Trade unions and labour rights activists blame the high suicide rate in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, on the practices of the garment industry. TIRUPUR has carved out a niche for itself in the world of garments. Its phenomenal growth in the highly competitive global scenario, particularly in the past two decades, has been made possible by the entrepreneurial spirit of its manufacturers and exporters and the sweat and labour of thousands of...

Gangadhar Gaikwad writes to Governor after work on his house was stalled Gangadhar Gaikwad's neighbourhood hates him. His Scheduled Caste background is a constant source of irritation. And a house that the government decided to build him is a thorn in the flesh. One fine day, construction of the house stopped. “These Mangs [an SC community in Maharashtra] have come and now they want to build a house in front of ours....

Maharashtra's deadline for the completion of the Unique Identification Number (UID) project seems to be escalating even as the Prime Minister is set to launch the project by the month-end from Nandurbar. In the last month, Ashok Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, had said during a function that the State will start issuing UID cards by November 1, 2010. But Anil Deshmukh, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection,...

The goal of food for all can be achieved only through sustained efforts in producing, saving and sharing foodgrains. The Supreme Court of India has rendered great service by arousing public, professional and political concern about the co-existence of rotting grain mountains and mounting hungry mouths. In several African countries hunger is increasing because food is either not available in the market, or is too expensive for the poor. Food inflation...

KEY TRENDS   • Maternal Mortality Ratio for India was 370 in 2000, 286 in 2005, 210 in 2010, 158 in 2015 and 145 in 2017. Therefore, the MMRatio for the country decreased by almost 61 percent between 2000 and 2017 *14    • As per the NSS 71st round, among rural females aged 5-29 years, the main reasons for dropping out/ discontinuance were: engagement in domestic activities, not interested in education, financial constraints and marriage. Among rural males aged...