-Economic and Political Weekly How will the amendments to the Factories Act affect women workers? How do women view the "protections" and night work? Apoorva Kaiwar (akaiwar@yahoo.co.in) is a labour lawyer and consultant on issues of gender and labour. The central government is proposing to amend several labour laws. The process of amending them has been underway since 2011, which means that it is not only the new dispensation that is eager to...

-The Business Standard Four sub missions have been merged into one scheme - agri extension, seed and planting material, agri mechanisation and plant protection and plant quarantine   mumbai: The ministry of agriculture has introduced an umbrella scheme to augment agricultural extension and technology activities with the objective of improving the supply of the agricultural commodities from the grass root level. According to official sources, the impetus on agricultural extension has to go hand...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government has turned down an RTI query seeking details of the wealth of the chief minister and the council of ministers claiming it is not in the "larger public interest". The move is in sharp contrast to that of the Union government which has made facts related to assets and liabilities of its council of ministers public since 2011 and Supreme Court judges who...

-The Hindu Business Line Edible oil, sugar prices drop sharply as rainfall deficit shrinks to 19% mumbai: With the monsoon deficit shrinking and the Government keen to crack down on hoarders, prices of most essential commodities such as edible oil, sugar and wheat are showing signs of softening in the wholesale market. After a lacklustre start, the South-West monsoon has recovered since mid-July. The rainfall deficit has shrunk to 19 per cent currently.....

-The Telegraph In her recent book, Green Wars, the environmental journalist Bahar Dutt, writes: "The editor of a leading media house, everytime I pitched a green story, would invariably complain: ‘Environmentalism is stalling growth; all I am interested in is double-digit growth for this country.'" The idea that environmental protection and economic progress are at odds is widely held among India's elite. It is shared by newspaper editors, economists, businessmen, and, not...