Karnataka

1. Flood damage : Coffee production may go down by 20 %.

• Coffee production in India will slump to the lowest in 21 years next season as heavy showers, flooding and landslides damaged trees in the main growing areas in the south of Asia’s third biggest producer.
• Together, Karnataka (70 per cent), Kerala (20 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (6 per cent) make up for 96 per cent of the country's coffee production.
• As the coffee sector is labour-intensive, 70 per cent of the expenditure is spent on workers -- towards their wages and social costs, including provident fund, health, education of their children and housing

2. Oxytocin manufacture granted to Karnataka company

• Setting aside its ban on the sale of oxytocin, the Health Ministry has allowed private retail stores to sell the life-saving hormone from September 1.State-owned Karnataka Antibiotics Pvt Ltd will be the only company to manufacture and distribute oxytocin in India from September 1. The government has already banned the import of oxytocin.
• Oxytocin is a hormone known to trigger a wide variety of physical and psychological effects and is commonly used to facilitate childbirth. The Government of India banned retail sale of the hormone in 2014 after it was found that indiscriminate use of Oxytocin in milch animals and by farmers was causing irreversible hormone damage.
• Misuse of Oxytocin is leading to early sterility in milch animals at an unprecedented rate. Despite it being a Schedule H drug, it is impossible to prevent its manufacturing at registered private factories. Implications to human health are humongous, from reproductive complications to hormonal imbalances.
• In March 2016, the Himachal Pradesh High Court directed the Central government to “consider the feasibility of restricting the manufacture of Oxytocin only in public sector companies and also restricting and limiting the manufacture by companies to whom licences have already been granted.”

General

1. NCLT into action against big corporates

• Many big corporate debtors, with loans collectively exceeding Rs. 70,000 crore, are likely to be headed to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a circular in February, mandated banks to identify projects with even a day’s default as stressed asset and conclude the resolution proceedings in 180 days.

2. US * China trade war goes on

• The U.S. slapped steep tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods on triggering a swift tit-for-tat retaliation from Beijing, even as negotiators from both sides seek to soothe trade tensions.
• The latest action completes the first round of $50 billion in Chinese products that President Donald Trump had targeted, with Beijing striking back at American products dollar-for-dollar at each step.