Members of eight major central trade unions and independent workers'/employees' federations will march to Parliament on February 23 to protest against what they call the “indifferent and don't care attitude” of the Manmohan Singh government to the “steep rise in the prices of essential commodities, rampant violation in implementation of labour laws, plight of unorganised workers, and reckless contractorisation of employees.” The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), trade union wing...

While Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde announced on Monday that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had given the green signal for the 4,000-MW Ultra-Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Bedabahal in Orissa, the clearance has come with a catch. The MoEF has imposed “stringent conditions'' for coal mining including scrapping another proposed power project and rejection of mining in a coal block allotted to NTPC Ltd. The UMPP had...

Journalists should uphold accuracy and fairness and make a conscious attempt to present diverse views on a situation or an issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here on Saturday. Inaugurating the year-long centenary celebrations of the Kerala Kaumudi here on Saturday, Dr. Singh said: “Journalists who inform and educate the public are conscience keepers of society who point out lapses of the administration and government and also society at large. A...

EU is pushing India and Canada to sign free trade agreements that will hurt their generic drugs—and the outrage is global After months of prevarication, the European Union has stated publicly that the free trade agreement (FTA) it signs with India will include provisions for data exclusivity because “it is extremely important for research and innovation’’. That’s what European Union ambassador Daniele Smadja told Journalists in Delhi on January 21. Smadja’s...

THE WORLD BANK IN INDIA - Undermining Sovereignty, Distorting Development: Edited by Michele Kelley, Deepika D'Souza; Orient Blackswan, 3-6-752, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad-500029. Rs. 895. This book is a collection of essays covering an array of economic issues ranging from agriculture, poverty, food security, power, water, to governance, environment impact and sustainability of growth, and the impact of the World Bank on them. Even a cursory reading would show that it is a...