Coming months ‘crucial' The International Labour Organisation has warned that a jobs crisis caused by the slowdown in the global economy threatens a wave of widespread social unrest engulfing both rich and poor countries. Highlighting the darkening prospects for employment, the Geneva-based ILO said policymakers were running out of time to head off a double-dip recession in labour markets. “We have reached the moment of truth,” said Raymond Torres, director of the...

We must not allow the pain and suffering of the Sikh victims to be transformed into a political instrument to mute calls for justice for the ‘other' victims of similarly orchestrated massacres. More than a quarter century on, not much remains of ‘1984' — shorthand for one of the largest pogroms in India's postcolonial history when thousands of Sikhs were massacred in retribution for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination — in...

-The Indian Express   When it burst into public consciousness earlier this year, the India Against Corruption movement appeared to be led by a team that instinctively understood each other, despite their differences. They came from a similar gene pool and had benefited from largely similar opportunities, they felt the same frustration with aspects of the state, they shared a common vocabulary, and the same burning priorities. They were united in their...

-The Times of India   National Advisory Council (NAC) member Aruna Roy lashed out at the Planning Commission's new criteria for poverty line submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. "This affidavit reflects the government's deep lack of empathy for the poor and a perspective completely divorced from reality," she said. Roy was reacting to the Plan panel's submission to the Supreme Court, saying if a person's spending exceeds Rs 32 a day in...

-The Hindu   The midnight police swoop on yoga exponent and telestar ‘Baba' Ramdev and his supporters was arbitrary, brutal, and anti-democratic. A peaceful assembly had suddenly been set upon and tens of innocent people injured for no fault of their own. “No government has reached out as much as ours,” negotiating Minister Kapil Sibal had boasted on the eve of the action. “But if we can reach out, we can...