Digital Diaries

India's GDP growth rate for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024-25 is 5.4%, a seven-quarter low, which is concerning compared to the 8.1% growth rate in the same period last year. The government views this decline as temporary and cyclic, expecting a recovery in the third quarter. However, economists criticize this optimistic outlook, emphasizing the need for structural reforms to boost investment, exports, and job creation. GDP growth primarily depends on four factors: consumption, government investment, business investment, and Balance of trade. Let's dive into these factors to understand the reasons behind the slowdown in GDP growth. Consumption Consumption significantly contributes to GDP, but it is facing weak urban demand. This is evident from the growth reports of various consumer-oriented companies. For instance, there is a decline in the consumption of FMCG products; McDonald's and KFC reported lower footfall and smaller order sizes; Voltas and Whirlpool reporte...

In the heart of Ayodhya, a vision took root amidst the fields of sugarcane. Back in 1981, KK Jhunjhunwala had an ambitious idea: to create paper from sugarcane waste. With limited resources and undeterred determination, his wife sold her jewelry to fund this vision, leading to the birth of Yash Papers. For two decades, KK built a niche in kraft paper production, crafting an identity out of sustainability and innovation. Yet, as the tides of business ebbed and flowed, Yash Papers faced mounting challenges and financial distress. On the brink of selling the venture, KK’s son, Ved Krishna, stepped in to breathe new life into the struggling enterprise. Fresh from his sports management studies in London, Ved was thrust into a whirlwind of union issues and heavy losses. But where others saw a dead end, Ved saw an opportunity for revival. "It took me about two to three years to put things back in order," Ved recalls. As stability returned, Ved's vision extended beyond mere recov...

Everyone must have heard that there is always something good in everything, even in bad situations. Mysore Sandal Soap is one such example. Let's dive into history to understand this. In the early 20th century, the Mysore kingdom was the largest sandalwood producer in the world, with most of it being exported to Europe. During the First World War, a large sandalwood reserve was left over as it could not be exported due to the war. The king of Mysore, at that time, decided to turn this situation into an opportunity and established a soap-making factory in Bangalore to utilize all the sandalwood stock to produce soap using sandalwood oil as the main ingredient. The factory, established in 1916, started manufacturing soap under the brand name Mysore Sandal Soap. A factory to distill oil from sandalwood was also opened in Mysore during the same year. In 1944, another sandalwood oil factory opened in Shimoga. After the unification of Karnataka, these factories came under the jurisdictio...

The Israel-Hamas War began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) launched a major attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, sea, and air. This assault led to over 1,200 deaths, mostly Israeli citizens, and more than 240 hostages, marking the deadliest day for Israel since its founding. In response, Israel declared a state of war on October 8, the first since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched air strikes on Gaza and later sent in ground troops and armored vehicles. By November 2024, the conflict had resulted in over 43,000 deaths in Gaza and significant destruction, with two-thirds of buildings damaged or destroyed. The roots of this conflict date back to 1948 when the establishment of Israel led to the displacement of many Palestinians who became refugees in Gaza. The unresolved status of Palestinians resulted in recurrent violence, with the Gaza Strip falling under Israeli control after the 1967 Six-Day War. In 19...

Until 2016, Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh faced a major waste management challenge, spending Rs 50 lakh annually to transport waste to an overflowing landfill . This landfill required yearly treatment to prevent fires caused by the emissions of polluting gases. Recognizing the urgent need for change, Ambikapur's former collector, Ritu Sen, launched a decentralized waste management plan to tackle this ecological threat. The city was divided into 19 centers , each with three-member teams collecting segregated waste from 200-250 households . Each center had its own waste handling station , visited daily by dedicated junk dealers who exchanged cash for the day's saleable waste. Hard-to-dismantle waste , such as electronic waste , was sent to a centralized tertiary material recovery facility for further treatment. Organic waste was collected by municipal vehicles and sent to a central composting facility , where the resulting compost was sold. By 2017, thanks to the efforts of 470...