-Down to Earth Increasing budgetary allocations towards Rural Employment Guarantee Act is non-negotiable   The agriculture sector has continued to serve as a lifeline at a time when the Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has hurt every economic activity in an unprecedented manner. It has not only ensured food supply but also provided livelihoods to daily-wage workers during the lockdown, providing the last resort for those rendered homeless. The Union Budget 2021-2022 to...

-The Hindu The paradox becomes clearer by recognising the circuit of financial flows beyond the real economy Divergences between the booming financial and the stagnant real sectors, which appear rather confounding as well as disconcerting, warrant an explanation. Enumerating the facts in India’s major secondary stock market, the Sensex (the benchmark index of the BSE Limited, or formerly the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd.) has been found tracking an upward path, from 40,817 on...

-Down to Earth There is an urgency to adopt global labour standards and improve national-level labour registries for home-based workers, organisation says in its new report There is a need to develop effective policies for home-based workers and ensure their proper implementation even as the practice had increased since the Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a new report. Just 10 countries had ratified the Convention on...

-Down to Earth The number of pandemic-induced new poor is forecast to rise to 143-163 million in 2021 The Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which forced economies around the world to lock down last year, may have increased global poverty by 119 million-124 million, according to updated estimates by World Bank. This includes the 31 million people who would have moved out of poverty (measured at the international poverty line of $1.90, or...

-Down to Earth Mushrooms in one’s daily diet will eventually promote a healthy body, behaviour and brain power The Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted some experts to look at the consumption of mushrooms, known for their immunity-boosting anti-viral properties, with renewed vigour. In fact, immunity has been one of the most-searched keywords on the internet since the last few months. Immunity is basically the foremost defence system against all sorts of viruses,...