-The Times of India Fearing reprisals over the violence against Muslims in Assam, people from the northeast continued to flee from cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Mumbai, even as ethnic clashes between Bodos and Muslims that began in July spread to Baksa, Nalbari and Kamrup districts on Thursday.  More than 3,000 labourers from the northeast living in Chennai thronged the station to take the weekly Egmore-Dibrugarh Express after they heard...

-The Hindu Unemployment dole, introduced in Kerala in 1982, the first State to do so, could soon be a thing of past if Labour Minister Shibu Baby John has his way. “We need to rethink on the unemployment dole as it does not serve any purpose now,” Mr. John toldThe Hindu . The government spends Rs.50 crore a year on the unemployment assistance scheme and there are roughly 3.5 lakh people getting...

-The Times of India MIDNAPORE: A farmer from the former Maoist stronghold of West Midnapore village landed in jail on Saturday for putting uncomfortable questions to chief minister Mamata Banerjee at a public meeting at Belpahari. Hours after the meeting, police charged him with non-bailable offences such as criminal intimidation, the maximum punishment for which is death. Police started sniffing at his "criminal intent" when the bus conductor-turned-farmer, Shiladitya Chowdhury, broke through...

-The Telegraph Jhargram: A farmer who had accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of making false promises to Jungle Mahal’s poor at her Wednesday rally was picked up a second time on Friday night and slapped with non-bailable charges. Forty-something Shiladitya Chowdhury, who owns a one-bigha plot, has been charged with assaulting and injuring government officials three days after the police apparently let him go because they could find no evidence that he...

-The Business Standard Hiring contract labour must come with more commitments Almost a third of India’s organised labour force is on contract. This is an inevitable consequence of archaic labour laws that make it impossible for India Inc to disengage permanent workers even if they can’t afford them, don’t need them or they don’t perform. Companies such as Maruti Suzuki India have thus used contract workers liberally — almost half the workers...