Speech on "Development Within 21st Century"

 Hello everyone, Good Morning! It is a big honor to speak before my principal, teachers, elders and schoolmates. I’d like to present here my speech on the development of the 21st century.

         I’m beginning my speech with a glimpse of the 20th century before speaking about the 21st century. The 20th century will be remembered by many people as an era of great achievement in human endeavour and enormous economic growth and prosperity. Achievements in medical research, from the eradication of the infectious disease to laser surgery, in engineering, from the transistor to space exploration; and in economic development have all contributed to greater well-being in the world at the end of the 20th century.

 Now, we are in 3rd decade of the 21st century, so, to assess the development of the 21st century we have to look back at the past two decades of development. The past two decades have reflected an image of the future development in various sectors.

 On the economic front, countries around the world have seen exponential economic growth rates. For example- China, India, Brazil and many developing countries. If we look at India’s economic development, we can see that the country which has a Gross Domestic Product of around $450 billion in 2000, now stands on the raw of the world’s fifth largest economy in PPP terms i.e. $3.4 trillion. During this initial period of the 21st century, India has lifted her major population from poverty. According to Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2022, India has only 16.4% population in poverty which was 55.1% in 2000.

 If we look around the world, many developing economies arose. Some prominent economies are the countries of BRICS. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This development has taken place in the 21st century, changing the world’s economic landscape.

 On the technological front, the 21st century has seen enormous growth in tech and innovation. The development of 3D printing machines, humanoid robots, drones and reusable rocket launch systems. We made a big stride in innovation in the 21st century.

The 21st century also witnessed a revolution in information and communication. With the introduction of Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, this generation acquired the necessary tools and technologies through which we can connect ourselves with the world very easily. With the upgradation of telecommunication such as 4G and 5G mobile networks, we have now a much faster way of communication. This telecommunication development has enabled quality education at a lower price and easy access to the lower strata of the population.

Of course, not every development in the past decade was rosy in the picture. At the beginning of the 21st century, the world witnessed a steep rise in terrorism. The 9/11 attack on the USA in 2001 has shunned the world. In 2001, the perpetrators belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad attacked our Parliament in New Delhi. In 2008, India witnessed a heartbreaking heinous attack on Mumbai. In the very year of 2008, we faced a global economic recession. But, these grim pictures can not stand with our commitment to a prosperous future in the 21st century. In the past two decades, there happened many positive things that propel our motivation to never give up on the stride of a better future. The average living standard of Populus has increased over the years, and now, I’m ending my speech with a quote from his holiness Dalai Lama, who says — “I think there is every reason this 21st century will be much happier”. Jai hind