-The Hindu Rs.3,500 crore of second tranche of stimulus to be spent on allocation to those without ration cards. A major focus of the second tranche of the economic stimulus package announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday was to provide free foodgrains for the next two months to migrant workers who do not have ration cards. The Centre will spend ₹3,500 crore for this purpose. Quoting numbers from State governments,...

-TheWire.in While most of the laws may not be strictly enforced, does that justify doing away with them completely? In the last week, several important labour laws, meant to safeguard the welfare of the workers and ensure industrial safety, have been “suspended” for a few years in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Although the orders put out by each state government have their own tweaks and variations, these decisions collectively come with...

-Vikalp.ind.in Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India has amalgamated all the existing social security legislations into a Code. The proposed draft Code on Social Security is presently being referred to Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour for examination. This commentary highlights the salient features of the proposed code and discusses the areas of improvement and concerns.   After considerable period of deliberations and consultations, the Union Government has circulated the draft...

-Hindustan Times Mumbai: Alleging that the Centre was diluting environment protection laws to allow construction in ecologically important areas, citizens and environment groups have filed 3,971 objections against the draft environment impact assessment (EIA) notification, 2020 proposed by the Union environment ministry. On March 12, the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) presented the new rules that will replace the 2006 EIA notification, which is presently in force, in...

-PTI/ The Hindu Business Line Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is on the verge of collapse, and urged major industries to release the outstanding dues to such companies within a month. He said that the position of MSMEs was the “worst” as they were now engaged in a “battle for their survival”. The Minister also noted that the pendency of dues owed...