Rolling out a slew of measures for the working class in 2010, the government effected key reforms in some labour acts while also raising the annual rate of returns on employee provident funds to 9.5 per cent. The steps came as the government also unveiled the draft national policy on employment with suggestions of launching of a employment guarantee scheme in urban areas on the lines of NREGA. It amended the Payment...
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45% of farmers want to quit farming: Swaminathan by K.V. Kurmanath
Prof M.S. Swaminathan, the father of Green Revolution and Chairman of National Commission on Farmers (NCF) that called for revamp of policies to revitalise agriculture, says agricultural sector in India is entering a state of serious crisis. Quoting figures from National Sample Survey Organisation, he says half of the farmers in the country want to quit farming. Prof Swaminathan, who was here to deliver the Convocation Address at the Acharya N.G....
More »Flawed evidence and conclusions by Madabhushi Sridhar
The sentencing of Dr. Binayak Sen involves unverified charges, and unreasonable and unconstitutional findings. The constitutional validity of the charges of sedition and conspiracy that were used to implicate rights activists such as Binayak Sen merely for their anti-establishment political thoughts needs to be challenged. The action ridicules the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression. The sections of the Indian Penal Code that deal with “conspiracy to wage war against the government”...
More »Onion production likely to dip 12% this year
The country’s onion output is likely to dip by over 12% to 10.5 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year due to untimely and erratic rains last year, a top official said. India produced 12 million tonnes of onions in the 2009-10 crop year. Onions are grown in three seasons — kharif (summer), late kharif and rabi (winter). “We expect onion output to decline by 1.5 million tonnes to 10.5 million...
More »Left licks lips for GM fruit
A powerful central CPM leader has said “it is superstitious to completely oppose” genetically modified seeds, a shift that goes against the Left Front stand in Bengal that has a high stake in the debate. “It is superstitious to completely oppose these kinds of seeds. Such seeds could be used after thoroughly ensuring through tests that they would not harm human beings, animals and plants,” S. Ramachandran Pillai, CPM politburo member,...
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