THEDU EDITORIAL DISCUSSION 2nd August THE HINDU
To what end this exercise? Prudent increase: on RBI's rate hike |Scalechip solutions for a future ofwater scarcity The RBI's decision to raise benchmark rates spotlights concerns about inflation S. UBHODEEP
THEDU EDITORIAL DISCUSSION 2nd August THE HINDU
The decision by the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee to raise benchmark interest rates again by 25 basis points is a prudent one. This is the second successive rate increase in as many months, a response to mounting uncertainties on the inflation front. Continuing volatility in crude oil prices, its vulnerability to geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions Main risks to the inflation outlook. UBHODEEP
other concerns are volatile global financial markets, possibilities of fiscal slippage at the Central and State levels, the likely impact of the increase in the minimum support price for kharif crops, and the staggered impact of upward revisions to house rent allowance paid by State governments Rainfall has so far been 6% below the long-period average and deficient over a wider area than last year- more than a fifth of the country's 36 sub-divisions have reported shortfalls RBI's own survey of household inflation expectations reveals that families see prices hardening even further over both the three- and 12- month horizons. UBHODEEP
Manufacturers - reported higher input costs and selling prices over the April June quarter While rising trade protectionism threatens to impact investment flows, disrupt global supply chains and hurt all-round productivity, depreciations in the value of most currencies against the strengthening dollar have rippled through many major advanced and emerging economies, spurring inflation across these markets. UBHODEEP
Gov. steps The monetary authority has flagged the need to keep a close watch on rain over the remainder of the season, given the risks regional imbalances may pose to paddy output and CPl inflation Policymakers on the MPC have understandably spotlighted the risks to the domestic economic rebound from global developments. The MPC's primary remit is to ensure that retail inflation stays firmly within a band of 2-6%, and preferably anchored at 4% over the medium term With inflation widely accepted as a hidden tax on the poor- MPC step Justified. S. UBHODEEP
To what end this exercise? Reconsider the ban: on oxytocin Scaled-up solutions for a future of water scarcity A clampdown on the sale of oxytocin will have severe public health consequences S. UBHODEEP
Union Health Ministry's ban on the retail sale and private manufacture of oxytocin, expected to kick off on September 1, is an extremely ill-thought out one. The government's ban ignores its benifits, and is motivated instead by the misuse of the hormone in the dairy industr y. Because oxytocin stimulates lactation in cattle, dairy farmers inject the drug indiscriminately to increase milk production This has spawned several unlicensed facilities that manufacture the drug for veterinary use. Much is unknown about the ill-effects of oxytocin on cattle. UBHODEEP
One of the concerns was that oxytocin leads to infertility in dairy animals, and some studies show this to be true. Milk consumers worry about exposure to it through dairy products In a Lok Sabha answer in 2015, the National Dairy Research Institute was quoted as saying there was no evidence that oxytocin led to infertility A 2014 study by researchers at the National Institute of Nutrition concluded that oxytocin content in buffalo milk did not alter with iniections. S. UBHODEEP
However, even if the ill-effects of oxytocin are real, a ban is not the answer. Oxytocin is simply too important to Indian women, 45,000 of whom die due to causes related to childbirth each year. So heavily are these drugs used that they are causing deadly bacteria to become resistant to them. UBHODEEP
UBHODEEP
EDTTORIA The public-private gap in health care the public-private gap in health care Policymakers have shown no inclination to provide equitable medical care S. UBHODEEP