India's July consumer price food inflation has risen to 11.51 percent from a year ago, its highest rate in three and a half years. The last time food inflation was above this rate was in December 2019. The price of cereals, pulses, vegetables and spices helped push food inflation into double digits. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July is 7.44 percent, up from 4.87 percent in June.  High food inflation...

-The Hindu With the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee on Health expressing concern over the high cost of cancer treatment, the Government invoking Section 100 of the Patents Act is a way forward The subject of the spiralling costs of cancer medicines and their implications that have frequently been highlighted the world over were dwelled on in a recent report (“Cancer Care Plan and Management”) by the Rajya Sabha’s Standing Committee on Health....

-The Hindu A critical facet of the consequences of an interest rate increase is the correction of asset prices. Interest rates act as gravity to stock market prices The Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world have raised interest rates to curb inflation. The rationale behind raising interest rates is that the Cost of Borrowing rises whenever they are raised, and the incentive to save and invest rather than consume...

-The Hindu There are clear, implementable steps the Centre can take in fiscal terms to revive the economy and support livelihoods The Prime Minister has just announced Lockdown 4.0. Despite some resulting increase in economic activity, vast numbers of working people will remain without their regular incomes. He also announced a package of ₹20 lakh crore, but this includes already allocated money of ₹6-lakh crore and monetary policy directives to banks and...

-Livemint.com India’s manufacturing sector is moving out of costly and congested cities to rural areas in order to stay competitive. But poor infrastructure is hampering its growth The global economic downturn has raised concerns about the effectiveness of conventional economic policies, which were designed for stabilization, and not for reviving growth in developing countries. Rural distress, spatial disparities, the gender divide and climate change, all combined with the threat of low and...