ICCC Weekly Newsletter 09 May 2021
The magic of Indian elections
Voters displaying their voter identity cards while queuing up to cast their ballot
Unlike the elections held in many totalitarian regimes, where the results are known prior to being declared, the Indian election are democratic, and have unerringly reflected the people’s choice, whether it was the massive mandate that Narendra Modi got in 2019 or Mamata Banerjee in 2021.
Equally importantly, the people’s mandate has always been respected by political parties, with transition of power guaranteed based on election results. It is a different matter that in rare cases, post-election horse-trading of elected representatives subverts people’s mandate.
But beyond the obvious politics of elections, there is an incomparable logistical story behind the elections. Indian elections are a gargantuan exercise. The 17th Lok Sabha or lower house of India’s bicameral parliament was elected based on the results of the world’s biggest election conducted in the summer of 2019. This was the largest democratic and the most expensive election in the world.
With over 900 million eligible voters from over a billion population, spread over seven phases, the 2019 elections saw more than 8,000 candidates and 645 political parties in fray for 543 Parliamentary seats.
The Election Commission of India, the non-partisan agency that organises elections in India, puts in a lot of effort to make this democratic exercise as accessible as possible. India’s budget has allocated 2.62 billion rupees to the Election Commission in 2019, a new high.
Election Commission officials reaching remote corners of India to ensure all eligible voters can cast their ballot
The legion of officials that is deployed by the Election Commission ensures that everyone, even in the most remote locations, is near a polling booth. In India, there is a law that election voting machines must be placed within 2 kilometers of every voter.
The Indian Election Commission has faced large costs organizing an election with polling stations running from 15,000 feet above sea level in the Himalayas and one for a sole hermit deep in the jungles of Western India.
The Election Commission uses some of the funds allocated for hiring elephants to carry electronic voting machines to relatively inaccessible regions, and boats to ferry men and materials across the mighty Brahmaputra river in the northeast.
These costs don't include the amount that political parties spend on canvassing for votes. According to the New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies, the 2019 general elections cost India $7billion.
Read more:
Indian Lok Sabha Elections Statistics & Facts (link)
How India runs the world's biggest elections (link)
Elections in India (link)
WORK WITH INDIA
TO CONQUER THE
2ND WAVE OF COVID-19
The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) is organizing ‘OXYGEN FOR INDIA’, a marathon fundraiser to help India fight the deadly second Covid-19 wave. We believe that alone not much can be achieved, but ‘TOGETHER’, we can do so much more, hence we are bringing together more than 82 other Indo-Canadian organizations to aid us in this humanitarian effort.
From coast to coast, we are armed with the purpose of raising awareness and resources for oxygen to India. Our efforts are aimed at providing an opportunity to the 1.6 million-strong Indo-Canadian community and the 36 million Canadians to participate in this charitable program.
Among the community organizations that will be participating include Vraj Community Services, Panorama India, New Brampton, Meiti Group (Manitoba). Many more community organizations will join the program next week.
Prominent political decisionmakers, member of the diplomatic corps, public figures, influencers, among others will participate in the program. Both the Canadian and Indian media will extensively cover the program.
Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in a program that will go down in history as epochal and path-breaking
Organizing Core Committee
- Vijay Thomas
- Ramesh Chotai
- Dave Kapil
An Appeal for India
Vijay Thomas
President, ICCC
As a Canadian organization, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce adheres both in letter and in spirit to Canadian laws and values, and support and respect cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of the Canadian society. In the spirit of non-partisanship and in accordance to Canadian values of multiculturalism, the ICCC provides a list of organizations that are at present working on raising resources for India to fight the resurgence of Covid-19.
The ICCC encourages its Members and stakeholders to contribute directly to any of these organisations.
Read more: Appeal for India: Updated List of Organizations (link)
CONNEXT 2021
ICCC's Virtual Trade Mission to India has been rescheduled to the third quarter of 2021. New dates will be announced later.
Download presentation: CONNEXT 2021
Click here for details: CONNEXT 2021
Click here to register: Delegate Registration
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In the News: Canada
Trends in businesses’ needs for personal protective equipment
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) across the globe which has led to uncertainty about supplies and inventories of PPE. Various public health guidelines which restricted operations of businesses were implemented across the country to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In February 2021, to allow for the reopening of the economy, some of the implemented restrictions were alleviated across the country in varying degrees. The Personal Protective Equipment Survey (PPES) provides a portrait of demand and supply of PPE in Canada allowing decision makers to respond to the evolving needs of Canadian businesses. This article examines the evolution of private sector businesses’ demand and supply of PPE using data from the February 2021 PPES.
Just under two-thirds (66.1%) of businesses reported that they needed, or expected to need, PPE in order to operate in accordance with COVID-19 related public health guidelines. This is roughly unchanged from December 2020 (66.9%).
Different sectors of the economy continue to have varying demands for PPE. Businesses in the services-producing sector were more likely to demand PPE with more than three-quarters of businesses in educational services (92.1%), health care and social assistance (84.3%), retail trade (84.0%), and accommodation and food services (79.5%) demanding PPE compared to less than half of businesses in professional, scientific and technical services (41.9%) and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (27.7%).
Read more: Adapting to a new reality (link)
In the News: India
Indian Ayurveda Industry
The healthcare market in India is evolving at a rapid pace. It is one of the fastest growing industries with an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23% from 2015 to 2020 and is expected to be a $280 billion market by 2021. Rising income levels, the growing geriatric population, greater penetration of healthcare in rural settings, and increasing health awareness with an emphasis on “preventative healthcare,” is expected to enhance the demand for healthcare services.
India’s National Health Policy aims at achieving Universal Health Coverage and delivering quality healthcare to all at an affordable cost. The policy aims at providing a comprehensive primary health package which includes major communicable, non-communicable and chronic diseases, geriatrics, palliative and rehabilitative care.
For a vast country like India, to achieve this goal with just the modern medicine system in place is a herculean task, as even modern therapies have their own drawbacks such as burgeoning costs, quality of life issues, and the inability to prevent and cure many diseases.
However, Ayurveda can change this outlook of healthcare delivery by getting integrated into mainstream healthcare. Promoting Ayurveda as a mainstream therapy approach can be used to bridge the burgeoning gap between demand and supply by primarily focusing on the secondary and tertiary prevention of diseases. In addition, the substantial opportunity in promotive health and restoration of functional health is best addressed by Ayurveda.
India’s ambition to provide universal access and quality healthcare at an affordable cost mandates a paradigm shift in adoption of Ayurveda into the mainstream healthcare system.
Ayurveda’s root cause management approach goes beyond just being a curative system of medicine to being a preventive and promotive healthcare system as well. The industry has gained recognition both in India and developed countries as an alternative system of medicine.
Despite having a strong advantage over modern therapies, the Ayurveda industry’s growth trajectory remains subdued. There is a burning need to prioritize focus on products and services that can jump-start modest growth and triple the industry’s market potential.
This Vision Roadmap study (undertaken by Frost & Sullivan and CII) to identify mega pivots and growth levers that will unlock value in key industry segments and lead to decisive action with solid implementation. It is an outcome of multiple rounds of discussions with key stakeholders in the Indian Ayurveda Industry.
Read more: Vision 2022 Roadmap for the Indian Ayurveda (link)
Past Programs and Events
India & Covid-19's Second Wave -
A Panel Discussion
On 29 April 2021, as part of its continuing Thursday Talks Webinar Series, the ICCC organized a panel discussion on India and Covid-19's Second Wave. Canada's Minister Anita Anand gave introductory remarks, emphasizing the excellent bilateral ties between the two countries. Apoorva Srivastava, Consul General of India to Canada, set the tone of the discussion in her keynote address by emphasizing that India is capable of procuring its medical emergency needs commercially. The panelists included Ramesh Chotai of Vraj Community Services, Kanchan Kumar of TiE-Toronto, Madhukar Pai and Ananya Banerjee of McGill University, and Sharonya Sekhar of Red Cross Canada. The session gave an opportunity have a fact-based debate to discuss the impact of the resurgence of the pandemic and what needs to be done.
Watch the recording of the Webinar: India & Covid-19's second wave (link)
Youth Membership
At a Meeting held recently, the Board of Directors decided that from January 2021, Youth Membership would be restricted to University and College students only. All Youth Members will have to provide proof of being a valid student in a Canadian educational institution.
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