-Reuters/ Business Today The Government aims to cut spending on food and fertiliser subsidies to Rs 3.7 lakh crore ($44.6 billion) in the fiscal year from April, down 26% from this year, two Government officials said, to rein in a fiscal deficit that ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food and fertiliser subsidies alone account for about one-eighth of total budget spending of Rs 39.45 lakh crore this fiscal year, but reductions...

-Mercom India The Union Cabinet has approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with an initial outlay of Rs.19,744 crore ($2.38 billion). The policy decision is meant to facilitate demand, production, utilization and export of green hydrogen. The largest portion of the outlay, Rs.17,490 crore, has been earmarked for strategic interventions in the transition to green hydrogen. Also called SIGHT, this sub-component envisages financial incentives for the domestic manufacture of electrolyzers and...

-Hindustan Times Indian fertiliser and chemical companies have also accelerated investments in several mineral rich North African nations so as to hedge against price spirals and volatility. New Delhi: India is on the verge of signing long-term deals with several countries to secure fertilizer imports, critical for food security amid increasing geopolitical uncertainties , a Government official said, requesting anonymity. Union chemicals and fertilisers minister Mansukh Mandaviya is set to travel to Morocco...

-Newslaundry The Government of India has removed exemptions for journalistic work from data protection obligations in the fourth iteration of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022. If this iteration is passed as law a story containing personal data may result in journalists having to prove to a data protection board that their story was in the public interest, Newslaundry reported. The three previous versions - in 2018, 2019 and 2021...

Editorial team, Carbon Copy  Ongoing shifts in rainfall and temperature caused by climate change are likely to increase the debt burden faced by rural households, particularly of marginalised groups in dry areas, an editorial in Carbon Copy magazine said. The piece cited a study in the journal Climate Change that argues that changes in climate, along with existing socio-economic differences - caste and landholding in particular — will deepen the size...