India lost 259 bn hours of labour annually because of global warming

 Productive hours lost to heat and humidity globally are about 400 billion hours greater than previous estimates, roughly the same as the amount of work hours lost during the Covid-19 pandemic

India lost around 259 billion hours of labour annually between 2001 and 2020 due to the impacts of humid heat, according to a study from researchers at Duke University. The loss of these productive hours cost India $624 billion (Rs 46 lakh crore)–equivalent to almost 7% of its 2017 gross domestic product (GDP). The authors use the term ‘humid heat’ to refer to conditions that are either hot and dry or hot and humid enough to cause decreases in labor productivity.

Globally, humid heat caused 677 billion hours of lost labour each year, worth $2.1 trillion (Rs 156 lakh crore). Climate change is worsening these losses. “Even fractions of a degree of global climate change can have large-scale implications for labour,” the study said. Without rapid emissions cuts, climate change is set to further increase losses in already hot countries, and historically cooler countries will start to see more significant labour losses, according to a briefing by Climate Trends, a Delhi-based climate research firm.

In the first 20 years of this century, India lost 25 billion more hours annually compared to the previous 20 years, the paper, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found. “Over the last four decades, heat-related labour losses globally have increased by at least 9% (>60 billion hours annually),” the study said, as global average temperatures rose about 0.4 degrees Celsius because of human activities, per the Climate Trends briefing.

Old wine, new bottle: $7-bn exporter refund old plan with Rs 9,000 cr added

The new program will subsume existing export incentives, for which the government had already penciled in a revenue hit of Rs 41,000 crore in July

India’s new measures announced on Saturday to revive a flagging economy through an aid to exporters isn’t as big a boost as the initial numbers suggested. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a new tax refund program for exporters from January 1 will cost the government Rs 50,000 crore ($7 billion) in revenue annually. But it may only amount to an additional Rs 9,000 crore a year in benefits to exporters, a review of budget numbers show.

That’s because the new program will subsume existing export incentives, for which the government had already penciled in a revenue hit of Rs 41,000 crore in July. The overall size of the new scheme will be more or less similar to the existing incentives, which at present is around Rs 40,000-45,000 crore, said Alok Chaturvedi, the director general of foreign trade.

India will separately set up a Rs 10,000 crore funding window for affordable housing to revive stalled projects, Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday while unveiling what was her ministry’s third set of measures in four weeks to boost growth.

“It’s better for exports than housing, but not a game changer,” said Teresa John, an economist with Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt. in Mumbai. “There were no significant measures to boost housing demand, and disappointed expectation, and hence may negatively impact real estate stocks.”

RBI approves a record Rs 1.76 trillion surplus transfer to government

The surplus transfer, commonly called as “dividend” to the government, is almost double of the previous record of Rs 65,896 crore

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday decided to transfer a record Rs 1,23,414 crore of its surplus to the central government for the fiscal year 2018-19 or FY19 (July to June), and an additional Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions as recommended by the Bimal Jalan committee on Economic Capital Framework (ECF).

The surplus transfer, commonly called “dividend”, is almost double the previous record of Rs 65,896 crore. In the previous year, the RBI transferred Rs 50,000 crore, while in 2016-17, the dividend was only Rs 30,659 crore because of demonetisation.

Of the total, Rs 28,000 crore has already been transferred to the government as interim dividend. The ECF, headed by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan, and with former deputy governor Rakesh Mohan as vice-chairman, suggested a much smaller transfer.

Some analysts were expecting the committee would recommend a transfer of at least Rs 3 trillion from RBI’s reserves — Rs 1 trillion from contingency reserves and Rs 2 trillion from revaluation reserves…

Black money stashed outside India is estimated at $216-490 bn, say studies

MPs’ panel: There’s huge variation in estimates of black money circulation from 7% to 120% of GDP

Various studies and estimates have pegged black money circulation in India anywhere between 7 per cent and 120 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009-10 and 2010-11. This was revealed by the standing committee on finance, quoting various studies and estimates. It highlighted the lack of a reliable estimation of unaccounted income and wealth. Given that the GDP stood at Rs 64.5 trillion in FY10 and Rs 76.7 trillion in FY11 (in old series), black money could amount to Rs 4.5-77.4 trillion in FY10 and Rs 5.3-92.08 trillion in the following year.

These estimates were given by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), and the National Institute of Finance Management (NIFM). The previous UPA government had commissioned studies by these institutions. The report, submitted to Parliament on Monday, also quoted these studies, estimating that the black money stashed away by Indians abroad was in the range of $216.48 billion to $490 billion between 1980 and 2010.

Besides, the committee, chaired by former law minister Veerappa Moily, pressed for the earliest introduction of the direct taxes code (DTC) in order to simplify and rationalise direct tax laws in the country. Moily told Business Standard that the Income Tax Act, due to its various amendments, had become a ‘fountain of black money generation’, and hence the entire Act needs to be simplified instead of making adhoc amendments.

Massive farmers’ march highlights India’s apathy towards agriculture sector

Among other things, the farmers are asking for loan waivers and better prices for their produce

Latest News: On the night of November 29, 2018, as many as 100,000 farmers from all over India arrived, via trains and tractors, in New Delhi, the country’s capital. The next day, tens of thousands more marched to the parliament to draw the Central Government’s attention to the deepening agrarian crisis and resulting farmer suicides. Among other things, the farmers are asking for loan waivers and better prices for their produce.

The two-day long protest, called the Kishan Mukti March (Farmer’s Freedom March), was led by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a joint platform of about 150 farm organizations, formed in June 2017. A press release published on the website Dilli Chalo (Let’s go to Delhi) explained that successive governments have failed to address the demands of millions of farmers. The group accused the authorities of ignoring the farmers’ plights, saying their apathy has turned into increasingly brutal antipathy.

The farmers’ charter of demands includes the passing of two bills in parliament, which have the potential to relieve their predicament — the Farmers’ Freedom from Indebtedness Bill, 2018, and the Farmers’ Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Prices for Agricultural Commodities Bill, 2018.

India GDP to grow faster in FY18 at 7.5%: Moody’s

Moody’s said the inflation rate in India has steadily declined to 3 per cent as of April

The Indian economy will grow at 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal, which rate will accelerate to 8 per cent in about four years, US rating agency Moody’s said on Wednesday ahead of the release of GDP figures for 2016-17 later in the day.

“We expect marginally faster growth in India. According to our forecast the economy will grow 7.5 per cent in fiscal year 2017 (2017-18) and 7.7 per cent in fiscal year 2018 (2018-19),” Moody’s Investors Service said in its Global Macro Outlook.

“Overall, we continue to believe that economic growth will gradually accelerate to around 8 per cent over the next three to four years,” it said,

The American agency also said that the negative impact of the November 8 demonetisation of high-value currency on the economy was limited in size and duration.

“The ruling BJP’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh state elections indicates that the government has remained politically popular despite the demonetisation exercise,” the report said.

The government has pushed through major reforms like further liberalising foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in a number of key sectors, the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for food, fertiliser and kerosene subsidies, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a National Bankruptcy Code.

“Together, these will help reduce inefficiencies and improve trend growth over the long run,” Moody’s said.

The rating agency, however, cautioned that “persistent banking sector weakness from a high proportion of delinquent loans on bank balance sheets will weigh on growth, if not resolved, by constraining credit for investment-related activity”.

“Private sector investment has remained weak despite progress on reforms, suggesting that some hurdles to investment remain binding in many cases.”

Moody’s said the inflation rate in India has steadily declined to 3 per cent as of April, owing to weaker food price inflation.

“We believe that the inflation rate will rise to around 5 per cent by the end of this year, once the effect of this temporary factor fades,” it said. | READMORE…