Q.(a) Write notes on :

(a) NSE is India's leading fully electronic stock exchange (est. 1992, Mumbai, Nifty index) and NSDL is India's first depository (est. 1996) that holds securities in dematerialised electronic form. (b) Entrepreneurship is important because it creates employment, drives economic growth, spurs innovation, uses resources fully and raises living standards. (a) Notes: (i) National Stock Exchange (NSE): - Established in 1992 and began operations in 1994, with its head office in Mumbai. - It is India's largest and first fully electronic, screen-based stock exchange, allowing transparent, automated trading accessible from across the country. - Its benchmark index is the Nifty 50, representing 50 major companies. - It brought speed, transparency and nationwide reach to securities trading and greatly modernised the Indian capital market. (ii) National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL): - Established in 1996, it is India's first and largest depository. - A depository holds investors' securities (shares, debentures, bonds) in electronic (dematerialised) form, doing away with physical certificates. - It enables safe, quick and paperless transfer of securities through Depository Participants (DPs). - It has reduced the risks of theft, forgery, loss and delay associated with paper certificates and made trading and settlement smoother. (b) Importance of Entrepreneurship — any five: 1. Employment generation: entrepreneurs set up enterprises that create jobs for themselves and for many others, reducing unemployment. 2. Economic and industrial growth: new and expanding businesses add to production, income and national wealth, driving overall development. 3. Innovation and new technology: entrepreneurs introduce new products, processes and technology, keeping the economy dynamic and competitive. 4. Optimum use of resources: they mobilise and make productive use of local resources, capital and talent that might otherwise stay idle. 5. Higher standard of living and balanced development: by supplying goods, creating incomes and setting up …