-Down to Earth Forced maturity in plants due to higher temperatures can result in smaller seeds A comparatively 'warm' winter in Bihar this year could harm production of rabi crops like wheat, oil seed and pulses, agricultural scientists have predicted. According to experts, production of winter crops may be hit by at least 30-40 per cent if the weather in the eastern state is unchanged for long. The minimum temperature should be 10-12 degrees...

-The Hindu Court forms expert panel to hear apprehensions raised by farmers against the laws The Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the implementation of three controversial farm laws, terming its order the “victory of fair play”. “If there is a victory at all, it is the victory of fair play,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde corrected senior advocate Harish Salve. The CJI was responding to an apprehension expressed by Mr. Salve...

-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...

-Down to Earth The number of pandemic-induced new poor is forecast to rise to 143-163 million in 2021 The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which forced economies around the world to lock down last year, may have increased global poverty by 119 million-124 million, according to updated estimates by World Bank. This includes the 31 million people who would have moved out of poverty (measured at the international poverty line of $1.90, or...

-The Hindu They express outrage at the composition of the committee being set up Farm unions are meeting at the Singhu border to discuss the developments in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, and their next steps. Before the Samyukt Kisan Morcha meeting, which was scheduled to begin late in the afternoon, a few leaders expressed their disappointment with the court’s directions, and outrage at the composition of the committee being set up. “See...