Although services provided by the gig and platform workers touch the lives of each one of us, we have little knowledge about the role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work. Such digital labour platforms have created unprecedented opportunities for workers, businesses and society. However, they also pose serious threats to decent work and fair competition. A recent report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) shows that the...

-The Hindu The distinct characteristics of India’s agriculture require that a reformed state must ensure farmer, consumer welfare For at least four decades now, economic policy making globally has dogmatically adhered to the notion that a progressively reduced role of the state would automatically deliver greater economic growth and welfare to the people. Since reform, by definition, is taken to mean only one thing, sector after sector is compulsively sought to be...

-Down to Earth Gaps in data on women and girls particularly severe; countries do not invest enough in public intent data systems, the report said Most countries have shied away from an open-data policy — more so countries with developing economies, according to a recent World Bank report. Only 11 per cent low-income countries consistently made available with a license classifiable as ’open’, the report flagged. The comparable rate for lower-middle-income countries was...

-The Indian Express A forest fire which started in Simlipal in February and has been raging for nearly a week now, was finally brought under control. How fire prone is the forest? What caused the fire, and how intense was it? Bhubaneswar: The Simlipal forest reserve area frequently witnesses forest fires during dry Weather conditions. A fire which started in the biosphere reserve area in February and has been raging for nearly...

-The Telegraph Weather scientists, however, said heavy snow had been neither forecast nor observed in Chamoli district on Friday or Saturday An avalanche triggered by snowfall — and not glacial ice sundering — was the likely cause of Sunday’s devastation in Uttarakhand, scientists said on Monday using satellite imagery. Weather scientists, however, said heavy snow had been neither forecast nor observed in Chamoli district on Friday or Saturday. “A preliminary analysis suggests that heavy...