-NetworkIdeas.org Before joining the neo-liberal order, India used to have “rupee payment arrangements” with the Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist countries under which the main international reserve currency, the US dollar, was used neither for settling transactions nor even as the unit of account in terms of which the trade-related transactions were denominated. The dollar in short was used neither as the means of circulation, nor even as the unit...

-National Herald Indian students going abroad for studies cost approximately $80 billion Foreign exchange, which broadly equals forex received by way of NRI remittances annually. This is a staggering figure spent by about 11 lakh students who go abroad for higher studies. This figure is only growing year after year and unlike in the past, many students have started going abroad for studies even after their schooling. One of the reasons is...

-Networkideas.org  The International Monetary Fund has announced a fresh issue of $650 billion Special Drawing Rights in August which would be distributed among member countries in proportion to their IMF quotas. This amount is less than what had been demanded by many, which was a trillion dollars, but it does represent a small temporary comfort for the heavily indebted third world countries. Almost all of it will go into the pockets of...

-The Hindu Business Line Apart from endemic policy concerns, the promotion of palm oil has downsides The edible oilseed production has occupied centre-stage in the discourse on Indian agriculture after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent announcement of the ₹11,040-crore National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), to have self-sufficiency in edible oils, particularly palm oil. There are two reasons for this announcement. First, the recent skyrocketing of edible oil prices has irked the...

-Foundation of Agrarian Studies An influential section of Sri Lankan agricultural economists and scientists has deplored the recent course change in the country’s agricultural policy made by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. The decision by the government to ban the use and import of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in pursuit of a “100 per cent organic food producer” status for Sri Lanka has already had disastrous consequences for the economy of the...