On today’s episode, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Vijay Setia, former President of the All India Rice Exporters Federation and also Chairman and Managing Director of Chaman Lal Setia Exports (makers of the well known Maharani Basmati Rice brand) as well as Siraj Hussain, former Agriculture Secretary to the Government of India and frequent columnist on agricultural and food production issues.
00:00 Stories Of The Day
00:50 Unemployment rate in the country drops to 1-year low in September.
06:38 India’s Rice Export Ban draws WTO ire, Indian exports are holding out.
17:05 India swings between excess and scarcity on food produce, are there lessons from the past?
26:38 Google Chromebooks to be made in India by HP now
Unemployment Rate Drops:
The link between unpredictable monsoons & the agricultural economy has been reducing over the years. Another indicator of this was India’s unemployment rate which dropped to a one-year low in September as joblessness in rural areas fell despite weak monsoon rains.
That’s the lowest reading since September last year. Rural unemployment dropped to 6.20%, from 7.11% in August, while urban unemployment rate fell to 8.94% from 10.09% in the same period.
Urban joblessness also saw a dip ahead of the key festival season in India. Employers usually gear up on hiring — especially in the gig and contract employment segment — ahead of Diwali, the festival of lights in November.
Stock & Other Markets:
The stock markets & other markets were shut yesterday because of Gandhi Jayanti so no fresh news there.
No major cues appeared overnight apart from 10-year Treasury yields in the US rising to the highest since 2007. Treasury 10-year yields rose more than six basis points to 4.64%. Money is obviously rushing into US treasuries & out from elsewhere.
Speaking of rushing out, after sustained buying in the last six months, FPIs have turned net sellers and pulled out of over Rs 14,767 crore from Indian equities in September, primarily due to dollar appreciation, steady rise in the US bond yields, and a spike in crude oil prices, the Business Standard is reporting.
Some Commercial Real Estate News:
In the commercial space, The net leasing of office space in the top seven cities in India increased by 5% to 10.37 million square feet (msf) in July-September, despite global headwinds, real estate consultancy JLL India said in a report quoted by Business Standard.
Mumbai however saw a reduction in net leasing of office space to 1.53 msf during the 3rd quarter of this calendar year, down from 1.83 msf in July- Sept. of the previous year.
US, WTO Bring Up Rice Exports Ban At Meeting:
The United States last week called India’s export ban on non-basmati rice an “unnecessary trade barrier” while asking for its immediate withdrawal at the World Trade Organisation agricultural committee meeting.
India had earlier imposed a ban on non-basmati rice exports on July 20 & followed that up with a ban on lower price basmati rice as well.
On Agricultural Policy:
In just 6 weeks, we went from record prices for Tomatoes, around Rs 300/kg & even more in some parts of the country, to Rs 10/kg to the point that farmers were destroying them.
The high tomato prices played havoc with India’s food inflation numbers & inflation numbers which are now moderating. We have gone from scarcity to excess very quickly.
Elsewhere, in the case of onions, a 40% export duty aimed at increasing domestic supply has led to farmer protests & strikes.
Between rice which we just spoke of & various other agri commodities that make up staple foods in India, policy making obviously has a critical role in price stability.
Chromebooks In India, Says Sunder Pichai:
HP will make Google Chromebook laptops in India from this week, Alphabet & Google CEO Sundar Pichai said on twitter yesterday.
“We are partnering with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in India. These are the 1st Chromebooks to be made in India and will make it easier for Indian students to have access to affordable & secure computing,” he said.
The Nobel Prize For Medicine:
The Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to a pair of scientists who developed the technology that led to the mRNA Covid vaccines.
Professors Katalin Kariko & Drew Weissman will share the prize. The technology was experimental before the pandemic, but has now been given to millions of people around the world to protect them against serious Covid-19.
The same mRNA technology is now being researched for other diseases, including cancer, BBC News is reporting
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