-Newsclick.in The sharp and apparently intriguing fall in industrial production in October, and feeble post-Covid recovery, points to a deep-rooted malaise in the Indian economy. There has been much discussion in public about the index of industrial production (IIP) for October 2022 being 4% lower than the index for October 2021; and quite rightly so, since no obvious explanations like a Covid-induced lockdown or even its residual lingering effects can be adduced...

- Deccan Herald Covid-19 reverse migration of labour added to joblessness A rise in self-employment and unpaid family labour three years into the Covid-19 pandemic even as wage rates fell is an indication that rural distress has risen, the economist Santosh Mehrotra writes. Economic distress was on an upward trajectory even before the Pandemic and the sudden arrival of millions of reverse migrants in 2020 added to the stock of unemployed people...

-TheWire.in The role of demographic diplomacy is not limited to migration only. It could also help countries navigate the emerging trends in population dynamics. As the world population touched 8 billion, Rachel Snow, head of the population and development branch of UNFPA, or the United Nations Population Fund, suggested that ‘demographic diplomacy’ could provide answers to a demographically diverse world. This is an interesting and timely concept because, as we know, the world...

-The Hindu The WTO Panel reports are a pointer to the U.S. — the once undisputed trade hegemon — turning away from free trade and moving toward growing protectionism In a significant development in international trade law, four separate World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel reports have ruled that the tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminium, respectively, that the United States (U.S.) had imposed during the presidency of Donald Trump...

-The Tribune The annual cost to the exchequer is estimated at Rs 2 lakh crore New Delhi: In a major decision, the union government has decided to provide free ration to 81.35 crore poor people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year. Minister of Consumers Affairs, Food and Public distribution Piyush Goyal said the beneficiaries, who were getting food grains at highly subsidised rates under the Act would get free...