-The Indian Express Latest RBI bulletin projects contraction for a second consecutive quarter, which means the economy is in a ‘technical recession’. What does it mean, and how is it different from a ‘recession’ and a ‘recessionary phase’? In its latest monthly bulletin — for November — the Reserve Bank of India has dedicated a chapter on the “State of the economy”. The idea is to provide a monthly snapshot of some...

-The Hindu Business Line Farmers who would be selling their produce at farmgate under the recently-enacted Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act 2020 will have real-time access to prevailing commodity prices through a market intelligence and price information system, which will be up and running soon, according to top Agriculture Ministry sources. One of the major contentions of a section of farmers protesting against the new farm legislations was...

-The Hindu After India’s economy collapsed in the first quarter of 2020-21 following the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, some economic indicators from September and October, from power consumption to GST collections, suggest that things are improving. But is this a sustainable recovery under way, or just an expression of pent-up demand combined with India’s festive-season spending? In a conversation moderated by Vikas Dhoot, Naushad Forbes and M....

-The Hindu New research at University of Cambridge focuses on rural knowledge systems and sustainable practices to safeguard the ecosystem An academic with research interests in food production, rural development and gender equality in development interventions, Shailaja Fennell has worked on several international projects to promote sustainability and build resilience. She supervises M.Phil students at the Centre of Development Studies – University of Cambridge, and Ph.D students at the Centre of Development...

-Down to Earth Gender equality a far-fetched goal; women living alone more likely to be in the labour market, finds report Gender equality across the world remains a far-fetched goal and no country has achieved it so far, according to the 2020 edition of the United Nations report on the state of gender equality in the world. The attitudes of discrimination, however, have slowly changed in the last two decades, Liu Zhenmin, chief...