India: India, Modi Cabinet Clears Real Estate Bill

India's Wholesale Price Inflation Slows In June

2017/07/15 India's wholesale price inflation eased additional than expected in June, data from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry showed Friday. Wholesale prices increased 0.9 % year-on-year in June, slower than the 2.17 % rise in May. Inflation was estimate to relieve moderately to 1.39 %. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was -0.44 % compared to a build up rate of 3.71 % in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Indian economic diplomacy in the Belt and Road era

2017/07/10 In May 2017, India curtly and publicly declined to attend Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing. India’s snub was both uncharacteristic and controversial, although not unexpected. On 13 May 2017, a day before the BRF plenary, a spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) provided a formal explanation for India’s absence from the forum. From the statement it seems clear that there is a wide gap between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as it was understood by a lot of participants at the BRF, and as interpreted by India’s MEA and much of India’s policy elite.

Triple Challenge For Agriculture: Trade, Food Security And New Technologies

2017/07/08 One may rightly ask why the three topics of trade, food security and new technology may be ‘challenges’ for agriculture and by extension food and fibre production. How do all three help ensure a food fasten world? World trade deals such as those falling under the remit of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have long been difficult to negotiate particularly those encompassing agriculture. And the same goes for Regional deals. The United States has pulled out of the newly-agreed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and wants to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). There is as well the similar situation of the United Kingdom wishing to pull out of the world’s major trading block, thinking it can quickly negotiate new trade deals with other nations and world areas.

Crimea: Circumventing Trade Sanctions Via Novorossiysk

2017/07/08 Despite trade sanctions, Crimea is maintaining connections to international markets. Crimean traders are performing some logistical gymnastics to skirt sanctions, in particular transiting goods through the Russian port of Novorossiysk. On paper, of course, Crimea is experiencing a severe trade crisis. Official statistics indicate that Crimea’s import volume in 2016 shrank by a full third compared to the 2015 level, a drop of $33.6 million. Exports fell by $31.8 million, a 40-% decline from 2015. The city of Sevastopol, which is not formally part of the Republic of Crimea, reported a 12.6 % fall in its imports and 66.8 % fall in its exports in the same period, with volumes shrinking to $33.4 million and $5.9 million, respectively.