-The Hindu Indentured labour may be a forgotten part of our colonial economic history but Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh are still sending ‘Girmitya' to toil in distant lands The descendants of indentured labourers, who migrated from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to erstwhile colonies, recently met at The Hague in the Netherlands to commemorate 140 years of migration - perpetuated through a system popularly known as ‘Girmit.' They gathered from all...

-Outlook The oasis UPA is supposed to have brought Pakur is a mirage UPA Divertissement Ad claims refurbished pond in Hiranpur block has promoted communal amity through ‘social and religious events'. Locals say no such events have held. Locals dissatisfied with the siphon irrigation system praised in the ad have damaged it repeatedly In fact, local administration is worried about a law and order situation if it files...

-The Business Standard Not so efficiently or transparently but there is progress and hope, besides showcasing likely problems with the Centre's own law Mahasamund (Chhattisgarh): The UPA government at the Centre has been mulling hard on ways to enact its Food Security Bill, even as the Chhattisgarh government has completed six months of enacting a like law, one providing 35 kg of rice a month at Rs 2 a kg to all...

-IPS News India's planners worry about ‘jobless growth', but perhaps nothing illustrates this phenomenon better than a policy of handing over the collection and disposal of the capital's refuse to large private corporations, leaving close to 50,000 ragpickers unemployed. For decades ragpickers provided a service to this city, scavenging waste for recyclable plastic, aluminium, glass and other materials, and earning a livelihood by selling their pickings to contractors with equipment to process...

-The Hindu About two lakh from Odisha working in brick kilns live in sub-human conditions Ranga Reddy district: Birubak and his wife Varanasi, together with their five-year-old daughter Seema are paid just Rs. 600 to Rs. 800 a week. Hailing from Odisha, they have a 14-hour work-day that starts at 4 a.m. They just have time to eat the little food that Varanasi can prepare, wash utensils and grab just two to four...