-Financial Express Trade, import, and exports for MSMEs: Imports from China were up 51.5 per cent from $45.17 billion during the first nine-month period of 2020 to $68.46 billion for the corresponding period of 2021. Trade, import, and exports for MSMEs: China has managed to remain too competitive to be ignored by Indian MSME and other manufacturers for importing goods despite the anti-China sentiment that gained ground last year post border clash...

-The Hindu Fresh investments dip by 18% overall The second wave of COVID-19 and a steep decline in new investment projects from government agencies dented fresh investment plans in the economy by 18% in the first quarter of 2021-22, compared to the previous quarter. Despite the government’s stated push for capital spending to revive the economy, public infrastructure investments almost halved compared to the January-March quarter, bringing total outlays on new infrastructure plans...

A recent report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) states that the countrywide lockdown imposed on 25th March, 2020, which was extended for nearly two months in phases, affected the food and nutritional status of vulnerable sections of the Indian population. It says that a programme like the Mid-Day Meal Scheme covers four-fifth of primary-school-aged children in the country that helps in improving not only nutrition but also...

-The Hindu Business Line A model rehabilitation project for 100 families of rescued bonded labourers kicks off in Tiruvannamalai, granting them dignity of shelter and livelihood * Ready to be inaugurated in the next few weeks, the neat rows of green and white houses... carry the SMEll of fresh paint and brimming hope of its 564 residents * The colony is the Tamil Nadu government’s attempt at creating a model rehabilitation village that...

-Livemint.com The Centre’s plan to pay off food subsidy arrears is likely to distort our GDP readings for multiple years A puzzle of sorts has arisen—again—in India’s official gross domestic product (GDP) estimates. They don’t meet the SMEll test. Back in 2015, the Central Statistics Office’s practice of using ‘single deflation’ instead of ‘double deflation’ during a period of falling commodity prices had distorted growth prints, as per our analysis. This time, too,...