There have been enough evidences to accept that Financial Inclusion (FI) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) play positive role in economic growth, even though there are some exceptions. Moreover, we cannot deny the fact that ICT like mobile phone and internet penetration can strengthen the inclusiveness of formal banking sector. The present study has first examined whether ICT development can be an important determinant of Financial Inclusion by using a fixed effect panel data model. The results show that ICT is indeed an important determinant of FI. The same panel data of 41 countries was then used to test whether the growth process of the countries are influenced by Financial Inclusion and ICT diffusion in a dynamic Panel Data Model. Further the paper has investigated the role of FI powered by a better ICT penetration in fostering the growth of the nations using system GMM method by incorporating interactions between FI and ICT indicators. The results suggest that both FI and ICT individually and together through their close interaction can improve current year's growth. However, we need education, awareness and technical assistance to get sustained growth.

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Against the background of declining agricultural productivity and a large population, genetically modified (GM) crops could play a key role in India. The current article uses a modified GTAP model to study empirically the overall impacts of the adoption of GM cotton, soybean, maize and rice on various sectors of the Indian economy through computable general equilibrium analysis. The impacts of a compulsory labelling policy and positive and negative preference shifts towards GM rice by Indian consumers are also analysed along with the effects on income distribution. The results indicate that productivity improvements from GM technology adoption in India have a significant positive impact on India’s production, trade and welfare. Even a possible ban on the import of GM rice from India by European Union (EU) will not have any negative welfare impact on Indian consumers, though the export of Indian rice will be much lower. JEL Classification: C68, D33, D61, F17, O11

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