Data recap: Air quality, IT hiring, rice exports, and more

livemint.com:

Mint in the week gone by. The union government has reportedly decided to slash the minimum export price for basmati rice from $1,200 a tonne to $950 a tonne, while Paytm founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma has launched a ₹30-crore ‘VSS Investments Fund’ to invest in startups. Food production for the year 2022-23 is estimated at 329.7 million tonnes, marking around a 4.5% increase from the previous year, data released by the ministry of agriculture showed.

The output of primary cereals such as rice and wheat saw an uptick of 4.9% and 2.6%, respectively, and the production of coarse grains saw a surge of 12%. The record high production was achieved even after subpar rains in rice-growing areas affected 7 million tonnes of kharif rice output. Retail investors who entered the market in August and September may experience the worst impact if the broader market indices experience a further decline from their current levels, amid the rising bond yields in the US and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in West Asia, Mint reported.

Cumulatively, retail investors have invested ₹21,900 crore in those two months, after net sales of ₹21,400 crore from April to July. However, this is in contrast with foreign portfolio investors (FPI) selling ₹27,800 crore in cash during the two-month period. ₹30 crore: That's the amount in the VSS Investments Fund launched by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.