From bicycle to mangoes all things turned turtle

First it was Covid pandemic, then Russia's attack on Ukraine, and now the harsh weather, all these obstacles shook India and all the countries of the world. The spread of Coronavirus is largely under control; and if we talk about the Russian aggression, that too will end sooner or later. But the trouble before humanity will still remain, because the threat of global warming is staring in the eyes. Military action anywhere largely affects the climate. For example, due to the presence of troops on the Siachen Glacier on the Indo-Pak border, the snow keeps melting, disturbing the environmental balance. Individuals, markets and human health, all got affected by the recent troubles. Maintaining immunity at the time of pandemic was the top priority of one and all. To keep the body fit, cycling has been recommended from the beginning. In the last two years, people bought bicycles on a large scale and fulfilled their dream of pedaling. During this time a large number of cycles were sold and the cycle industry thought of competing with China. Then the Ukraine war started and the whole plan turned upside down.

Right now the condition is that cycle companies have to reduce their production by 50 percent. Raw materials like steel, nickel, chrome salt, rubber and carbon black are needed to manufacture a bicycle. The Ukraine war disrupted supply lines and doubled the price of steel. The cost of the remaining raw materials also increased by 30 percent. Because of this, the cycle industry is facing a loss of 30 million rupees every month. Most of the bicycles in the world are made in China, while India is at number two. The biggest center of bicycle production in the country is the city of Ludhiana in Punjab. Major cycle brands like Hero, Avon and United are present in Ludhiana. Similarly, the newspaper industry also suffered, first by Corona and now due to the Ukraine war. In fact, newsprint is not reaching on time due to disruption in the global supply lines. This has caused the price rise of the newsprint. In addition to paper, ink and aluminum plates are also used to print newspapers. All these raw materials have become costlier by 15 to 22 percent, due to which newspaper publishers are facing challenges. Despite this, the cost of a newspaper in India is much lower than in other countries.

Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation has increased all over the world, but it has more impact on European countries. In countries like Germany, Spain, Italy, rationing is being done on buying goods from departmental stores, that is, people cannot buy things in the quantity they want. The racks of edible oils are seen empty and there is also a shortage of wheat flour. Not only lemon, but mango has also been affected by the weather this season. Lemon crops were destroyed in Maharashtra and Gujarat due to storms last year. Similarly, this time owing to the increase in temperature and untimely rains in some states, the mango blossom has withered, due to which the mango production has been affected. That is why this time mangoes are being sold at double the price and the supply is also less.

(Writer is a senior journalist & columnist)