Area and population. – With the new constitution, which came into force on 1 April 1937, Burma, already an independent province since 1923, was detached from the empire and constituted a colony of the Crown with an area of 605,277 sq km. and 14.7 million residents, of which India is being curtailed; India therefore has a total area of 4,070,132 sq km. and a population of 338,119,154 residents, with a density of 83 residents per sq. km. Despite this decrease, it maintains the second place in the world among the political units of the Earth by number of residents.
According to 800zipcodes.com, the birth rate continues to be very high: 32.2 ‰ in the period 1926-1930; 35 ‰ in the years 1933-1934; but the mortality rate is equally high (especially infant mortality), although it hints at a healthy decrease: 29.8 ‰ in the decade 1914-1923; 24.3 ‰ in the period 1926-1930; 23.5 ‰ in the years 1933-1934. The surplus of births over the dead, however, continues to remain conspicuous.
As regards the different religions, we must observe that compared to the 1921 census, the figures of 1931 show significant variations, as can be understood from the figures in the table, which also include data relating to Burma.
There is a general increase for all major religions; very sensitive that of Christians mainly Catholic, distributed above all in peninsular India; on the other hand the animists are in sharp decline, thanks to the slow but sure and ineluctable penetration of civilization.
Christianity. – The order of the Catholic hierarchy has undergone various modifications. The apostolic prefecture of Assam has been the bishopric of Shillong since 9 July 1934; in 1937 the archdiocese of Simla changed its name to Delhi and Simla and the dioceses of Bezwada (former mission since 1933) and Cuttack were created. The apostolic prefectures of Sikkim (1931), Jubbulpore (1932; suffragan of Madras), Indore (1935), Multan (1936) and the mission of Bellary (1928) should also be registered.
For the Malankaresi we have the ecclesiastical province (1932) of Trivandrum, with the suffragan Tiruvalla.
The hierarchy of Burma also depends on the apostolic delegation of the East Indies.
Industries and trade (p. 30). – India maintains in the industrial field the character of transformer of raw materials, especially of vegetable origin. The cotton industry comes first: cleans and presses with 139,987 workers in 1929; 129,233 in 1933; spinning and weaving with 336,682 individuals employed in 1929 and 360,424 in 1933. Worthy of note is the significant increase in the workforce employed in this industrial branch, which places India in one of the first places with 9.7 million spindles of spinning and 190,000 mechanical looms. India currently ranks second in Asia and sixth in the world: the Bombay region continues to hold the record. The jute industry is also very important (press with 31,455 workers in 1933 compared to 37,300 in 1929; jute factories with 257,175 and 346,765 workers respectively). Rice, sugar, tea continue to give life to a very flourishing processing industry with 73,000, 50,000, 57,000 people employed, respectively, in 1933. It should be borne in mind that India is accentuating its leadership in the world for tea; and its sugar production is increasing more and more, so much so that it has clearly surpassed the Dutch Indies (Java) and Cuba, placing itself at the head of the great world producers of cane sugar. However, high consumption prevents export. Trade remains very active, with exports surplus over imports every year. The table gives the trade movement in millions of rupees for the seven-year period 1930-1937. India accentuates its primacy in the world; and its sugar production is increasing more and more, so much so that it has clearly surpassed the Dutch Indies (Java) and Cuba, placing itself at the head of the great world producers of cane sugar. However, high consumption prevents export. Trade remains very active, with exports surplus over imports every year. The table gives the trade movement in millions of rupees for the seven-year period 1930-1937. India accentuates its primacy in the world; and its sugar production is increasing more and more, so much so that it has clearly surpassed the Dutch Indies (Java) and Cuba, placing itself at the head of the great world producers of cane sugar. The strong consumption also prevents export. Trade remains very active, with exports surplus over imports every year. The table gives the trade movement in millions of rupees for the seven-year period 1930-1937. and annually presents export surplus over imports. The table gives the trade movement in millions of rupees for the seven-year period 1930-1937. and annually presents export surplus over imports. The table gives the trade movement in millions of rupees for the seven-year period 1930-1937.
The railway network is also increasing, rising from 68,044 km. in 1930 to 69,390 in 1936. The merchant navy (including Ceylon) comprised, in 1935, 204 ships for a total tonnage of 220,000 tons.
In the year 1935-36 3568 ships with a tonnage of 9.3 million tons entered the ports of India; cabotage was 23 million tons.
The trade maintains the characteristics of importing processed products (mechanical and textile products) and exporting mainly agricultural food products (seeds, tea, cereals, etc.) and industrial products (cotton, jute, etc.).
Military aviation (p. 36). – It currently includes the British units of the Royal Air Force (RAF), consisting of a complex of 8 squadrons with about 150 aircraft (fighter, bombing and reconnaissance); and the Indian Air Force (established in October 1932), under the command of the RAF. Although the Indian government has the power to determine the size of these forces, the Indian Air Force is not yet homogeneously constituted.
A number of officers, NCOs and troops are currently Indians. Indian officers are trained at Cranwell Academy, England; NCOs and troops are trained at the RAF depot in Karachi. Upon completion of their training at Cranwell, officers are assigned to units of the Metropolitan Royal Air Force before serving on permanent duty in the Indian Air Force.
Finance (p. 36). – We give below the figures of the balance sheets from 1932-33 (in millions of rupees).
As of March 31, 1938, the external debt amounted to 4,882 million rupees and the internal debt to 7154 (of which 4,388 consolidated).
The convertibility of the notes was suspended on 21 September 1931 and then the devaluation of the pound sterling (40%) followed, the exchange rate of the rupee remained stable around 1 s. 6 d. gold. The Reserve Bank Bill of February 16, 1934 created the Reserve Bank of India (which entered into operation on April 1, 1935) attributing to it the treasury functions previously exercised by the Imperial Bank, the management of public debt, the control over currency and the system. credit (obligation to affiliated banks, scheduled banks, to hold a reserve of 5% of their sight commitments and 2% of forward commitments with RB) as well as starting from March 1935 the privilege of issuance in place of the Currency department. As of December 31, 1937, the notes issued by the Reserve Bank were 1854 million (the circulation, however, is largely composed of coins, the amount of which is unknown) and the reserves 444 million in gold, 626 in silver and 839 in foreign exchange.
