NATIONAL: ONLINE BUSINESS : India Records Over 100 million New Online Shoppers between 2020 and 2022

The Covid-19 epidemic has affected consumers’ choices as well as their shopping habits.

Between 2020 and 2022, India’s e-commerce sector saw an extraordinary rise in the number of first-time online customers, and this trend is anticipated to persist in the years to come. Between 2020 and 2022, India saw an increase of 101 million new online shoppers as a result of the rapid adoption of e-commerce.

As a result, by the end of 2022, there were approximately 230 million online shoppers in India, making up almost 36 per cent of all Internet users.

According to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Matrix Partners India report, there are some interesting facts about the rising popularity of e-commerce among Indians, how the Covid-19 pandemic period affected consumers’ shopping habits before and after it, and the top industries that will dominate online retail by 2025.

E-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart are doing everything in their power to attract more customers by regularly offering credit/debit card incentives and steep product discounts. By the end of 2025, this would increase the number of online shoppers in India to close to 350–400 million, adding 50 million new customers.

Bain & Company’s projection from the middle of 2020 is slightly higher than the total number of Indians predicted to make online purchases by 2025.

The report also emphasises how social media and other video apps have grown in importance in driving the expansion of online shopping in India.

It is important to note that almost 50 per cent of all online consumers, or 320 million people, are considered to be members of the “Digitally influenced” demographic, which includes people who primarily utilise social media and video apps for both amusement and product research.

Indians spend far more money on average while purchasing online than they did in the past. Prior to the epidemic, between 2016 and 2020, India’s internet retail consumption increased yearly by less than US $ 10 billion. Nonetheless, during the Covid-19 pandemic and afterward, there will be a surge in annual online spending.

Internet spending in India increased by US $ 21 billion from 2020 to close to US $ 32–US $ 40 billion in 2021. In 2022, this amount is projected to rise to US $ 50 to US $ 55 billion, an increase of US $ 16 billion from the current year.

By 2025, it is anticipated that the fashion and apparel category would account for between 25 per cent and US $ 160 billion in online retail sales. However, the percentage of spending in 2025 is a little lower than it was in 2015, when fashion and clothing accounted for 27 per cent of the US $ 10–13 billion in total online retail spending.

One-fifth to one-half of India’s US $ 50 billion to US $ 55 billion in online retail sales in 2021 came from the fashion and apparel sector. This was primarily due to the fact that the country was placed under lockdown in 2021 when the spread of Covid-19 reached its apex. Hence, there was no incentive to buy clothing or other items of fashion.

source/content: apparelresources.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: HISTORY / TREASURES: Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Ceremonial Sword ‘Jagdamba’ may travel to India from the U.K. for a year

Maharashtra is in talks with the Centre to be guarantor for the journey of the sword, gifted by Shivaji IV to the then Prince of Wales, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the warrior king’s coronation.

‘Jagdamba’, the ceremonial sword of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji, may soon return to Maharashtra from a museum in the United Kingdom for about a year, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the famed Maratha ruler’s ascension to the throne.

The sword, set with several diamonds and rubies, was presented to Albert Edward, then Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII, by Shivaji IV “as a relic of the Maratha Chief Shivaji to whom it formerly belonged” during the former’s visit to India in 1875-76.

The Maharashtra Government has started talks with the Centre to get the sword from Saint James’s Palace in London, State Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told The Hindu.

The Minister, who is likely to visit London in May to hold discussions with officials in the U.K., said that the Centre would be the guarantor to get the sword back to India for a brief period. “I will personally reach out to U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in this regard. We wish to keep it in Maharashtra for at least one year. It is touched by the Maharaj [Shivaji Maharaj] and is extremely valuable for us since,” Mr. Mungantiwar said.

The first effort to bring back the sword was made by freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and after Independence, several Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, including the first CM, Yashwantrao Chavan, pursued the matter.

“It will be a moment of pride if we get back the Jagdamba sword to mark the 350th anniversary of Shivaji’s coronation in 2024. Once we get the sword, we will organise a series of events across the State for the special day,” Mr. Mungantiwar said.

Shivaji was crowned as emperor of his realm at Raigad Fort on June 6, 1674, and he was said to had three swords named ‘Bhavani’, ‘Jagdamba’, and ‘Tulja’.

Bhavani and Tulja, both battle swords, are currently at Satara and the Sindhudurg Fort, respectively. Jagdamba, the ceremonial sword, is at Saint James’s Palace under the purview of the British Royal Family.

The Prince of Wales was a keen collector of antique weapons, and before his scheduled visit to India, he instructed all the British officials here to find which ruler had the “best antique” weapons with historical significance, historian Indrajit Sawant, author of Shodh Bhavani Talwaricha (‘In search of Bhavani sword’), said.

He said that Shivaji IV was about 11 years old when he gifted the Jagdamba sword used by Shivaji Maharaj to the British prince, like several other Indian kings of the time.

“During their historical meeting in Mumbai, as a return gift, the Prince of Wales presented a sword to Shivaji IV, which is currently at the New Palace Museum at Kolhapur. A catalogue also describes the Jagdamba sword as that of Shivaji Maharaj and its specifications in detail,” Mr. Sawant said.

The 18th century weapon’s whole object dimensions are “127.8 x 11.8 x 9.1 cm” and its blade length is 95 cm.

Mr. Sawant said that a catalogue at the museum read: “Sabre: Maratha straight, one-edged old European blade, with two grooves on each side, in one of which I.H.S. is stamped three times; the raised steel supports at the hilt are damascened with gold in floral designs; the guarded hilt is iron with a broad knuckle guard and a circular pommel, terminating in a spike and encrusted with heavy open-work floral decoration of gild thickly set with large diamonds and rubies. Presented by H.H. the Maharaja of Kolhapur as a relic of the Maratha Chief Shivaji to whom it formerly belonged.”

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: DEFENCE: NAVAL HISTORY: India’s 01st Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, INS VIKRANT Receives Historic Bell of 01st Warship from former Navy Vice Chief

The bell had been placed on the first INS Vikrant, commissioned in 1961, for almost 36 years and had been part of a rich history.

India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier – the INS Vikrant – was last month handed over a bell that was once installed on the first carrier with the same name, commissioned in 1961.

The bell had been placed on the original ‘INS Vikrant’ for almost 36 years after India bought a British-origin aircraft carrier HMS Hercules and renamed it.

Now-retired Vice Admiral SN Ghormade decided to return the bell on March 22 to motivate India’s youth about the rich history of their ship and the Indian Navy.

The first INS Vikrant carrier was decommissioned in 1997 and the bell was removed and placed at the designated residence of Indian Navy Vice Chief 5, Motilal Nehru Marg.

Navy officials believe that traditionally bells have played an important role on a warship and this special one has been part of a rich history as it was on the warship when it played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.

The warship was active during the wars fought by India against Pakistan and was deployed at key locations to further the security of the nation.

The new indigenous INS Vikrant was commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kochi on September 2, 2022.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPACE /SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: 11 Teams to Represent India at the ‘NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2023’ in the U.S this month.

At the NASA Rover Challenge 2023 these teams will compete against 61 others selected worldwide for the 3-day contest to be held from April 20-22.

11 Indian teams including three high school groups will participate in the prestigious ‘NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge’ (HERC) 2023 in the  United States this month. These teams are among 61 others worldwide that will represent India at the international level and will travel to the American agency’s space & rocket centre in Huntsville, Alabama, US to take part in the three day competition from April 20-22.

The HERC Challenge demands teams to design, develop, build, and test human-powered rovers capable of traversing challenging terrain and a task tool for completion of various mission tasks, NASA explained, giving an overview about the competition.

The list of Indian teams participating this year:

Amity University, Noida, Uttar PradeshCollege/University
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Pilani, RajasthanCollege/University
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai, Tamil NaduCollege/University
KIET Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad, Uttar PradeshCollege/University
Prayatna Charitable Trust, Ahmedabad, GujaratHigh School
Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, PunjabCollege/University
Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar PradeshCollege/University
Tec Mantra Labs, Kurukshetra, HaryanaHigh School
Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamil NaduCollege/University
Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil NaduCollege/University
Young Tinker Educational Foundation, Bhubaneswar, OdishaHigh School

Of these, VIT, Vellore, Chennai, HITS, Chennai, BITS Pilani, Rajasthan and Amity Noida, KIET Group of Institutions, Uttar Pradesh featured in the 2022 challenge as well.

Releasing a list of selected teams in October last year(full list here), NASA announced that these teams would be judged based on their ability to design and assemble a rover to traverse a course of approximately half-mile that includes 10 obstacles and 5 tasks with a simulated field of asteroid debris, boulders, erosion ruts, crevasses, and an ancient streambed. “As part of the competition, rover entries are tested to ensure they would fit into a lander storage area, a maximum 5 feet long by 5 feet tall by 5 feet in volume,” NASA said.

The weight and time criteria encourages teams to build their vehicles around its compactness, light weight, high performance, and efficiency. Teams must make real-time decisions on mission objectives – what to attempt or leave behind, driven by limited virtual oxygen supply lasting 8 minutes. The teams earn points on successful completion of these tasks and the one with the highest number of points throughout the project wins the game in each category (high school/college and universities).

Even though Indian teams did not win the overall prize in either category last year, the students are hopeful for international recognition with larger participation this year.

Akanksha Das, a member of one of the participating teams, Young Tinker Educational Foundation, expressing her enthusiasm about the contest, told news agency ANI, “…We sent a proposal to Nasa and they accepted our proposal and we followed all the guidelines. We created a lightweight Rover. In the last edition we got world rank 3, this year we hope to bring 1st position in world rank.”

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL AWARD : STATISTICS : Indian-American Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao (C.R. Rao) Wins Top Statistics Award, the ‘ 2023 International Prize in Statistics ‘ – a look back at his pioneering work

Indian-American statistician Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao has been awarded statistics’ equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

The Indian-American statistician Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao has been awarded the 2023 International Prize in Statistics, which is statistics’ equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It was established in 2016 and is awarded once every two years to an individual or team “for major achievements using statistics to advance science, technology and human welfare.”

Prof. Rao, who is now 102 years old, is a ‘living legend’ whose work has influenced, in the words of the American Statistical Association, “not just statistics” but also “economics, genetics, anthropology, geology, national planning, demography, biometry, and medicine”. The citation for his new award reads: “C.R. Rao, a professor whose work more than 75 years ago continues to exert a profound influence on science, has been awarded the 2023 International Prize in Statistics.”

What was Rao’s 1945 paper about?

Rao’s groundbreaking paper, ‘Information and accuracy attainable in the estimation of statistical parameters’, was published in 1945 in the Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society, a journal that is otherwise not well known to the statistics community. The paper was subsequently included in the book Breakthroughs in Statistics, 1890-1990.

This was an impressive achievement given Rao was only 25 at the time and had just completed his master’s degree in statistics two years prior.

He would go on to do his PhD in 1946-1948 at King’s College, Cambridge University, under the supervision of Ronald A. Fisher , widely regarded as the father of modern statistics.

The Cramér-Rao inequality is the first of the three results of the 1945 paper. When we are estimating the unknown value of a parameter, we must be aware of the estimator’s margin of error. Rao’s work provided a lower limit on the variance of an unbiased estimate for a finite sample. The result has since become a cornerstone of mathematical statistics; researchers have extended it in many different ways, with applications even in quantum physics, signal processing, spectroscopy, radar systems, multiple-image radiography, risk analysis, and probability theory, among other fields.

In an article published in the journal Statistical Science in 1987, the American statistician Morris H. DeGroot set out an intriguing story (corroborated by Rao’s own account) of how Rao arrived at the lower limit. Prof. Fisher had already established an asymptotic (i.e. when the sample size is very large) version of the inequality, and it seems a student had asked Rao, “Why don’t you prove it for finite samples?” in 1944. A then-24-year-old Rao did so in under 24 hours!

The second outcome of the 1945 paper was the Rao-Blackwell Theorem, which offers a method to improve an estimate to an optimal estimate. The Rao-Blackwell theorem and the Cramér-Rao inequality are both related to the quality of estimators.

A new interdisciplinary area called ‘information geometry’ was born as a result of the paper’s third finding. This field integrated principles from differential geometry into statistics, including the concepts of metric, distance, and measure. Erich L. Lehmann, a renowned statistician, said in 2008 that “this work [of Rao’s] was before its time and came into its own only in the 1980s”.

So overall, Rao’s 1945 paper made an outstanding contribution, boosting the development of modern statistics and its widespread application in modern research. In a 2008 book, Reminiscences of a Statistician: The Company I Kept, Lehmann also discussed the generative nature of the paper – i.e. the goldmine of insights that it was – and acknowledged that “several of my early papers grew out of Rao’s paper of 1945”.

How did Rao enter the field of statistics?

The Australian statistician Terry Speed claimed that the “1940s were ungrudgingly C.R. Rao’s. His 1945 paper … will guarantee that, even had he done nothing else – but there was much else.”

Indeed, one of Rao’s papers in 1948 offered a novel generic approach to testing hypotheses, now widely known as the “Rao score test”. In fact, the three test procedures – the likelihood ratio test of Jerzy Neyman and E.S. Pearson (1928), the Wald test (1943) of Abraham Wald, and the Rao score test (1948) – are sometimes called “the holy trinity” of this branch of statistics.

Rao also contributed to orthogonal arrays, a concept in combinatorics that is used to design experiments whose results are qualitatively good, as early as 1949. A 1969 Forbes article described it as “a new mantra” in industrial establishments.

Given the magnitude and relevance of his contributions, it might seem surprising that Rao entered the field of statistics by chance.

Despite scoring first in mathematics at Andhra University, a 19-year-old Rao didn’t secure a scholarship there for administrative reasons. He was also rejected for a mathematician’s job at an army survey unit because he was judged to be too young.

When he was staying at a hotel in Calcutta, he met a man who was employed in Bombay and had been sent to Calcutta to be trained at the Indian Statistical Institute. He asked Rao to apply to the institute as well. Rao did so, for a year-long training programme in statistics, hoping the additional qualification would help him land a job.

P.C. Mahalanobis, then director of the institute, replied promptly and Rao was enrolled. That marked the beginning of a four-decade-long stay at the institute. Rao retired in 1979 and afterwards settled in the U.S.

The first half of the 20th century was the golden period of statistical theory in general, and Rao is undoubtedly one of the reasons for this being the case, thanks to his mathematical ingenuity. In the words of the late mathematician Samuel Karlin, Rao’s contributions to statistical theory have “earned him a place in the history of statistics”.

Indian statisticians also owe Prof. Rao gratitude for his enormous contributions to the growth of statistics in the country, notably at the Indian Statistical Institute (where this author works). As Lehmann wrote, Rao was “the person who did the most to continue Mahalanobis’s work as a leader of statistics in India.”

Atanu Biswas is professor of statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: ECONOMY: India, China to Account for Half of Global Economic Growth in 2023: International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The period of slower economic activity will be prolonged, with the next five years witnessing less than 3 per cent growth.

The IMF chief on Thursday said that the world economy is expected to grow at less than 3 per cent this year, with India and China expected to account for half of global growth in 2023.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva warned that a sharp slowdown in the world economy last year following the raging pandemic and Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine would continue this year.

The period of slower economic activity will be prolonged, with the next five years witnessing less than 3 per cent growth, “our lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and well below the average of 3.8 per cent from the past two decades,” she said.

“Some momentum comes from emerging economies — Asia especially is a bright spot. India and China are expected to account for half of global growth in 2023. But others face a steeper climb,” she explained.

“After a strong recovery in 2021 came the severe shock of Russia’s war in Ukraine and its wide-ranging consequences — global growth in 2022 dropped by almost half, from 6.1 to 3.4 per cent,” Georgieva said.

Georgieva said slower growth would be a “severe blow,” making it even harder for low-income nations to catch up.

“Poverty and hunger could further increase, a dangerous trend that was started by the COVID crisis,” she explained.

Her comments come ahead of next week’s spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, where policy-makers will convene to discuss the global economy’s most pressing issues.

The annual gathering will take place as central banks around the world continue to raise interest rates to tame galloping inflation rates.

About 90 per cent of advanced economies are projected to see a decline in their growth rates this year, she said.

For low-income countries, higher borrowing costs come at a time of weakening demand for their exports, she said.

Georgieva added that while the global banking system had “come a long way” since the 2008 financial crisis, “concerns remain about vulnerabilities that may be hidden, not just at banks but also non-banks.

“Now is not the time for complacency.”

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: India Elected to ‘UN Statistical Commission’ for 4-year Term Beginning January 01, 2024

External Affairs Minister said the country’s expertise in the field of statistics, diversity and demography had earned it the seat .

India has been elected to the highest statistical body of the United Nations for a four-year term beginning January 1, 2024.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar tweeted, “Congrats Team @IndiaUNNewYork for coming through so strongly in a competitive election,” he said. India secured 46 out of 53 votes in the election to the UN Statistical Commission election.

Mr. Jaishankar said India’s expertise in the field of statistics, diversity and demography had earned it the seat on the UN Statistical Commission.

source/comment: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: INDIA GLOBAL: AUTOMOBILE:  TVS Motor Company arm to buy 25% stake in Germany’s Killwatt GmbH

The shares are acquired at cash consideration of €235.29/share, translating to a total of nearly €2 mn or ₹18 cr.

TVS Motor Company on Tuesday said its Singapore-based arm will acquire a 25 per cent stake in Germany-based electric mobility products and components start-up Killwatt GmbH.

TVS Motor (Singapore) Pte Ltd, has agreed to acquire a 25 per cent stake in Killwatt GmbH by way of newly issued shares of the latter, amounting to 8,500 common equity shares, the company said in a regulatory filing. The shares are acquired at cash consideration of €235.29 per share, translating to a total of nearly €2 million (nearly ₹18 crore).

Killwatt’s business comprises development, design, manufacture, sale and distribution of high-tech products and components in the field of electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicles, it added.

“Killwatt presents great potential which has been conceptualised by the company. This acquisition is aligned with our larger vision of becoming a leading player in the e-personal mobility space and providing our customers with sustainable mobility solutions, and it complements our other recent acquisitions,” TVS Motor Company said.

The company considers Killwatt as a long-term partner to establish a strong presence in the e-mobility business, it added.

TVS Motor recorded a 1.97 per cent decline in sales in February with 2,76,150 units sold. The company had sold 2,81,714 units during the corresponding month of last year.

source/content: thehindubusinessline.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE: Kiran Nadar Conferred with France’s Highest Civilian Award, the “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur”

Ms. Nadar, chairperson of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art has played a vital role in advancing Indo-French cultural ties, and artistic cooperation.

Philanthropist and art collector Kiran Nadar was recently conferred “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain.

The highest French civilian award comes in recognition of Ms. Nadar’s outstanding contribution in the field of art, her commitment to providing greater access to culture both nationally and internationally, and her leading role in fostering Indo-French cultural ties.

Ms. Nadar, chairperson of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) — a philanthropic initiative in art — and a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation has played a vital role in advancing Indo-French cultural ties, and artistic cooperation.

“It is an absolute privilege for me to be conferred ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur’ and I am deeply grateful to the French Government for this great honour.

“KNMA has a longstanding relationship with France in the cultural space. Our partnership with France has been instrumental in bringing together diverse perspectives and promoting cultural exchange,” said Ms. Nadar in a statement.

In 2022, KNMA joined hands with Alkazi Foundation, and the French Institute in India to create “Converges”, the largest exhibition of original pictures from French photographers ever shown in India.

This exhibition was brought to India as part of “Bonjour India 2022”, a six-month cultural festival organised by France across India as a present for India’s 75th Independence anniversary.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: MANUFACTURING / DEFENCE EXPORTS: India’s defence exports rise ten-fold in six years, reach all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore

The Ministry of Defence in a statement said India is now exporting to over 85 countries.

India’s exports of arms and equipment have touched a new high with an increase of more than Rs 3,000 crore in the last financial year.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday tweeted, “India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore in FY 2022-2023. It is a remarkable achievement for the country.”

Defence exports have risen by over 10 times since 2016-17. India’s defence exports in the FY 2021-22 were Rs 12,814 crore. The figures for exports in FY 2017-18 were Rs 4,682 crore and it rose to Rs 10,745 crore in 2018-19. Exports in the year 2019-20 and 2021-22 were Rs 9,115 crore and Rs 8,434 crore respectively.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the rise in defence exports. “Excellent! A clear manifestation of India’s talent and the enthusiasm towards ‘Make in India.’ It also shows the reforms in this sector over the last few years are delivering good results. Our government will keep supporting efforts to make India a defence production hub,” Modi tweeted.

The Ministry of Defence in a statement said India is now exporting to over 85 countries. “Indian industry has shown its capability of design and development to the world, with 100 firms exporting defence products at present,” it said.

Enumerating the systems, equipment, missiles and ammunitions being exported, the MoD listed “major platforms like Dornier-228, 155 mm Advanced Towed Artillery Guns (ATAGs), Brahmos Missiles, Akash Missile System, Radars, Simulators, Mine Protected Vehicles, Armoured Vehicles, PINAKA Rockets & Launchers, Ammunitions, Thermal Imagers, Body Armours, besides Systems, Line Replaceable Units and Parts & components of Avionics and Small Arms. There is growing global demand of LCA-Tejas, Light Combat Helicopters, Aircraft Carrier, MRO activities etc.”

To give a push to defence exports, the MoD said, “The government has taken a number of policy initiatives and brought reforms over the last 5-6 years. Export procedures have been simplified and made industry friendly with end-to-end online export authorisation curtailing delays and bringing Ease of Doing Business. The government has notified three Open General Export License (OGEL) for export of Parts and Components/Transfer of Technology/Major Platforms and Equipment.”

OGEL is a one-time export license, which permits the industry to export specified items to specified destinations, without seeking export authorisation during the validity of the OGEL.

The export figures are significant given India’s dependence on imported arms and equipment.

A report released by Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in March found that India was on top among the five largest arms importers during 2018–22, followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)