-The Hindu It is ad hoc, hurts farmers’ incomes, and may not impact inflation much  Over the last month, the government has banned the export of wheat and imposed quantitative restrictions on outbound sugar shipments. The wheat export ban came within days of a push to enhance India’s wheat supplies to the rest of the world after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is a time of persistently high inflation, spurred by rising...

-United Nations News Countries are expected to spend a staggering $1.8 trillion importing food they need this year; this would be a new world record but worryingly, it’s going to buy them less food, not more. That’s according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which on Thursday suggested that for some countries, the situation potentially heralded “an end of their resilience to higher prices”. Ever-higher fixed costs for farmers of so-called...

-Livemint.com Industry estimates suggest two-wheeler sales for fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22) will close out at 14.5 million units, the lowest volume in almost a decade. This betrays a deep distress in incomes of rural households. Mint explains the fault lines: * Why are two-wheeler sales falling? Rural demand contributes 50-60% of two-wheeler sales in the commuter segment. Price increases, rising fuel prices and unseasonal rains leading to poor crop realizations have hit the...

-Newsclick.in The economy faces stagflation. The steps announced by the government are a start. More needs to be done to eliminate supply bottlenecks without curtailing demand. The Government, worried about the inflation rapidly inching up month after month, has finally become pro-active. The steps announced are designed to lower the prices of basics like diesel, steel, cement and plastics. Wholesale Price Index (‘WPI’) has risen at more than ten per cent for...

-The Hindu Gender gap in India’s employment data finds mention in the report on the ‘world of work’ The "world of work" is being buffeted by multiple crises, says the ninth edition of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Monitor. The report says that after significant gains during the last quarter of 2021, the number of hours worked globally dropped in the first quarter of 2022, to 3.8% below the employment situation before...