-Down to Earth There is an urgency to adopt global labour standards and improve national-level labour registries for home-based workers, organisation says in its new report There is a need to develop effective policies for home-based workers and ensure their proper implementation even as the practice had increased since the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a new report. Just 10 countries had ratified the Convention on...

-Scroll.in Greater public employment ensures better deliver of public services to citizens. This is an excerpt from the sixth edition of the India Exclusion Report, a collaborative effort involving institutions and individuals working with a shared notion of social and economic equity, justice and rights. The report seeks to inform public opinion around exclusion and the role of the state and to influence policy-making towards creating a more inclusive, equitable and just...

-The Hindu Draft Model Standing Orders are out New Delhi: The Union Labour and Employment Ministry has sought comments and objections on the draft Model Standing Orders, which are the legally-binding documents that govern service conditions of workers, for the service, manufacturing and mining sectors, a Ministry statement said on Saturday. The Ministry published the drafts on December 31, 2020, inviting comments from stakeholders for 30 days. “Keeping in view the needs of the...

-The Indian Express Farmers’ genuine concerns must be addressed as soon as possible so that they can continue producing food and fibre needed for the ever-increasing population. In the early 1960s, near-famine conditions prevailed in India and some 10 million tonnes of wheat had to be imported from the US under the PL480 programme. The country’s situation was pejoratively dubbed “ship-to-mouth” existence, as foodgrains arriving via ships were immediately consumed. In 1963, Norman...

-Newsclick.in The global study, published by BMC Public Health, revealed that about 44% of the worldwide farming population (total 860 million) are poisoned by pesticides every year. In a comprehensive study published on Monday, December 8, scientists estimated that about 385 million people, particularly among farmers and agriculture workers, are poisoned by pesticides every year including 11,000 deaths per year. Among the fatalities, nearly 60% or 6,600 deaths per year occur in...