-Business Standard Environment ministry also plans to cut the two-stage mandatory clearances under the Environment Protection Act to a single stage, shaving six months from the process   The central government is working to substantially cut red tape at the environment ministry by doing away with multiple applications for all the green clearances that a project developer requires. A single comprehensive application would soon replace the existing multiple-window system. The environment ministry also plans...

-The Times of India LONDON: With over 14.2 million in India being involved in forced labour and being victims of trafficking - for sexual exploitation and forced marriage, the country is home to the largest number of people trapped in modern slavery. Globally, 35.8 million people are enslaved across the world. Of them, 23.5 million people are in Asia, two-thirds of global total in 2014 (65.8%). The Global Slavery Index 2014 announced...

In the midst of national debates over the need for labour laws reforms and the efficacy of MG-NREGA in checking distress migration, a new report brings spotlight on the miserable living and working conditions of unorganized migrant workers from Rajasthan. Titled Their Own Country: A Profile of Labor Migration from Rajasthan, the report prepared jointly by Aajeevika Bureau and UNESCO informs us that 70% of seasonal migrant workers from Rajasthan...

-Economic and Political Weekly The current regime seeks to reform labour laws with the understanding that these reforms will improve industrial growth and expand the possibilities of enterprise. However, there is already ample evidence from within India that this obsession with reforming labour law, particularly in the way the government has done it till now, will not take us any closer in creating more jobs or a healthy industrial sector. These...

-Business Standard State expects more investment as industry cheers move Paving the way for the first set of labour reforms in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to Rajasthan's Amendments to three laws. Among major changes, the Industrial Disputes Act will allow companies employing up to 300 staffers to lay off workers or close down without taking the government's prior approval. Earlier, those with up to 100 employees...