-The Hindu Industry had opposed the move as it may hurt small factories financially New Delhi: The centre is reconsidering a plan to widen the social security net for workers by bringing more factories under the provident fund coverage. The Cabinet Secretariat has pointed out a few contradictions in the Labour Ministry’s proposal to amend the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act of 1952, senior labour ministry officials said. The Labour Ministry had...

-The Hindu Recent years have been a watershed in the public health programme in India. We have managed to eradicate diseases such as polio and tetanus, reduced maternal and child mortality rates significantly, halved the prevalence of tuberculosis and malaria and increased the life expectancy for both adults and children. These achievements reflect the unflinching efforts of the Indian government and all stakeholders in the past two decades to ensure health...

-The Hindu If concurrent Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were to be a reality, it would go against the political diversity essential for addressing the social diversity of India. Though spoken about for quite a few years, simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies seem to be fast on their way to becoming a matter of national concern. This proposal is not only being discussed in the television studio, but...

-PTI Unions claimed that the government has not formally invited them to the summit, but has appointed BMS to coordinate with them for the event New Delhi: The 2-day BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Labour and Employment Ministerial meeting will commence in New Delhi on Tuesday but the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) have decided to boycott the event. The meeting will deliberate on issues including job creation and social security...

-The Hindu Governance performance ranked over a decade Regional disparity has been growing over the years, shows a new study which evaluates the governance performance of 19 major States. The research, conducted by Sudipto Mundle, Samik Chaudhury and Satadru Sikdar, was published in The Economic and Political Weekly earlier this month. Five of the six best-performing States in 2001 — Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab — continue to be the...