-The Indian Express The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday upped its forecast of Indian wheat exports for 2020-21 (July-June) to 1.8 million tonnes (mt), as against its earlier estimate of one mt. That would be the highest ever in the last six years After rice, India is set to turn a major exporter of wheat as well – thanks to surging international prices from Chinese stockpiling and ultra-low interest RATe...

-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...

-TheWire.in From 1907’s struggle against British land revenue RATes, to 202-21’s agitation against the new farm laws, at least five newspapers were launched to provide platforms for those fighting for their rights. Jalandhar: Nearly a century ago, when despeRATe farmers and labourers in Punjab agitated for their rights in British-ruled India, they found a platform in a newspaper called Kirti (Labourer). This newspaper not only led to the formation of the Kirti...

-Down to Earth This water causes diarrhoeal diseases that kill 800 children every day, mostly in India, Afghanistan and Congo To limit the spread of disease and reduce environmental pollution, human waste (excreta) needs to be safely contained and effectively treated. Yet 4.2 billion people, more than half of the world’s population, lack access to safe sanitation. In developing countries, each person produces, on average, six litres of toilet wastewater each day. Based...

-Livemint.com The government will have to ensure its spending improves economy-wide productivity, and its own revenue-geneRATing capacity, to avoid a stagflationary trap After dithering on a fiscal stimulus package for nearly a year, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declared that she will not allow the fiscal deficit number to worry her too much as she pushes spending to revive growth in the upcoming budget. The government hopes that growth will geneRATe higher...