Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) Going to be a Threat to the Indian Job Market?

Introduction

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force across various industries, promising increased efficiency, productivity, and innovation. However, as AI technology continues to advance, questions arise about its potential impact on job markets worldwide, including India. Will AI be a threat to the Indian job market, or will it create new opportunities? In this blog, we will explore this complex issue and consider the various factors at play.

The Growth of AI in India

India has emerged as a significant player in the global AI landscape, with a growing number of startups, research centers, and educational institutions dedicated to AI development. The Indian government has also recognized the importance of AI and has introduced initiatives to promote its growth, such as the National AI Strategy. This rapid growth in the AI sector has generated excitement but also concerns about its impact on employment.

AI's Impact on Job Market

AI and automation have the potential to automate routine and repetitive tasks across various industries. This could lead to job displacement in sectors like manufacturing, customer service, and data entry, which rely heavily on such tasks. However, it's crucial to note that AI is not solely a threat to employment; it also presents significant opportunities.

Job Transformation: AI can enhance productivity by automating repetitive tasks, allowing human workers to focus on more creative and strategic aspects of their jobs. This can lead to job transformation rather than job loss.

New Job Opportunities: As the AI sector grows, it creates a demand for skilled professionals in AI development, machine learning, data science, and related fields. This opens up new career paths and opportunities for Indian job seekers.

AI in Healthcare: In India, where access to healthcare is a significant challenge, AI can play a vital role in improving diagnostics, treatment, and patient care. This could lead to increased employment in the healthcare sector.

Agriculture and Rural Development: AI can be used to enhance agricultural productivity and rural development, potentially creating jobs in these sectors.

AI in Education: The adoption of AI in education can improve learning outcomes and create opportunities in the edtech industry.

The Need for Skill Development

To harness the potential benefits of AI and mitigate its negative impacts on the job market, there is a pressing need for skill development and upskilling. Indian educational institutions and training centers must adapt to the changing landscape and offer programs that equip individuals with the skills needed to thrive in an AI-driven world.

The Indian government's Skill India program is a step in the right direction, but more comprehensive efforts are required to ensure that the workforce is adequately prepared for the AI era. Continuous learning and adaptability will be key factors in maintaining job relevance.

Final Words

While there are legitimate concerns about the impact of AI on the Indian job market, it is essential to approach this issue with a balanced perspective. AI has the potential to create as many opportunities as it disrupts, and much of its impact will depend on how well India can adapt to this technological shift.

To thrive in the AI era, India must focus on skill development, education, and innovation. By fostering a workforce equipped with the skills to work alongside AI systems, India can position itself as a global leader in AI technology and reap the benefits of this transformative technology.

In conclusion, while AI may pose challenges to certain job sectors, it also holds the promise of unlocking new opportunities and driving economic growth. India has the potential to harness the power of AI and ensure that it becomes a force for positive change in the job market, benefiting both individuals and the nation as a whole. The future of work in India will be shaped by how effectively it embraces and adapts to the AI revolution.

भारत में स्टार्टअप क्यों फेल?

कोई भी भारतीय शहर दुनिया के शीर्ष -10 सबसे लोकप्रिय स्टार्टअप शहरों में से नहीं है, जबकि केवल एक भारतीय कंपनी (एशियन पेंट्स) इसे फोर्ब्स की शीर्ष -25 नवीन कंपनियों में शामिल कर सकती है।

व्यवसाय चलाने में असमर्थता के कारण, भारतीय स्टार्टअप को वित्त पोषण 2015 में 7.5 बिलियन डॉलर से घटकर 2016 में 3.5 बिलियन डॉलर हो गया।

 

भारतीय स्टार्टअप की विफलता के पीछे एक प्रमुख कारण उपभोक्ता की आवश्यकता के आधार पर नवाचार की कमी है।

भारत द्वारा दायर पेटेंट के बारे में स्पष्ट रूप से नीचे दिए गए आंकड़े बताते हैं कि देश में नवाचार की तीव्र कमी है।

दायर किए गए पेटेंट की देश संख्या (2015-16)

जापान 44200

चीन 29800

दक्षिण कोरिया 14600

भारत 1423

यदि आप भी एक उद्यमी हैं और अपने स्टार्टअप को बनाए रखने के लिए संघर्ष कर रहे हैं, तो निम्नलिखित बिंदु आपको संकट से उबरने के लिए पराजय के पीछे का कारण जानने में मदद करेंगे।

कारण # 1: ग्राहक के पैसे बनाने के मॉडल के आसपास नवाचार को याद रखना

निस्संदेह, भारतीय स्टार्टअप को ग्राहकों की समस्या को पूरा करने के लिए सटीक नवाचार की आवश्यकता है, जिसके कारण कोई भी भारतीय कंपनी अब तक विश्व बाजार में हावी नहीं हो सकी है।

 

उनके पास एक उत्पाद का आविष्कार करने के लिए नवीनता की कमी है जो लोगों की ज़िंदगी को उनकी ज़रूरत को समझकर आसान बना सकता है।

कारण # 2: नकारात्मक नकदी प्रवाह, नकारात्मक कार्यशील पूंजी

भारत में स्टार्टअप्स की विफलता के पीछे एक और सबसे महत्वपूर्ण कारण नकारात्मक नकदी प्रवाह और नकारात्मक कार्यशील पूंजी है।

अपने व्यवसाय को चलाने के लिए निरंतर नकदी प्रवाह आवश्यक है। यहां तक ​​कि अगर आपके खातों की पुस्तक लाभ दिखा रही है, तो भुगतान में देरी परिचालन को जारी रखने के लिए आपकी कार्यशील पूंजी को नुकसान पहुंचा सकती है।

नकदी प्रवाह में देरी के कारण पर्याप्त कार्यशील पूंजी के अभाव में, आप व्यवसाय जारी रखने के लिए धन की खोज करना शुरू कर देते हैं, जो कुछ स्तर के बाद आप पर निवेशकों के विश्वास को धूमिल करता है।

कारण # 3: नकारात्मक मार्जिन के साथ विस्तार

भारत में कई स्टार्टअप, पर्याप्त सकल मार्जिन के बिना, भारी छूट और सौदे देकर अपने व्यवसाय का विस्तार करते हैं।

स्टार्टअप्स द्वारा की जाने वाली सामान्य गलतियाँ हैं:

× वे अपने लाभ मार्जिन को कवर करने और बाजार का अधिग्रहण करने के लिए लाभ के स्रोत के लिए दीर्घकालिक योजना का निर्माण नहीं करते हैं।

× कम कीमत पर बेचने की तलाश में वे अपने सकल मार्जिन के साथ समझौता करते हैं और अंत में दिवालिया हो जाते हैं।

कारण # 4: प्रतिभाशाली जनशक्ति की कमी

यदि आप अपनी योजना और विजन को पूरा करने के लिए अत्यधिक सक्षम, उत्साही, ऊर्जावान और प्रतिभाशाली लोगों की टीम का निर्माण नहीं करते हैं, तो आपके स्टार्टअप को लंबे समय तक चलने की संभावना कम होगी।

आपको इस पर काम करने की आवश्यकता है:

 योग्यता मानचित्रण

Power अपनी श्रमशक्ति की क्षमता का आकलन

Your अपने आदर्श को निष्पादन में परिवर्तित करें।

कारण # 5: आवर्ती राजस्व मॉडल के साथ स्केलेबिलिटी

अपने व्यवसाय की स्केलेबिलिटी को बढ़ावा देने के लिए, आपको अपने पुनरावर्ती राजस्व को बनाए रखने के लिए नियमित ग्राहकों का एक मजबूत आधार बनाने की आवश्यकता है। कई स्टार्टअप "मौजूदा लोगों को खोने की कीमत पर नए ग्राहक बनाने" पर जाते हैं।

नए ग्राहकों को उलझाते हुए, वे अपने वर्तमान ग्राहकों को बनाए रखने में असमर्थ हैं, जो राजस्व की नियमित आमद को परेशान करते हैं, और परिणामस्वरूप उनकी लाभप्रदता और स्केलेबिलिटी को नुकसान पहुंचाते हैं।

कारण # 6: मिश्रित विपणन संकेत और गलत स्थिति

अधिकांश भारतीय उद्यमी यह नहीं जानते हैं कि अपने उत्पाद को बाजार में कैसे पेश किया जाए, कौन उनका सही ग्राहक है और कौन उनका संपूर्ण ग्राहक नहीं है।

वे अपना उत्पाद लॉन्च करते हैं, ग्राहकों के अध्ययन के माध्यम से उचित विभाजन के बिना:

 डेमोग्राफी

 भूगोल

 मनोविज्ञान

उपभोक्ता व्यवहार का अध्ययन करने के बाद अपने उत्पाद को उसकी पहचान, मूल्य, मूल्य, सुविधा और विश्वसनीयता के आधार पर स्थिति में लाना अनिवार्य है। इसकी मार्केटिंग और ब्रांडिंग की रणनीति इसके सही स्थान पर आधारित होगी।

कारण # 7: एक लैगार्ड के रूप में उत्पाद जारी करना

बाजार में अपने उत्पाद के लॉन्च की समय सीमा अपने बाजार में हिस्सेदारी और लाभप्रदता में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाती है।

भारतीय स्टार्टअप अपने उत्पादों को बाजार में इतनी देर से लॉन्च करते हैं कि बाजार संतृप्त हो जाता है, जो उन्हें स्कीम, छूट और ऑफ़र देने के लिए मजबूर करता है, और अपने लाभ मार्जिन को बर्बाद कर देता है।

कारण # 8: अपने आप को आउटकमपेट होने से बचाएं

अपना व्यवसाय शुरू करते समय, आपको अपने प्रतिस्पर्धियों का निरीक्षण करने और उनके कारण होने वाले किसी भी व्यवधान से निपटने के लिए तैयार रहने की आवश्यकता है।

कारण # 9: फीड-फ़ॉर्वर्ड में प्रतिक्रिया प्रतिक्रिया की प्रक्रिया को याद करना

ग्राहक की प्रतिक्रिया और शिकायत को ध्यान में रखते हुए, आपके उत्पाद में उचित बदलाव लाने में मदद करता है। "यदि आप उनकी प्रतिक्रिया और शिकायतों को अनदेखा करते हैं, तो वे आपके प्रतिद्वंद्वियों के पास जाएंगे।"

आपके उत्पाद के बारे में ग्राहकों की शिकायतों से संकेत मिलता है कि, वह आपके साथ रहना चाहता है, लेकिन केवल एक चीज जो वह अपेक्षा कर रहा है, वह है आपके उत्पाद में बदलाव लाना।

कारण # 10: पूरा इको-सिस्टम का बिजनेस मॉडल

फेसबुक, यूट्यूब, अमेज़ॅन और एंड्रॉइड जैसे डिजिटल दिग्गज उन लोगों के उदाहरण हैं जिन्होंने सभी हितधारकों और ग्राहकों को एक मंच पर परिवर्तित करके एक विशाल पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र बनाया है कि अगर वे बाहर निकलने की योजना बनाते हैं तो यह बाजार में व्यवधान पैदा कर सकता है।

अपने पराजय के कारणों को पहचानें। इसे ठीक करें और इसे सुव्यवस्थित करें। निश्चित रूप से, आप अगले यूनिकॉर्न होंगे।

Ed-Tech Industry Witnesses Exponential Growth in 2020

As soon as Corona crises took the world to stand still, shutting down the businesses, markets, railways and metros, jeopardizing the livelihood of millions of people across the world, some sectors witnessed unexpected growth in 2020. 

In such gloomy times, a few businesses mushroomed over the night to make the lives of people a bit easier, which had the upper hand in the technology.

Lockdown of Educational Institutions

E-learning is among those few industries that witnessed exponential growth during Coronavirus Pandemic not only in India but across the world as the lockdown took the world into its grip since the beginning of February 2020.

The closure of educational intuitions led the second-largest e-learning industry in India towards exponential growth, paving the way to revolutionize the e-Learning sector.

The sectors that come under the e-Learning industry are:

  Primary Education

  Secondary Education

  Professional Skilling Courses

The factors responsible for explosive growth in the e-Learning industry in India were:

  Closure of educational institutions (school and colleges)

  Closure of coaching and training institutions

  Penetration of Smartphones across urban and rural areas

  Easy accessibility of internet across urban and rural swaths of the country

  700 million internet users in the        country

  Affordable internet/data service

  National Education Policy sparks momentum to the digitization of the education system

Potential of e-Learning Industry in India

•         Total market size of $735 million

•         4,530 active Ed-Tech start-ups in India

•         435 start-ups founded in the last 24-months

•         120 per cent expected growth in FY 2020

•         Expected to reach $1.7 billion by the end of the year 2020

•         It is expected to grow 8 to 10 times in the next 5 years owing to the repercussion of the pandemic

 

Investments and Acquisitions in 2020

The sector has seen a massive influx of investments along with big acquisitions and mergers in 2020. Some of them are as under:

Investments

Following ed-tech giants and startups got massive rounds of funding in Corona period

  BYJU’s Received $500-million funding from Silver Lake in September 2020.

  BYJU’s Raised funding from investors like BlackRock, Sands Capital and Alkeon Capital in September 2020.

  BYJU raised $120 billion from Israeli-Russian millionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global in August 2020.

  Unacademy raised $150 million from Facebook and General Atlantic in February 2020.

 

Acquisitions

Following were the major acquisitions in the e-Learning industry in India in 2020

  BYJU’s acquired White Hat Jr. for $300 million in August 2020 to spread its legs in coding education.

  BYJU’s acquired LabInApp in September 2020 which offers science lab simulation experience on mobile devices.

  Embibe bought multi-lingual test preparation platform OnlineTyari in February 2020.

  Unacademy acquired Kreatryx (Online and offline GATE and IES Preparation) in March 2020.

  Unacademy acquired coding platform Codechef in June 2020.

  Unacademy acquired PrepLadder (Post-graduate medical entrance exam preparation platform) in July 2020.

 

With the splendid growth, the e-Learning sector has witnessed since the outset of the pandemic, the predicted growth of rate 8-9 times in the next 5 years does not seem impossible anymore.

For the first time in Human History…

For the first time in Human History…
Humans are unable to
Breathe…
Drink…
Eat…
And they call it Development…

For the first time…
Humans are Dying from Medicines…
Humans are falling in love with machines…
Humans have become slave of machines…
Humans are unable to love humans…
Humans are unable to produce more humans…
Humans have become inhumane…

And they call it Development…

Humans have got…
Money to Eat…
Money to Drink…
Money to Breathe …
Money to Live…
Money to Love …

And they call it development…

#MeToo movement: Will anything change in reality?

No time in the Nation’s history witnessed the situation when women, in such a large number, gathered the courage to take on their perpetrators, by naming them publicly, which is in itself an unprecedented event towards paving a way to ensure better women’s safety and security for generations to come.

The recent few weeks have been instrumental in making a long-lasting impression in Indian patriarchal society, where girls/women are ashamed of coming forward to report sexual assault with themselves.

With #MeToo movement sweeping the nation; women from different walks of lives challenged the status quo, where victims are suppressed to stay mum, by naming the names of sexual predators on social media.

Although gradually, but #MeToo movement gathered momentum in India, and people from different fraternities come forward in the support of victims.

India’s #MeToo movement gathered impetus when model-turned actress Tanushree Dutta, during a TV interview, accused veteran Bollywood actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment at the sets of film, Horn ok Please, in 2008.

After United States and China, it took a bit to take off in India, but gradually the movement has taken the nation by storm, as it was followed by hundreds of women from film, media, corporate and  other fraternities, exposing their harassers on Twitter and Facebook, as India media is giving special coverage to the movement in prime time show.

In what could be a metamorphic happening in India’s modern history, the women gathered courage to report their sexual harassment at work place by taking the names of people who walked away with it as nothing happened, and who also holds influential positions in their respective fields.

After Dutta, including actress Sona Mohapatra, Kangana Ranaut, Kate Sharma, film producer Vinta Nanda, journalists- Priya Ramani, Shuma Raha, Kanika Gahlaut,Suparna Sharma, Ghazala Wahab, Saba Naqvi, Kadambari Wade, Ruth David, Malini Bhupta, Janice Sequeira and Ira Trivedi- many women expressed their #MeToo moments in last few weeks over social media.

The movement took the country by shock as people from film celebrities like Nana Patekar, Annu Malik, Sajid Khan, Utsav Chakraborty, Vikas Bahl, Alok Nath, singer Abhijeet, director Subhash Ghai to notable author Chatan Bhagat, Suhel Seth and Rajya Sabha Member and former Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar have been accused of sexual harassment of their female colleagues at work place on social media.

Following the sexual harassment and rape allegations, Cine and TV Artistes’ Association (CINTTA) expelled actor Alok Nath from the organization, while owing to mounting pressure of #MeToo movement on central government, MJ Akbar, accused by 16 female journalists, who held various influential positions at Asian Age, The Telegraph and India Today, had to resign from the post.

Even corporate world didn’t remain untouched from waves of movement, as women in corporate sector also opened up to report their #MeToo moments, leading them to revisit their policy to ensure safety and security of female employees at work place.

Also, taking serious note on the issue, Maneka Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Welfare appointed a high-level committee of judges to look into each and every case reported case under the #MeToo movement.

Given the recent developments revolving around women’s safety across the country, the actual storm of #MeToomovement began brewing inside victims of such incidents since December 2012 after brutal gang-rape of a Nirbhaya, which led to a nationwide outrage followed by government taking numbers of measures to ensure more safety for women.

However, the harsh reality is that like #Nirbhaya movement, #MeToo too remains stuck only to big cities, as women’s voice is still clamped down by male dominant society, when it comes to sexual assault in small cities, moffussil towns and villages. They still cannot gather courage to speak up as patriarchal society takes toll on them to keep them shut across the hinterland.

Following national-wide outrage after Nirbhaya rape tragedy, there were abrupt increase in number of cases reported pertaining to women assault/rape, however, as the movement lost its spate, situation returned to what it was before December 2012.

Being one of the most conservative societies, coupled with regional and language differences, and limited access to technology, the India’s #MeToo’s still strives to stretch its reach from urban elites to women in semi-urban and rural areas, where more than half of the country’s women live in vulnerable conditions.

Padman: Shattering the Social Stigma Towards Menstruation !

Never before in the history of modern India, hardcore feminists, reformers, activists, intellectuals and media, for that matter, who claim to be well-wisher and pillars of democracy ever talked so blatantly about such a the deep-rooted problem of society.

The entire country came to standstill after Nirbhaya tragedy, but rapes continued to rise. Feminists took to the streets protesting for the rights of women for wearing clothes of their choice, roam freely, have the right to choose their profession, life partner etc. But did they ever think that more than 50% of women in India are still stigmatized for being the creator of Life?

There has been a lack of genuine efforts by feminists, activists, intellectuals and Media to bring positive change in the lives of adolescent girls and women, who have been the victim of social taboo, in small cities, towns and villages.

In India where women’s health is still not linked with menstruation, where the topic of menstruation has traditionally been ostracized and kept away from discussions in the public domain and even within the households, the stigmatization continues to risk the health of adolescent girls and women.

This is apart from affecting their day-to-day functioning and participation in public life. The use of sanitary products by adolescent girls and women in India is still decided by access, affordability and social attitude towards menstruation.

 A journey from Social Expulsion to the United Nations

The journey of Padman from making ordinary Pads with cotton and velvet to protect his wife from diseases due to using dirty cloths, to becoming laughingstock for everyone for talking about Pads openly, the protagonist faced social expulsion for taking the issue publicly. Embarrassed from his desperation to make sanitary pads, his wife, mother and sisters abandoned him. Still, the protagonist went on to set up a makeshift machine for manufacturing Pads by borrowing money.

Nonetheless, it was Sonam Kapor who helped him to showcase his invention at National Level Innovations Summit at IIT Delhi to change the lives of women in rural India by providing them with low cost sanitary pads. And the movie ends with his speech at United Nations Women Summit about Pads as he emerged as a social reformer.

The film was based on the real story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who is the inventor of the low-cost sanitary pad making machine and is credited for innovating grassroots mechanisms for generating awareness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India.

 Shot at the banks of Narmada, the film has beautifully showcased the mesmerizing beauty of the epic city of Maheshwar, and Mandu in Madhya Pradesh.

Akshay Kumar, Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor have undeniably done extraordinary work to sensitize the masses about how important women’s menstrual health is.

Who would have thought that such issue, which people run away from talking about, would be one day showcased on the silver screen by a film star?  Padman has definitely done something exceptional by raising this issue on the big screen. Thanks to efforts of R Balki, that now politicians, intellectuals, feminists and Media are openly talking about this to make women their vote bank and TRP.

The Indian film industry and the audience have shown some sense of maturity with embracing the issues wholeheartedly.  No other film super start did dare to make movies on issues like open defecation, menstruation etc., fearing their stardom.

Indian Jews: The Forgotten Diaspora

Which country will not boast of its pervasive Diaspora around the world? Strong bonds with Diaspora always strengthen a nation’s ability to exert diplomatic pressure over rest of the world, just as Israel did it beautifully, by getting hold of Jewish votes in United States.

Yes, there is only one nation on the Earth which denies its allegiance with people of its own origin- India.

 India hasn't been as reluctant in recognizing Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jain, and Buddhists of Indian origin living all across the world, as it has been for acknowledging more than 80 thousand Indian Jews living in Israel since decades.

India not only denied establishing diplomatic relations with Jewish state, but cut off allegiance with thousands of Indian Jews, who migrated there during 1950s-60s, after Israel opened its citizenship (Aliyah) to all Jews around the world.

Millions of Jews migrated from Europe, North and South America, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq and India to land of three religions as it opened its border for them wholeheartedly after independence in 1948.

Most of Indian Jews lived in Cochin and Mumbai for more than thousand years since there exodus began 2000 years ago first by Christian crusaders, then Islam.

Wherever they fled for asylum around the globe, curse of anti-Semitism didn't stop them following for millennia, and the place where Jews found actual solace, where they never faced a single instant of anti-Semitism till to date is none other than India.

Major groups of Indian Jews, which comes under category of Sephadi Jews, include Cochin Jews, Bene Israel, Jews of Goa and Baghdadi Jews.

Cochin Jews (Spanish, Portuguese, Paradesi and British Jews) settled in Kerala as merchants and traders, whereas Chennai Jews arrived at Madras during 16^th century following their expulsion from Liberia.

Jews of Goa include Portuguese Jews who fled to Portuguese Goa after the commencement of the Inquisition in Portugal.

The Jews arrived from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan around 250 years ago settled in Surat, were called Baghdadi Jews.

Meanwhile, Bene Israel lived in Karachi, Sindh and Punjab region of undivided India. Many of them moved to Mumbai following partition, while others to Israel after 1948.

After 1948, Indian Jews, settled in different parts of Israel, flourished and assimilate with migrants of other nationalities. Most of them settled in Katamon in Jerusalem, Beersheba, Ramla, Dimona, and Yeruham.

Indian food, language, art, and culture, despite of huge cultural amalgamation, did find recognition in the land of migrants.

It has been India's too much infatuation for Arab countries and Indian Muslims, that no Indian administration, politician or social group ever tried to connect or communicate with Jews with Indian blood.

Indian National Congress, known as hardcore pro-Arab/Muslim Party, deliberately didn't extend any relations with Jewish country to safeguard their innate vote bank, whereas some efforts had been initiated by Hindu Nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party between 1998 and 2003 under Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. 

Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, tried to further its affection for Israel and Jews since Israel’s Independence, but could not make it as political agenda, due its insignificance in Indian scenario.

Present government of Bhartiya Janata Party, backed by Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as its ideological backbone, again in a mood to romance Hindu-Jewish unity, as they there common enemy.

With Modi's visit to Jewish state (First by an Indian Prime Minister) on 4^th and 5^th July, Indian Jews in Israel and India hopes for reviving their historic connection with their country of origin.

On 5^th July, Modi is going to address more than 10,000 Indian Jews in Tel Aviv, to trigger a spark a new Indo-Israel and Hindu-Jews relations.