International trade and India's story

Trade is done simply to satisfy the wants, Trade is conducted not only for the sake of earning profit; it also provides service to the consumers. Trade is an important social activity because the society needs uninterrupted supply of goods forever increasing and ever changing but never ending human wants. As per Wikipedia, Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another by getting something in exchange from the buyer. As per Wikipedia , International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories.[1] In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP) International trading system is severely impacted by the Industrialization, advanced transportation, globalization, multinational corporations, and outsourcing.
 Following are different types of trades,

Trade can be divided into following two types, viz. a. Internal or Home or Domestic trade. b.External or Foreign or International trade United States is the largest by International trade In this post I will restrict my focus on understanding the Indian perspective and we shall come to conclusion on the India’s position in International trade. International trade now accounts for nearly 53% of the gross domestic product (GDP), pointing to increased integration with the global economy, which is not limited to the stock market and the banking system alone. In 2004-05 , global trade accounted for 37% of the GDP. It is the rapid growth in shipments in and out of the country, driven by lower customs duty, which has spurred this sharp growth. India's share in global trade is now near the 2% mark, compared to a mere 0.7% in 2000. The rise of other trading partners has pushed the US to the third slot. US has been displaced by UAE as India's largest trading partner, followed by China, since 2008-09. In the first six months of the current financial year, however, China overtook the UAE to be the top trading partner. There has been a gradual shift in India's manufactures exports from labour-intensive sectors like textiles, leather and manufactures, handicrafts, and carpets to capital and skill-intensive sectors. The Economic Survey 2011-12 highlighted the growing imbalance in trade, with increase in gold and silver imports being major contributors. Gold and silver imports stood at $50 billion in 2011-12. Source: ET and Wiki

Just 8% Indians have Internet

Though known for its computer whizkids world over, the penetration of computers/ laptops in India is only 9.4% or less than one out of 10 households with only 3% having internet facility. The penetration of internet is 8% in urban as compared to less than 1% in rural area. The 2011 housing census figures released on Tuesday by the Registrar General of India threw up some interesting facts bringing out stark realities in India that is trying to carve a place among the top advanced nations. While the use of TV sets in Indian households saw an increase of 16 points from 31.6 to 47.2% in last one decade and penetration of mobile phones touched 59%, the country failed to match this progress in giving better sanitation to the people as 50% of the 24.67 crore households still defecate in the open and 41.6% have no bathroom facility. The figures of modes of transport can give a reason to smile to the automobile manufacturers as only 4.7% households have four wheelers and only 21% have two wheelers. The majority, about 45%, still prefer to ride bicycles, while 17.8% households still have not personal transport assets. The last decade saw an increase of 9 point in two wheeler and 2 points in four wheelers, with bicycle showing increase of 1 point only. As regards amenities 36% of households still have to fetch water from a source located within 500 mts in rural areas and 100 mts in urban areas while 17% still fetch drinking water from a source located more than half a kilometre away in rural areas or 100 metres in urban area. For the main source of lighting, 31.4% households still depend on kerosene while electricity is available to 67.2%, an increase of 11 points over 2001. The rural urban gap for electricity reduced by 7 percentage points from 44% in 2001 to 37% in 2011. Two-third of the households are using firewood/crop residue, cow dung cake/coal etc. and 3% households use Kerosene. There is an increase of 11 pts in use of LPG from 18% in 2001 to 29% in 2011. The Census 2011 for over 24.66 crore households across was done over a period of 45 days and involved approximately 25 lakh enumerators and 2 lakh supervisors. Source:http://www.dnaindia.com