-Business Standard The govt's view is that the unions should be representatives of the workers who can negotiate with the management and raise issues concerning them The labour wing of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Monday raised concerns over the Union government's proposal to restrict the entry of outsiders into the trade unions. "The ILO convention clearly states that it should be up to the trade unions to decide about its structures...

-The Economist Wealth and child welfare are sensitive topics in India. As the country has grown richer in the past couple of decades, Indians’ health has improved only slowly. The story has varied widely from state to state. Governments of southern ones like Kerala and Tamil Nadu do a lot to help women and children; health indicators there show steady gains. In the north and west, even in better-off states, nutrition,...

-Hindustan Times London: There are 1.6 billion people living in multidimensional poverty across the world and nearly 440 million of them are in eight large Indian states, according to a new analysis using a unique index developed at the University of Oxford.   The eight Indian states that have similar number of poor as in 25 African countries are Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The poorest...

-PTI New Delhi: In the previous year, when Delhi was under President's Rule, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had presented a Rs.36,776 crore budget for the 2014-15 fiscal for Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party government on Thursday presented a Rs 41,129 crore budget with a major focus on education, health and transport sectors besides allocating funds to provide free wifi facility in colleges and villages. Presenting the budget, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia...

-The Indian Express As several steps taken by the Centre for the sector hangs fire, clarity and implementation of ‘Housing for All’ scheme would be the key for its success. The Union Cabinet approved its flagship ‘Housing for All’ scheme this week, with a 2022 target and a renewed emphASIs on the low-income group categories by way of relaxed income limits and higher interest subvention. While the government seems to have struck...