Today's Practice Question

Que. 1. Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India.  (UPSC - 2013) [150 Words]

Ans. Globalization is growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information.
Globalization along with industrialisation, urbanization and technological changes has affected all segments of population including aged persons everywhere. 
Positive Impacts of globalization on aged population : 

• Healthcare : Globalisation has led to induction of advanced medical technologies in India. It decreased costs and increased accessibility to health care for the elderly. Average life expectancy and health has increased because of improvement in technology, medical facilities, living standards.
• Communication: The rapid growth in communication technologies has made the world a small place. Aged people who could not be lucky to live with their children due to job pressures of the young, can now easily interact with them.
• Technology: It is now possible for young residing in foreign lands to send money back home to their old parents in fraction of seconds all thanks to technological advancement.
• Economy : On the positive note, the people now have become more economically prosperous because of better employment opportunities across the world; and due to this they are able to save more for their old age.
• Better Institutional Care System 
• Promotion of ageless society

• Fallouts of disintegration of joint families : The cumulative implications of it is more and more nuclear families, young people leave their aged parents in faraway places in search of employment opportunities and better living standards has resulted in isolation, rejection and loneliness of aged persons leading to psychological distress; and the crimes against older people.
• Unclear roles: With improved education, rapid technological changes and modernization have rendered their knowledge obsolete. With this, once they are at verge of retirement, they are unable to find clear role and this realization leads to loss of status, loneliness and worthlessness. Problem is aggravated when parents are economically dependent on children. So, they have role marginalisation, neglect as a result of utilitarian approach towards them and victim of abuses (Physical, sexual and mental).
• Rapid Cultural shock – what they experience because of globalisation has led them into trap of anxiety.
• Globalisation has not only led to faster growth but faster inflation also. Elderly population find their savings are often eaten away by inflation.
• Psychological problem like sense of dependence, insecurity, fear and alienation.

Thus, Globalisation has had mixed impact on aged population. When India's demographic dividend recedes, India would be left with a high amount of dependent population who needs to be cared for. Government policies and programmes should be crafted with this in consideration.  

Que. 2. Globalization is a multidimensional process of change. Discuss [150 Words]
Ans. Globalization, as a basic megatrend of the modem world development is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon Its multi-dimensional character consists of three main parts: political, economic and socio- cultural. 
Political dimension 

• It damages existing political conditions, autonomous actions of single states become ineffective while international institutions become stronger.
• In a global era, a lot of political institutions have been formed that aim at assisting the governance of finance, global peace, human rights etc. The most powerful and the biggest include like : United Nations (UN) , the NATO, European Union etc.
• Globalization also intensifies political risks connected with global terrorism. 

• Economic globalization is based on growing interdependence of both national and international companies, states, trade organizations etc. accompanied with the increase in international trade of goods, services, labour, capital and technology, what leads to the economic integration and, in the end, the emergence of the world economy and world markets.
• It means an overall process of merging separate countries in bigger groups or regions within states.
• Integration can vary from preferential trade agreements through e.g. single markets to economic unions.
• Domination of corporations leads to products and services standardization, and to the effect of McDonaldization - the symbol of globalization. 

• Globalization , accompanied by the improvement in communication, the Internet as well as by the domination of transnational corporations in the global economy, led to social and cultural changes on a global scale.
• This trend is boosted by a mass production of goods that carries specified culture patterns and styles as well as by a significant role of range and speed of spreading them via the Internet and other means of electronic communication.
• Moving to the micro level, the role of globalization in everyday lifestyles around the world is very important. The modification of habits, the growing number of singles and the changes in the ways of spending free time (e.g. weekends in shopping malls) are the basic effects of social globalization.                                 

Thus , it is a multi-dimensional process of change affecting every sector and area of world to varying degree.