-Outlook According to the Labour Bureau’s Employment Unemployment Surveys, total employment in the country shrank by about 0.4 per cent annually between 2013-14 and 2015-16, a number which corresponds to 37.4 lakh people being unemployed. There has been an absolute decline in employment – number of people with jobs – between 2013-14 and 2015-16, possibly for the first time since independence, a new study published in the EPW journal says. Three...

-The Indian Express It underlined that the US government funded the 2017 report which estimated 40 million slaves in the world, including 25 million in the Asia-Pacific. WARNING that “global documentation on slavery is increasingly targeting India as home to the highest number of slaves in the world,” the Intelligence Bureau in a “secret” note has recommended a strong campaign to “discredit” the information and a diplomatic offensive against it. The Bureau submitted...

-The Indian Express Delhi High Court judgment in the Mahmood Farooqui case obfuscates the basic principle of consent. The December 16, 2012, gangrape in New Delhi, and the widespread public agonising and legal reform that followed it, helped redefine ideas of gender justice in progressive ways. Following the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, criminalised voyeurism and stalking. These changes in the law have been accompanied...

-TheWire.in The new state laws, which are in line with the BJP’s land ordinance, undo consent procedures and legitimise land acquisition with terms favourable to investors. One of independent India’s landmark legal reforms has failed. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, (LARR) 2013, which replaced the colonial legislation of 1894, was one of the biggest reforms in the arena of land governance. But following...

-The Hindu Linking agricultural and nutritional outcomes is crucial The world’s population is booming. According to estimates, the global population is likely to exceed 9 billion by 2050, with 5 billion people in Asia alone. The capacity to produce enough quality food is falling behind human numbers. Food production in the region must keep pace, even as environment sustainability and economic development are ensured. The answer to these challenges lies in research...