-The Hindu CPI for agricultural and rural workers increased by 10 points each last month Rising food prices spurred an increase by 10 points each in the all-India Consumer Price Index (CPI) for agricultural and rural labourers, respectively, last month, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a release on Saturday. An increase in the prices of rice, wheat-atta, jowar, bajra, ragi, vegetables and fruits contributed the bulk of the spike in...

-Scroll.in Heatwaves across many wheat-producing states have resulted in a dip in the production of the staple grain this year. India’s wheat production is likely to fall 3% to 106.41 million tonnes this year from last year’s output of 109.59 million tonnes, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday, citing the Union agriculture ministry’s third advance estimates of output of food grains. Severe heatwaves across many wheat-producing states have resulted in a dip in...

-The Hindu Business Line Pesticide residues in India’s agri exports calls for a multi-pronged policy response As reported recently by this newspaper, India’s cumin exports have suffered a setback in recent months, with China claiming that pesticide residues exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) spelt out by it about six months back. Chinese authorities have said that consignments must be accompanied by a pesticide residue report. India has been through all this...

-The Hindu Challenges abound in this approach, which needs to be analysed in depth before a policy is announced The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently announced that it will do away with the mandatory PhD qualification to teach in Central Universities (CUs) spread across the country. It purportedly addresses a shortage of qualified faculty in CUs. According to the Ministry of Education data, there were 10,000 teaching positions lying vacant in...

-The Hindu Instead, they tell parliamentary panel to improve access to education to delay marriages An umbrella body of child rights organisations set up by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, which appeared before the parliamentary panel studying the Bill on raising the age of marriage for women to 21 from 18 years, has opposed the move and emphasised the need to improve access to education to delay marriages. The India Child Protection Forum [ICPF]...