China secured only 5.3% of global remittances in 2024, its lowest share in at least two decades.

In 2024, India received an estimated $129.1 billion worth of remittances, the highest ever for a country in any year. Moreover, India’s share in global remittances was 14.3% this year, the highest such share since the turn of the millennium for any country. The conclusions are based on a blog article published last week by the World Bank.

Remittances refer to the money that individuals working abroad send back to support their families in their home country. They are often a crucial source of income for households in developing countries and can contribute significantly to the economy of the recipient country.

Following India, Mexico and China received the largest remittances in 2024.

Chart 1 shows the top 10 receivers of remittances in $ million in 2024.

The Philippines, France, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Guatemala, and Germany are the other countries on the list. While China was third on the list, past years’ numbers provide interesting insights.

Chart 2 shows the share of global remittances for the top 10 countries mentioned in Chart 1 in the 2000-2024 period.

China’s share of remittances grew from less than 1% in the early 2000s to over 10% by the late 2000s and early 2010s, matching India’s numbers, before gradually declining to below 10% in the late 2010s.

From 2020, the share declined rapidly reaching a two-decade low of 5.3% in 2024. According to the World Bank, China’s rising economic prosperity and an ageing population slowed the pace of emigration of less-skilled people, which contributed to this decline.

India’s share has remained above the 10% mark for most of the years since 2000, with few exceptions. In fact, in the post-pandemic years, there has been a rapid increase in its share. India’s share in global remittances was twice the share of Mexico’s in 2024 (7.5%); Mexico was a distant second.

Though India leads in absolute remittance inflows, in some economies, remittances play a more critical role in funding current account deficits and fiscal shortfalls.

To better understand this, Chart 3 depicts estimated remittances in 2024 as a share of a country’s GDP. Each circle is a country. The farther the circle is to the right, the higher the remittance in 2024 as a share of GDP. The bigger the circle, the higher the remittance in 2024 in absolute figures.

In Nepal, remittances formed over 25% of the GDP in 2024. In Tajikistan, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Samoa, Honduras, and Tonga, the share of remittances in 2024 formed over 25% of their respectives GDPs. In India, remittances formed 3.3% of the GDP this year.

For many low-and middle-income countries, remittances act as a major source of income. In 2024, these countries received $685 billion as remittances, the highest ever in a year. According to the blog, remittances to these countries have consistently outpaced other types of external financial flows.

In recent years, remittances have even surpassed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in low-and middle-income countries put together. FDIs are investments by a foreign country to control or run a business in another country. Remittances are also much higher than the official development assistance (ODA) received by these countries. ODA is the aid from rich countries to help poorer ones develop, often through grants or cheap loans.

Chart 4 compares remittances, FDI, and ODA received by low-and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2024.

Over the past decade, remittances increased by 57% while FDI declined by 41% in low-and middle-income nations, the blog notes.

Source: The data for the charts were sourced from a blog article published by the World Bank on December authored by Dilip Ratha, Sonia Plaza and Eung Ju Kim

vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Lupin Ltd has announced the acquisition of Huminsulin in India from Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to further enhance its diabetes portfolio for an unspecified amount.

Lupin has been marketing the Huminsulin range of products comprising of Insulin Human, including Huminsulin R, Huminsulin NPH, Huminsulin 50/50, and Huminsulin 30/70, through existing Distribution and Promotion Agreements with Lilly, India.

“This acquisition is strategic to our ongoing efforts to expand our diabetes portfolio and provide high-quality, affordable health care to our patients. It reinforces our unwavering commitment to combating diabetes and providing comprehensive care,” said Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Lupin in a statement.

Rajeev Sibal, President – India Region Formulations, Lupin said, “Lupin has been at the forefront of providing holistic diabetes care to patients. This acquisition further strengthens our diabetes portfolio and enables us to offer a broad range of human insulin options to millions of patients, thereby helping them lead healthier lives.”

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

People in India are reflecting on former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s contribution to the country since his death on Thursday evening .

Singh, who held the top post for two consecutive terms between 2004 and 2014, was seen as an architect of India’s economic liberalisation which changed the country’s growth trajectory.

The first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power, Singh was also the first Sikh to assume the top office.

Known as a soft-spoken technocrat, he had earlier headed India’s central bank, served as a finance secretary and minister, and led the opposition in the upper house of parliament.

Here are five milestones from Singh’s life that shaped his career and had a lasting impact on more than a billion Indians.

Economic liberalisation

Singh was appointed finance minister in 1991 by the Congress party-led government under Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao.

India’s economy at the time was facing a serious financial crisis, with the country’s foreign reserves at a dangerously low level, barely enough to pay for two weeks of imports.

Singh led the initiative to deregulate the economy to avoid its collapse, which he argued was otherwise imminent. Despite stiff opposition from members of his government and party, Singh prevailed.

He took bold measures that included devaluing the currency, reducing import tariffs and privatising state-owned companies.

He was famously quoted as saying in parliament during his first budget speech in 1991 that “no power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come”.

Later, as prime minister, Singh continued to build on his economic reform measures, lifting millions of Indians out of poverty and contributing to India’s rise as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.

Reluctant prime minister

The Congress party made a comeback in 2004 elections, handing a surprise defeat to the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was widely expected to head the government, but many members of the outgoing ruling party raised questions over the fact that she was born in Italy. She declined to take up the post and instead proposed Singh’s name, who was seen as a non-controversial, consensus candidate of great personal integrity.

In the next parliamentary election, he helped his party win a bigger mandate, but critics often termed him a “remote-controlled” prime minister managed by the Gandhi family.

Singh often refused to comment on such allegations and kept his focus on the job.

He may have started his first stint as prime minister with some reluctance but he soon stamped his authority on the top job.

Singh’s tenure, particularly between 2004 and 2009, saw the country’s GDP grow at a healthy average pace of around 8%, the second fastest among major economies.

He took bold decisions on reforms and brought more foreign investment into the country. Experts credit him for shielding India from the 2008 global financial crisis.

But his second term, in an alliance with a disparate group of parties, was marked by allegations of corruption against some of his cabinet ministers, though his personal integrity was never questioned.

In response to these allegations, he told journalists in 2014 in his last press conference as prime minister that he hoped history would judge him differently.

“I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the opposition parties in parliament,” he said.

“I think taking into account the circumstances and the compulsions of a coalition polity, I have done as best as I could do under the circumstances.”

Rights to education, information and identity

As prime minister, Singh took several far-reaching decisions that continue to impact the health of Indian democracy even today.

He introduced new laws that strengthened and guaranteed the right to seek information from the government, allowing citizens an extraordinary power to hold officials accountable.

He also introduced a rural employment scheme which guaranteed livelihood for a minimum of 100 days, a measure economists said had a profound impact on rural incomes and poverty reduction.

He also brought in a law that guaranteed the right to free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 14, significantly reducing the school dropout rates.

His government also introduced a unique identity project called Aadhar to improve financial inclusion and delivery of welfare benefits to the poor. The current federal government, run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has continued to keep Aadhar as a cornerstone for many of its policies.

Apology for anti-Sikh riots

In 1984, prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards to avenge a military action she had ordered against separatists hiding in Sikhism’s holiest temple in northern India’s Amritsar.

Her death sparked massive violence that resulted in the death of more than 3,000 Sikhs and a widespread destruction of their property.

Singh formally apologised to the nation in 2005 in parliament, saying the violence were “the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our constitution”.

“I have no hesitation in apologising to the Sikh community. I apologise not only to the Sikh community, but to the whole Indian nation,” he said.

No other prime minister, particularly from the Congress party, had gone this far to apologise in parliament for the riots.

Deal with US

Singh signed a historic deal with the US in 2008 to end India’s nuclear isolation after its 1998 testing of the weapon system.

His government argued that the deal wouldhelp meet India’s growing energy needs and sustain its healthy growth rate.

The deal, seen as a watershed moment in the India-US relations, promised to grant a waiver to India to commence civilian nuclear trade with the US and the rest of the world.

But it faced massive opposition, with critics of the deal alleging that it would compromise India’s sovereignty and independence in foreign policy. In protest, the Left Front withdrew support from the governing alliance.

Singh, however, managed to save both his government and the deal.

source/content: bbc.com (headline edited)

Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh led the scoring charts at the Paris Olympics with 10 goals; Sreejesh brought the curtains down on his career at the highest level, putting together an incredible Olympic campaign.

Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and the legendary PR Sreejesh have won the FIH Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year awards for the year 2024.

Both Harmanpreet and Sreejesh received the recognition during the 49th FIH Statutory Congress in Oman on November 9.

Harmanpreet beat the likes of Netherlands duo of Joep de Mol of Netherlands and Thierry Brinkman, Hannes Muller of Germany and Zach Wallace of England to bag the top award.

Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh led the scoring charts at the Paris Olympics with 10 goals, including goals in the quarterfinal, semi-final and both goals in the bronze medal match against Spain, which India won 2-1 to secure their second consecutive podium finish at the Olympics.

Double Olympic medallist Sreejesh, who quit the game after the Paris Olympics, prevailed over Netherlands’ Pirmin Blaak, Luis Calzado of Spain, Jean-Paul Danneberg of Germany and Argentina’s Tomas Santiago to win the top prize in goalkeepers category.

Harmanpreet was also a crucial cog in the Indian team that had broken their 41-year podium drought at the Tokyo Olympics with a bronze medal. He has previously won the FIH Player of the Year award on two occasions in 2020-21 and 2021-22 but the third one might just be the most precious, as it came after he led his country to an Olympic medal — a bronze in Paris — in his first attempt, following his appointment as captain in 2023.

“First off, I would like to thank FIH for this great honour. After the Olympics it was so great to go back home and have such huge crowds there to greet us and welcome us. It was a very very special feeling. I would like to mention my teammates, none of this would have been possible without you all,” Harmanpreet said.

“Special thanks to Hockey India as well for always giving us every opportunity to succeed at all levels. My wife and daughter are here today and receiving this award in front of them means the world to me. So thank you to everyone who made that possible!” Sreejesh, meanwhile, brought an end to his stellar career at the Paris Olympics, adding a second Olympic medal to his trophy cabinet.

Like Harmanpreet, Sreejesh also won his third FIH Goalkeeper of the Year award, having previously won the award in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Sreejesh brought the curtains down on his career at the highest level, putting together an incredible Olympic campaign that included a monumental performance in India’s quarterfinal win over Great Britain, where they played most of the match with 10 players.

“I am so happy today. Thank you for this last playing honour of my playing career. As most people know, Paris 2024 was the last tournament I played for my country and I just want to thank Hockey India for all the support and guidance offered over all the years I have played the sport,” Sreejesh said.

“This award completely belongs to my team, the defence who made sure most attacks never got to me, and the midfielders and forwards who covered up my mistakes by scoring more goals than I conceded,” he added.

The other winners of FIH awards were Yibbi Jansen of Netherlands (Women’s Player of the Year), Ye Jiao of China (Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year), Pakistan’s Sufyan Khan (Men’s Rising Star of the Year), Zoe Diaz of Argentina (Women’s Rising Star of the Year), Jeroen Delmee of Netherlands (Men’s Coach of the Year), Alyson Annan (Women’s Coach of the Year), Steve Rogers of Australia (Men’s Umpire of the Year), Sarah Wilson of Scotland (Women’s Umpire of the Year).

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The German hockey star and new father, who became the most expensive overseas HIL player at ₹68 lakh, is excited to be back playing in the tournament with a paycheck that he can stash away for his family.

 Gonzalo Peillat’s heart was beating faster during the Hockey India League (HIL) auction than it did when taking a drag-flick. The German hockey star was with his wife at their home in Mannheim, anxiously waiting for his name to be drawn from the lots.

“I was watching the whole auction and was really, really nervous, especially when my name wasn’t called out. To make it more tense, there were a lot of players who went unsold, and I was wondering about my fate,” the 32-year-old said from Germany.

His turn finally arrived. But the famous drag-flicker again had to wait to know his fate. Only this time the wait was one of joy rather than apprehension as teams raised the auction paddle for him, trying to out-bid each other. In the end, Peillat was sold to the Hyderabad Toofans for ₹68 lakh to become the most expensive overseas HIL player.

“At first, the pressure released when a few teams were bidding for me. I was like ‘at least I’m playing’. Then it went higher and higher. I was like ‘wow, that’s really crazy’ (laughs). It was a nice vibe,” added Peillat.

The penalty corner (PC) specialist was always going to go for big bucks. Afterall, he is no ordinary player. Peillat first came into the limelight when he ended as the top-scorer at the 2014 World Cup, helping Argentina claim bronze. Two years later, he became the most prized asset in the hockey world when his 11 goals (top-scorer again) guided Argentina to an unprecedented gold at Rio Olympics.

After falling out with the Argentine setup in 2019, Peillat decided to step away from South America and shifted base to Europe where by 2022 he had earned German citizenship. Few months later, Peillat started turning out in the German white jersey, instantly making an impact and helping Germany win the 2023 World Cup. A year later in Paris, the drag-flicker guided Germany to a silver medal finish, earning his second medal at the Games.

Now, Peillat will be returning to HIL as the league makes a comeback after almost eight years. The defender is familiar with the tournament, having played four out of the five previous seasons and will be eager to make an impact once again.

“I’m really excited. I remember my first year in Kalinga Lancers. We had a really young team. All those players now are playing for India. I’ve seen the development of these players from a nervous young lot, playing their first big tournament to becoming two-time Olympic medallists,” said Peillat.

Among the young lot is a certain Harmanpreet Singh, a fellow drag-flicker, who was a youngster starting out in international hockey when Peillat was part of the Olympic-gold winning team in 2016. A lot has changed in the last eight years with the Indian emerging as the top-scorer at the Paris Olympics with 10 goals, guiding India to a historic bronze medal finish.

“Nowadays, Harmanpreet is the best drag-flicker in the world followed by (Belgian) Alexander (Hendrickx) and (Australian) Jeremy Hayward. Harmanpreet has a really powerful drag-flick. Looking at what he did in the last big tournaments is really amazing. He and India know exactly what they need to do inside the circle. They concentrate on getting more PCs than attempting more shots in the circle, recognising that you have a big drag-flicker.”

“I always say, if you don’t have space to shoot, just look for a corner. Then you will still have a chance to score a goal. This is something that India and Harmanpreet did in the last couple of years, making the opportunities count.”

Off the pitch

As versatile as he is on the pitch, Peillat carries the same virtue off it too. Apart from playing for German club Mannheimer HC, the Buenos Aires-born is involved in several ventures, including managing his club’s sponsorships. Peillat also invests in real estate, leveraging his father’s experience in construction.

The ₹68 lakh HIL pay-check is especially important for the German as he recently became a father. “The earnings will be primarily used to support my family. I became a father so a big part of it will go towards my family’s needs and saving for the future,” said Peillat, who will join the Toofans on December 21. “I’m really happy with what I received in the auction because it makes the decision to be away from my family for eight weeks — especially during Christmas time with a three-month-old baby — a bit easier to justify.”

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)