-The Hindu The measures included a ₹8 reduction in central excise duty per litre of petrol and a ₹6 cut in the duty on diesel. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a slew of measures to rein in runaway inflation on Saturday evening, including duty cuts on petroleum products, a ₹200 subsidy on LPG cylinders for the Poor and a rejig of import duties on plastic and steel products. A reduction in central excise...

-IPA News Service/Newsclick.in Time is ripe to do away with every central cess on petroleum products and reject the government’s narrative that the Poor are hurt less by higher prices than the rich. The country is in the grip of an inflationary spiral resulting in a galloping price rise of all essential goods used by people. This crushing price burden is making life exceedingly difficult for the rural and urban Poor. The retail...

-The Hindu Business Line Pesticide residues in India’s agri exports calls for a multi-pronged policy response As reported recently by this newspaper, India’s cumin exports have suffered a setback in recent months, with China claiming that pesticide residues exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) spelt out by it about six months back. Chinese authorities have said that consignments must be accompanied by a pesticide residue report. India has been through all this...

-The Tribune The prices of essential food items have increased by 50% in seven years, whereas the real wage rate has risen by 22%. These figures show that inflation has outsmarted the real income of the Poor, making their lives miserable as the food basket constitutes a substantial proportion of the total expenditure on the Poor. The net effect is that the Poor earn less and take loans to maintain the...

-Down to Earth Poor financial conditions, reliance on public distribution system among factors that drove change, reduced dietary diversity  There has been a dietary shift among the Bhil and Bhilala tribes of Madhya Prasesh’s Alirajpur and Jhabua districts over the years. Loss of dietary diversity, including little or no consumption of meat, as well as a change in their staple cereal, may impact the health and erode traditional knowledge of the tribals...