Satwik Mishra

 

Home to one-sixth of the world's population, India is bound to play a leading role in determining the global success of the SDGs. By 2030, India will have the largest number of young people in the globe, a population size which will be a boon only if these young people are skilled enough to join the workforce. The recently launched SDG Index 2019-2020 by Niti Aayog assigned a composite score of 58 to India under the SDG on Quality Education, with only 12 states/UTs having a score of more than 64. The current government expenditure on education is less than 3% of the GDP and the pupil-teacher ratio for elementary school stands at 24:1, lower than that of comparable countries such as Brazil and China. Further, with the rapidly increasing population and dwindling resources, it would not be possible to match the demand for teachers.

The mobility industry as we know it is one the cusp of transformation and we will observe a drastic change in passenger, freight and mass transit in the coming years. Particularly in the context of road-based mobility solutions, we will observe an increasing trend towards the adoption of shared, connected, and zero-emission/electric mobility. This article focusses on the rise of electric mobility and an opportunity for India to become a global EV manufacturing hub.

Coal, a fossil fuel, is the largest source of energy primarily used to produce electricity and heat through combustion. Coal gasification can be used to produce syn-gas, which can be further transformed into transportation fuel such as gasoline and diesel. Coal can also be directly liquefied into diesel through highly sophisticated techniques. Coal liquefaction is one of the backstop technologies that could potentially limit escalation of oil prices. Coal will have a key role to discharge in the overall energy mix. In a developing country like India, growth in energy consumption is entwined with economic growth. Coal, being a cost-effective energy resource in contrast to a very low hydrocarbon resource potential, remains the focus of attention of energy planners ever since the oil crunch of the early '70s.

The recently formed district of Bhadradri Kothagudem is home to one of the oldest temples in India. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Bhadrachlam is not only a holy pilgrimage site but also a testimony of India’s prosperous ancient civilization and rich heritage. With this background, it was more thrilling to understand the current efforts being taken for the development of the district.

As I look outside the window of my office, I recollect my conversations with young Dinesh, whom I recently met during my three-day visit to Balrampur district of the ‘Balrampur Cheeni’ fame. My visit was part of a performance-evaluation exercise for the aspirational districts.