-TheWire.in National trade policies can play a complementary role but international trading rules that are being proposed to the WTO can constrain developing countries’ progress towards environmentally sustainable growth. As leaders proceed to Glasgow for COP26, the paramount issue remains how the world commits to a reduction in greenhouse gases. Climate adaptation will be an urgent agenda for developing countries. But to achieve their environmental goals developing countries need access to affordable...

-The Hindu However, suicides among landowning farmers dropped slightly during pandemic year The number of agricultural labourers who died by suicide in 2020 was 18% higher than the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report released on Thursday. However, suicides among landowning farmers dropped slightly during the pandemic year. The farm sector was one of the few bright spots in the Indian economy last year, recording growth on the...

-The Hindu States creating artificial demand, says official; workers pushed into ‘forced labour’ by delayed payments, say activists The Centre’s flagship rural employment scheme has run out of funds halfway through the financial year, and supplementary budgetary allocations will not come to the rescue for at least another month when the next Parliamentary session begins. According to its own financial statement, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme shows...

-The Hindu Lower surplus, higher prices could help reduce arrears to farmers in poll bound U.P. and Punjab Unseasonal rains in Uttar Pradesh and a higher diversion to ethanol production are likely to result in a drop in sugar production this year, according to industry estimates. With average retail sugar prices also on the rise, a reduction in surplus sugar could help speed up cane payments by mills and reduce their pending...

-The Hindu Keen to be parallel repository of data, along with States The Centre has proposed amendments to a 1969 law that will enable it to “maintain the database of registered birth and deaths at the national level”. The database may be used to update the Population Register and the electoral register, and Aadhaar, ration card, passport and driving licence databases, says the proposed amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act...