-PTI NEW DELHI: Despite the demand from the trade unions, the government today said there is no proposal to regularise contract workers. "There is no provision of regularisation under the Contract Labour (Regulations and Abolitions) Act 1970 and therefore, there is no proposal to regularise the contract workers," Minister of State for Labour and Employment K Suresh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. He said there are an estimated 18.44 lakh...

-Down to Earth Centre wants to treat anaemia with iron tablets. Can pills substitute nutritious food? Eleven-year-old Indumati Katla, who lives in Wazirpur, Delhi, went to school on July 17. There, her class teacher asked her to gulp down a maroon tablet. Two hours later, she was in hospital recuperating from severe nausea, giddiness and fatigue. She was among the 200 government school students in Delhi who fell ill that day after...

-CivilSocietyOnline.com Kozhikode: Dubai's agriculture minister recently chartered a flight to Kozhikode and, accompanied by a horticulture consultant, headed to the Agriculture Research Station (ARS) at Anakkayam nearby. There the minister, Abdulla Jassim Abdulla M Almarzooqi, placed orders for fruits, spices and ornamental plants. But on his mind was something bigger. He offered free visas and air tickets to the 100 members of the research station's agricultural army, which rather grandly goes...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Within a fortnight, you may be able to pick up a cooking gas refill from petrol pumps owned and operated by state-run oil companies in the four metros and big cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad. Oil minister M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday approved the proposal allowing sale of 5-kg cylinders at commercial rate. The cost of the small refill will be Rs 361, oil company...

-The Hindu The Marrakesh draft treaty, which will allow free distribution of books in disabled-friendly formats, is not enough by itself without a wider culture of providing for accessibility in learning Last month, delegates from around the world gathered in Marrakesh, Morocco, to sign a draft treaty of immense value to the visually handicapped and people with diverse difficulties in accessing print. The draft treaty signed at the World Intellectual Property Organisation...