Contrary to the rising economic distress on the ground since the last few years, the official press release related to the fourth Annual Report on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) at first glance seems to give a rosy picture about the employment situation in India.  Defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force, the unemployment rate in usual status (principal activity status + subsidiary economic activity status)...

-Press release by Mineral Inheritors Rights Association (MIRA) dated September 21, 2022  The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) declares that the area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (comprising the seabed, ocean floor and subsoil, excluding the water above) (the “Area”) and its resources, are the Common Heritage of Humankind. All rights in the resources of the Area are vested in humankind as a whole. UNCLOS provides...

-Press release by Oxfam India dated 15 September 2022 New Delhi: Oxfam India’s latest ‘India Discrimination Report 2022’ finds women in India despite their same educational qualification and work experience as men will be discriminated in the labour market due to societal and employers’ prejudices. The academically recognised statistical model applied in the India Discrimination Report is now able to quantify the discrimination women face in the labour market. The lower...

-TheWire.in * As of last year, financial institutions from India were the third-largest investors out of six countries financing 80% of the world’s coal investments. * A 2021 report found that ICICI, the State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Trust Group and HDFC were among the fourth-biggest group of financiers of coal-based projects worldwide. * Indian commercial banks’ large-scale investment in Big Infra has exposed the Indian people’s savings and personal investments to...

-Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Delhi The report Regulating Urban Trees in India: Issues and Challenges by Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon (published in July, 2022), highlights the scope and functions of a dozen tree laws implemented in different states in India. The implementation of these laws has come to public focus in recent years due to the growing number of cases of large-scale tree felling in Indian cities. The government use of mechanisms...