-TheWire.in National trade policies can play a complementary role but international trading rules that are being proposed to the WTO can constrain developing countries’ progress towards environmentally sustainable growth. As leaders proceed to Glasgow for COP26, the paramount issue remains how the world commits to a reduction in greenhouse gases. Climate adaptation will be an urgent agenda for developing countries. But to achieve their environmental goals developing countries need access to affordable...

-Frontline.thehindu.com The RBI’s proposal to loosen regulations for private lenders in the microfinance space will have disastrous consequences for the poor, especially women in rural areas. Microfinance, a category of financial services aimed at serving people from low-income households who lack access to conventional banking credit and services, was originally designed by international finance capital institutions such as the World Bank as an alternative to providing direct concessional credit to the poor—which...

-Down to Earth Water shocks affect not only the number of people who move but also the skills they bring with them Rainfall variability is expected to be one of the contributing forces in migration, according to a new World Bank report released 23 August, 2021.  Rainfall deficit is linked to approximately 10 per cent of the increase in global migration between 1970 and 2000, the report said.  Water shocks affect not only the...

The recently released quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data broadly confirms the dip in employment and jobs during the countrywide lockdown period, followed by a certain degree of recovery in the post-lockdown months last year as have been indicated by various survey-based studies and research papers. The quarterly bulletin on PLFS provides data on key employment and unemployment indicators i.e. Unemployment Rate (UR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Labour...

-Down to Earth The focus must be on safeguarding women and girls’ reproductive health. Smaller families can be achieved by ensuring gender equality, empowering women The law proposed by the Uttar Pradesh Law Commission on July 7, 2021 on two-child policy compels couples to limit their families through a series of incentives and disincentives. There is no evidence, however, that coercive policies can truly reduce fertility. Two-child policies are known to disproportionately impact...