-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...

-The Hindu The need is to convince farmers of other effective policy interventions that are World Trade Organization compatible The demand of farmers to provide a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce has triggered a nationwide debate. Some believe it would be “fiscally ruinous” to procure all the 23 crops for which MSP is announced annually. Others contend that procuring these crops would be a logistical nightmare....

The increase in the total number of suicides committed in India during 2020 in comparison to the previous years has hit the headlines recently. While some media commentators have stated that the economic distress (caused by job loss, income loss, failure of business, and growing hunger, among other things) in 2020 could have led to more suicides being committed, others have said that home isolation and deteriorating mental health (associated...

-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...

-Hindustan Times India relies on import of raw materials for crop nutrients as well as finished products and compensates fertiliser companies who sell them at below-inflation rates. The Union government has revamped parts of its subsidy regime for fertilisers and crop nutrients to continue providing them at below-market rates, while rolling over special discounts announced for the summer-sown season to the oncoming winter-sown months, according to an official statement on Thursday. International prices...