From the Explained editor: China, the lingering monsoon, and a new Hindi-imposition row

In our weekly column on the Indian economy (every Monday), Harish Damodaran flagged some interesting dissonances in the data on India’s agricultural produce — between the figures for the production and consumption of milk, for example. Simply put, in the case of milk, if the data for production is assumed to be accurate, it would logically suggest consumption at levels that would appear to be somewhat unrealistic. There is only one way to resolve the doubts these discrepancies raise — and that is to have, as soon as possible, updated data from a new round of household consumption expenditure (HCE) survey. The last time these data were published was in 2011-12, and more recent figures are urgently needed, as Harish says, for both good agriculture and good monetary policy. Do read.

It’s been a remarkably rainy October, especially in North and Northwest India, with the monsoon reluctant to leave well after the conventional end of the season in September. In our weekly column (every Wednesday) on the environment, climate change, and science, Amitabh Sinha drew the big picture on the new normal of the Indian monsoon, and the increasingly obvious effects that climate change is having on weather patterns.

The decades-old controversy around the imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi-speaking states was resurrected after two Chief Ministers and several other leaders protested against the reported contents of the latest volume of the Report of the Official Language Committee, which was presented to President Droupadi Murmu by the panel last month. Liz Mathew unpacked the history and mandate of the Committee, which has been in existence since 1976, and what is known about the contents of the not-yet-public Report.

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Sincerely,

Monojit