The strike at the Maruti Suzuki plant shows workers’ rights is still a simmering issue Spanner In The...     * Labour disputes/strikes down from 250 in ’04-05 to under 100     * Strike by 3,000 Maruti workers found support from 65 unions across companies     * Trade unions assert workers’ right to form a union, or to decide which union to join     * Ashok Leyland, Hyundai, Honda Motorcycles, GM among those that have...

-The Economic Times   Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has approved two mining proposals - one by Iifco and the other by the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam - on the fringes of the Hasdeo-Arand forest region in Chhattisgarh. Ramesh set aside the recommendation of the statutory body of the environment ministry, the Forest Advisory Committee , to reject the proposals. With Thursday's order, coal mining will be allowed in Tara, Parsa...

Orissa is all set to renew its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with steel major Posco with a one-year retrospective effect by June 30th. The MoU for the proposed 12 million ton steel plant had expired on June 22, 2010 after a period of five years. State steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty said all formalities required for renewal of the MoU will be over shortly and the government would revalidate...

From the Middle East to Madagascar, high prices are spawning land grabs and ousting dictators. Welcome to the 21st-century food wars. In the United States, when world wheat prices rise by 75 percent, as they have over the last year, it means the difference between a $2 loaf of bread and a loaf costing maybe $2.10. If, however, you live in New Delhi, those skyrocketing costs really matter: A doubling in...

* Only a less ambitious deal on climate change expected * Process is dead in the water - de Boer "Ask for a camel when you expect to get a goat," runs a Somali saying that sums up the fading of ambitions for United Nations talks on slowing climate change -- aim high, but settle for far less. Developing nations publicly insist the rich must agree far deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions,...