Even though the Central Government agreed to link the wages paid under MG-NREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), it shied away from paying statutory minimum wages in various states of India. Their logic for this: Lack of clarity on who will bear the extra financial burden—the Centre or the states? A letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA and NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dated 31...
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New world order will see farmers and miners in charge by Garry White and Rowena Mason
“All these people who got MBAs made a mistake,” according to Jim Rogers, the commodities investor, at the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit last month. “The City of London and Wall Street are not going to be great places to be in the next two or three decades. It’s going to be the people who produce real goods in charge – the farmers and the miners.” With commodities up 42pc since the beginning...
More »Honey export ban leads to huge crash in product prices by Amrita Chaudhry
Many bee-keepers in danger of losing livelihood, warn industrialists The ban on export of honey has led to a massive crash in the prices of honey, which has hurt the bee-keepers of the state. Expressing concern about the state of affairs, Kashmir Apiaries Exports/ Little Bee Impex CMD Jagjit Singh Kapoor said, “As a result of this ban, honey prices in the country are likely to crash further and the vulnerable...
More »Anatomy of Indian capitalism by Himanshu
Ratan Tata has initiated an interesting debate on the nature of India’s capitalist class. His characterization of this class as crony capitalists may not be out of place given recent evidence on a politics, media, judiciary and corporate nexus.Crony capitalism is a system in which businesses multiply their wealth not by fair rules of the market, but through their nexus with governments. Classic examples are the distribution of legal permits,...
More »Tribals win share of mineral wealth by SPS Pannu
Faced with a massive public outcry and fierce opposition from tribals, the government has, in a landmark move, decided to give tribals and other affected populations a share of the profits made from exploiting mineral resources from their land. The Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday finalised the contours of the draft for a new mining bill, which makes it mandatory for mining companies to...
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