-The Hindu Food inflation is at a 40-month high Industrial activity contracted for the third consecutive month in October by 3.8%, driven by a fall in activity across sectors, according to official data released on Thursday. Separate data showed that retail inflation had surged to a 40-month high of 5.54% in November, driven by rising food inflation. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had contracted by 4.3% in September and 1.1% in...

-The Hindu Surveys, including the recently leaked one on consumer expenditure, point to the economy’s dire state How fast has India grown lately? And, what are the yardsticks on which the country’s performance is being measured? These have remained contentious questions. Following the last decade’s boom, the economy was slowing after 2011-2012, but apparently turned around under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime. Until very recently, the government claimed the economic success...

-Business Today RCEP trade deal: The group said that the Indian govt should not agree to the RCEP even in future as it will be a 'bad deal for democracy, for farmers, workers, will subvert our sovereign laws and compromise India's industrialisation potential'. Forum for Trade Justice, a pan-civil society network has welcomed the failure of the 16 negotiating countries to reach a consensus over the conclusion of the world's largest free...

-Livemint.com * The transport sector is also the main source for PM2.5 emissions, a pollutant which can have disastrous long-term impact of human health * With as many as 3,182 industries located across the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), industrial pollution adds about 18.6% to the bad air quality NEW DELHI: As Delhi struggles to cope with one of the biggest health emergencies due to severe levels of air pollution, it has not quite...

  Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...