-TheWire.in * India has reduced open defecation and made some progress to improve sanitation services. But its sanitation system is not yet sustainable and not yet safe. * In Tapoban Basti in Bhubaneswar, some men avoid using the toilet every day to not have to incur the cost of cleaning out the septic tank. * In a basti on the outskirts of Jaipur, a community toilet slowly ran out of water and the...

-Livemint.com Yet again, two measures of India’s economy— ‘gross value added’ and ‘gross domestic product’—have grown at widely different paces. While change in GDP significantly lagged the change in GVA in FY21, the story was opposite in FY22, says data released Tuesday. Mint explains: What is the difference between GVA & GDP? Gross value added (GVA) adds up the value of all goods and services produced in an economy after deducting the input...

-PTI/ The Week Ensuring irrigation efficiency is of paramount importance for sustainable agriculture. India needs to redesign its irrigation policy, including by promoting improved technological interventions in the wake of depleting ground water, according to an article published in the latest issue of RBI Bulletin. In the backdrop of recurrent episodes of drought and declining groundwater table, ensuring irrigation efficiency is of paramount importance for sustainable agriculture, the article published on Tuesday said. RBI...

-The Telegraph The economic impact of heatwaves is steep India is feeling the heat in ways other than the rising prices. The ongoing heatwave, in which temperatures have shot above 45 degree Celsius in many parts of northwest and central India, highlights the rising climate risks and their attendant costs. Heatwaves, beginning earlier than in the past, are part of a changing climate whose defining features, in addition to the gradual rise...

-PTI/ Financial Express Downtrading refers to the practice of switching from expensive products to cheaper alternatives by customers in a bid to conserve cash. FMCG manufacturers are opting to reduce product weight rather than price of items targeted at lower-end consumers, while resorting to single-digit price increase on some large packs and launching ‘bridge packs’, as they seek to overcome the impact of commodity price rise and unprecedented inflation. Besides, they are also...