The Problems with Westphalian Nation-State System

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We all associate ourselves with various identities such as Indians, Chinese, Pakistani, Americans, Canadians, French, British and much more. Why do you think we all associate with all these more? Are there any other identities which people associate with?  The identities which I mentioned before are relatively new compared to other identities such as religion, language, caste, and various other identities. It is not to say that people never had such feelings towards nations or the state. But the idea of loyalty and love for the motherland was very important which offset various other identities. The question we are arriving at is what is the motherland, who made and how it formed.  What we refer to today as a Nation or Country refers to what we know in political science as a Nation-State. Today almost all the countries we know are categorised Nation-States and some even as State-Nations. International Relations and Political Science suggest that states are the most important a...
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Important takeaways from Indian Financial Budget 2021

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On February 1st 2021, the Finance Minister of India, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the financial budget for the financial year 2021-2022. It was a significant budget this time as the country is going through the biggest pandemic of the century. On 29th January, the minister had submitted the Economic Survey for the year 2020-2021. 

Credits- The Indian Wire


Challenges to the budget

  • Economic revival 
  • Increase public spending 
  • Employment generation 
  • Fiscal deficit (9.5%)

The main takeaways from the budget

  1. A major push for digitalisation, as the FM read out the budget from a Made in India tablet. An app was also unveiled for people to know and understand the budget as well. 

  2. The speech was just over one and a half hours. 

  3. Increase in Health spending for this year at Rs 2.2 lakh Cr and Rs 35,000 Cr for Covid-19 vaccination. 

  4. Introduction of PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana for improving healthcare infrastructure. 

  5. No change in Income tax slabs this year.

  6. Exemption for senior citizens from Income Tax returns. 

  7. Increase in customs duty on electronics, cars etc. These are aimed to reduce imports and promote indigenous products. Increase in customs duty on agricultural products as well. 

  8. Customs duty reduced on Shoes, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Iron and Copper. 

  9. MSP for agriculture to be at 1.5 times production cost. 

  10. A new portal for the unorganised sector.

  11. Privatisation of PSUs, as well as disinvestment. Aimed at growth and employment generation. 

  12. Support for Startups and Small business. Including tax holidays. 

  13. Reduction in spending for the Education Sector. 

  14. Introduction of Agricultural (AIDC) cess in Petrol and Diesel. Rs 2 and Rs 4 respectively. 

  15. Support for fisheries and Seaweed cultivation. 

  16. More fund allocation for metros across the country, including Phase 2 of Kochi Metro.

  17. Push for Road infrastructure in poll-bound states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, etc.

  18. Increase in FDI Insurance from 49 to 74%. 

  19. Fitness test for vehicles over 20 years and new vehicle scrapping policy. 

  20. Listing of LIC IPO. 

Hope this list is helpful to you for understanding the crux of this budget. Let's hope that Indian economy will further improve in the coming months. 

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