Dear Express Explained Reader, Over the past 15 months of the pandemic, food — specifically, rice and wheat channelled through the public distribution system (PDS) — has been the preeminent component of the social safety net that the government has offered to vulnerable sections of society. The last year saw India achieve four food records: record offtake from the central pool, record procurement, record stocks in warehouses, and record exports. Harish Damodaran told the story through data of how this came about. In the United States this week, President Joe Biden appointed Lina Khan, a 32-year-old professor of law, to the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, the country’s competition regulator. Khan is one of the world’s most prominent critics of Big Tech, whose seminal paper on the business practices of Amazon in 2017 made her a star in regulatory policy circles. Anil Sasi analysed the significance of the appointment for antitrust policy in the US, and its likely ripples around the world. Across much of India, there is excitement that the southwest monsoon has come early this year. Across all meteorological regions of the country, seasonal rainfall as of yesterday was between 9 per cent and 100 per cent more than the long period average, and the departure for the country as a whole was (+)41 per cent. Anjali Marar explained why this is happening — and why an early monsoon isn’t that unusual after all. There are three other smaller but interesting explainers from this week that I would like to flag to you. Amitabh Sinha explained the role of animal serum in the making of some of our most critical vaccines. Ritika Chopra wrote about election petitions, the grounds on which they can be filed, and some important cases of this kind. Harikishan Sharma wrote on the hallmarking of gold jewellery, which is now mandatory for big jewellers in many districts of the country. Those of you who have been reading this newsletter may have noticed that it does not, for the first time in several months, talk mostly about Covid. Explained, and this newsletter, follows the news cycle — so this is encouraging. But the time to take those masks off is far away still. Stay safe. Sincerely, Monojit (monojit.majumdar@expressindia.com) If you received this newsletter as a forward, you can subscribe to it here | Do read our Explained articles here | .png)
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