-The Hindu   The World of Work Report 2014 catalogues the impressive strides developing countries are making to catch up with advanced nations. But the International Labour Organisation study also contains important caveats on the cost from continuing sharp inequalities. Per capita income has grown on average by 3.3 per cent per annum in 140 countries over the past three decades, as against 1.8 per cent in the advanced economies. But this...

-Economic and Political Weekly Any analysis of India's livestock sector must take into account the region-specific growth of the sector, micro-level economic viability of production, and the role of women's Unpaid Labour, among other factors. All these are crucial to understand whether India's livestock sector will grow sustainably in the future. D K Desai (dhiruprem@gmail.com) retired as professor from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Please click here to download ...

-The Telegraph The Centre has announced sweeping changes in rural employment scheme NREGA ahead of next summer's elections, promising family members of job cardholders more benefits and faster payments besides including new projects. Most changes are aimed at reducing payment delays, described by beneficiaries and activists as the bane of the UPA's showcase welfare plan. A highlight of the revamp is a plan to engage a family member of an NREGA worker as...

-Frontline In a situation of increasing life expectancy and crumbling traditional support structures, a universal social pension scheme that does not rely on contribution by a person or an employer can help the elderly. INDIA prides itself on being a "young" society, likely to benefit from a demographic dividend as children and young people move into working age groups over the next decade. This optimistic view assumes that society will be able...

-The Times of India RANCHI: Labourers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) would have hardly imagined that a day would come when they would be paid their wages, which were pending for more than two years now. As many as 91 labourers, who worked with the hope of supporting their families in the winter of 2010, were pleasantly surprised when they were paid not only their outstanding...