757. ........... the colonial regime practically eliminated Indian tariffs, allowing British goods to flood the domestic market, but created a system of exorbitant taxes and internal duties that prevented Indians from selling cloth within their own country, let alone exporting it. ........... This unequal trade regime crushed Indian manufacturers and effectively de-industrialised the country. As the chairman of East India and China Association boasted to the English parliament in 1840: “This company has succeeded in converting India from a manufacturing country into a country exporting raw produce.” English manufacturers gained a tremendous advantage, while India was reduced to poverty and its people were made vulnerable to hunger and disease. .......... British colonisers established a system of legal plunder, known to contemporaries as the “drain of wealth.” Britain taxed the Indian population and then used the revenues to buy Indian products – indigo, grain, cotton, and opium – thus obtaining these goods for free. These goods were then either consumed within Britain or re-exported abroad, with the revenues pocketed by the British state and used to finance the industrial development of Britain and its settler colonies – the United States, Canada and Australia.............. This system drained India of goods worth trillions of dollars in today’s money. The British were merciless in imposing the drain, forcing India to export food even when drought or floods threatened local food security. Historians have established that tens of millions of Indians died of starvation during several considerable policy-induced famines in the late 19th century, as their resources were syphoned off to Britain and its settler colonies. ........... Colonial administrators were fully aware of the consequences of their policies. They watched as millions starved and yet they did not change course. ..........

Britain’s imperial policies “were often the exact moral equivalents of bombs dropped from 18,000 feet.”

........... Britain’s exploitative policies were associated with approximately 100 million excess deaths during the 1881-1920 period. This is a straightforward case for reparations, with strong precedent in international law. Following World War II, Germany signed reparations agreements to compensate the victims of the Holocaust and more recently agreed to pay reparations to Namibia for colonial crimes perpetrated there in the early 1900s. In the wake of apartheid, South Africa paid reparations to people who had been terrorised by the white-minority government. .......... reparations can help address the legacy of deprivation and inequity that colonialism produced. It is a critical step towards justice and healing.
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Gujarat And Himachal Pradesh Exit Polls Prediction | Political Pulse | Election Results 2022
India’s economic growth on track. Here’s how it’s set to shape up The country is projected to become the world’s third-largest economy, outpacing Japan and Germany, by 2027.......... Global offshoring, digitalisation, investment in manufacturing and energy transition are revving up India’s economic growth. The country is set to become the world’s third-largest economy, outpacing Japan and Germany, by 2027, and will have the third-largest stock market by 2030, according to S&P Global and Morgan Stanley......... India is projected to be one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world. Morgan Stanley has said that India’s GDP is likely to more than double by 2031 -- from the current $3.5 trillion to $7.5 trillion. .......... The economic boom will usher in sweeping changes. India is expected to become a manufacturing powerhouse and hub. The Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLIS) to boost manufacturing and exports is already in place. PLIS gives incentives to investors – both domestic and foreign – by way of tax concessions and quick licence clearances. ........ The power and willingness of consumers to spend on goods will see a spike as disposable incomes increase. This will not just enhance the standard of living but also give a boost to the quality of life of people. ........ overall consumption in the country could more than double from $2 trillion in 2022 to $4.9 trillion by 2030. The greatest gains will go to non-grocery retail, including apparel and accessories, leisure and recreation, and household goods and services. ......... the number of people employed in India for jobs outside the country is likely to at least double, reaching more than 11 million, as global spending on outsourcing swells from $180 billion per year to around $500 billion by 2030. ........ Manufacturing’s share of GDP in India could increase from 15.6% currently to 21% by 2031—and, in the process, double India’s export market share......... the slowdown in emerging economies could also position India as an attractive alternative investment destination. ........... Energy transition will also play a huge role in India’s growth saga. As energy needs mount, India will meet the consumption demand by tapping renewables, including solar, biogas, hydrogen, ethanol, wind, and hydroelectric power. Using non-conventional energy sources will go a long way in ensuring that India’s reliance on imported energy is slashed by half. The growth in energy demand and energy transition (from fossil fuels) will throw up new investment opportunities. ......... The GDP growth for the July-September quarter plummeted to 6.3% from 8.4% in 2021, and 13.5% in the previous quarter. This was because the manufacturing and mining sectors reportedly didn’t grow as much as they were supposed to.......... must keep tapping its huge talent pool, and harnessing its 'ease of doing business' policies to inch towards becoming the world’s biggest economy in the next 15 years. .
‘मधेश प्रदेशमा जनमतको नेतृत्वमा सरकार बनाउने मतादेश छ’ जनताले हामीलाई दिएको समर्थन समानुपातिक मतमा देखिन्छ । त्यो आधारमा हेर्ने हो भने जनताले जनमत पार्टीलाई बहुत राम्रो तरिकाले समर्थन गरेको हो । ........ मधेश प्रदेशको सवालमा अहिले हामी हाम्रै नेतृत्वमा सरकार बनाऔं भनेर पहल थालेका छौं । मधेश प्रदेशका जनताले सबभन्दा ठूलो पार्टी जनमत पार्टीलाई बनाएको हो । किनभने अरु पार्टीहरु गठबन्धन बनाएर प्राविधिकरुपमा हामीभन्दा बढी सिट ल्याएका छन् । तर हाम्रो पार्टी कोही कसैसँग कुनै किसिमको गठबन्धन नगरी एक्लै चुनाव लडेर त्यत्रो धेरै सिट ल्याएपछि जनताले हामीलाई अनुमोदन गारेको देखिन्छ । त्यस आधारमा हामी सबभन्दा ठूलो पार्टी हौं । त्यसको आधारमा हामीले सरकारको नेतृत्व गर्ने र सरकार निर्माणका लागि पहल गर्ने कुरा गरिरहेका छौं । ....... सरकारमा जानैपर्ने हाम्रो बाध्यता छैन । अर्को कुरा हामी आन्दोलनकारी शक्ति हौं । जनताका समस्यासँग जोडिएको जनमत पार्टी हो । जनताको जनजीविकालाई पहिलो प्राथमिकतामा राखेर उदय भएको पार्टी हो । सडक र सदनमा भएर पनि जनताको पक्षमा हामी काम गराउन सक्छौं । ........ अहिले हाम्रो पहिलो प्राथमिकता हाम्रै नेतृत्वमा सरकारमा निर्माण गर्न पहल गर्ने हो । ....... मधेश प्रदेशमा हेर्ने हो भने झण्डै १८–१९ प्रतिशत मत जनताले दिएको छ । यो आधारमा हेर्ने हो भने जनमत पार्टी सबभन्दा ठूलो पार्टी हो । त्यसकारण जनताले मधेश प्रदेशमा जनमत पार्टीले सरकार बनाउनुपर्छ भनेर मतादेश दिएको हो नि । हामीले सडकबाट जुन सवालहरु उठायौं, त्यो कार्यान्वयन गर्ने निकाय त सरकार नै हो । हामीले किसान आन्दोलन ग¥यौं, भ्रष्टाचार विरोधी आन्दोलन ग¥यौं, रोजगारी सिर्जना गर्ने भनेका छौं । ती सवालहरु कार्यान्वयन गराउन हामीलाई मतादेश आएको छ । ......... अहिले हामी सय वर्षको रोडम्याप लिएर अगाडि बढिरहेका छौं । हामीले चरणबद्ध रुपमा आफ्ना योजनाहरु बनाएका छौं । विगतका सरकार वा पार्टीले जसरी भ्रष्टाचार गरे, त्यस्तो हाम्रो पार्टीका कुनै सांसद वा मन्त्रीले गरे भने त्यस्तालाई तत्कालै हामीले फिर्ता बोलाउने प्रावधान हाम्रो पार्टीमा छ । ......को संसदीय दलको नेता, सचेतक, प्रमुख सचेतक लगायतका विषयमा संसदीय दलको बैठकले टुंगो लगाउने हो । जो संसदीय दलको नेता हुन्छन् उहाँ नै मुख्यमन्त्रीको दाबेदार हुनुहुन्छ । यस विषयमा अहिले हामी टुंगो लगाइसकेका छैनौं । चुनावको अन्तिम नतिजा आइसकेपछि त्यसपछि टुंगो लाग्छ ।

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