-The Indian Express The slowdown has hit these workers the hardest. Faced with the prospect of not being able to earn any money until the end of the month, most decided it was better to return to their homes. Mumbai, Pune: As shops and establishments prepared to shut down following a Maharashtra government order that all private businesses and companies must remain closed from Saturday until March 31, an exodus began in...

-Down to Earth Pesticide consumption in India grew by 13.07 per cent in India between 2014-15 and 2017-18 Maharashtra consumed the most chemical pesticides in India in the past five years at 61,138 tonnes, followed by Uttar Pradesh (UP) at 52,747 tonnes and Punjab at 29,394 tonnes, according to non-profit Pesticide Action Network (PAN). Maharashtra increased its pesticide consumption by 35.6 per cent between 2014-15 and 2018-19, while UP reported an increase of...

-Hindustan Times According to data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted in 2017-18, workers engaged in so-called casual work – their wages were based on daily or periodic renewal of a work contract – form a quarter of the total workforce. The Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra governments on Tuesday took steps to protect the livelihoods of daily wage earners. While the Maharashtra government has urged employers to pay daily wagers...

-Business Standard Schools across the state shut till April 2, while protests and demonstrations banned Lucknow: In the backdrop of the coronavirus scare expected to hit the livelihood of daily wage earners due to slowing down of economy, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday announced to constitute a high-level committee to provide them the required monetary support. The three-member committee, headed by the UP finance minister and comprising the state agriculture and labour...

-Down to Earth No funds released under Jal Shakti Abhiyan, MGNREGS works incomplete: District officials Over 400 kilometres from Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district — where construction of bunds under Jal Shakti Abhiyan helped revive groundwater — is another that paints an opposite picture. Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district ranked 205 among the 255 water-stressed districts in terms of successful water intervention schemes under Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) and community participation. Rajgarh district collector Mrinal Meena...