Ahead of its battle with dalit czarina Mayawati, the Congress-led Centre has made it mandatory for all central bodies to make at least 4% of their annual purchases from small scale industries owned by dalits and tribals. The decision, a leg up for developing entrepreneurship among SCs/STs, came as part of the new public procurement policy cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday which mandates Union ministries/PSUs to make 20% of...
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No breakthrough at Maruti after first day of talks between workers, management
-The Hindu Talks brokered by Gurgaon district administration are expected to continue today The first day of talks between the management and striking workers of Maruti Suzuki India Limited's Manesar plant on Monday, brokered by the Gurgaon district administration, did not yield a breakthrough even as the strike entered its 11th day. The talks are expected to continue on Tuesday. Meanwhile, thousands of workers demonstrated outside the Deputy Labour Commissioner's office in Gurgaon...
More »Double Whammies by Lola Nayar
What began as a few whispers is now a booming drumbeat. Powerful senior ministers are asserting that the Right to Information Act (RTI), till now flaunted as one of the UPA government’s biggest gifts to the aam aadmi, is “transgressing into government functioning”. Similar misgivings are being voiced on another constitutional body that has been in the news lately—the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Put together, this has...
More »Understanding the poverty line by Amitabh Kundu
The popular outrage over the official definition of poverty at abysmally low levels of daily income, of Rs 26 in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas, assumes the state will deny basic services to a household whose income is above the figure. This is totally erroneous. There is no mechanism in the hands of the government to ascertain income or expenditure to identify the 'poor' on the ground. The...
More »Earthquake in Sikkim: Natural Calamity and Potential Manmade Disaster by JJ Roy Burman
On September 18 an earthquake of the magnitude of 6.8 by the Richter scale struck Sikkim at about 6.18 pm The epicentre of the quake was located about 67 kms north-west of Gangtok—the State capital. The epicenter was located to be precise at Mangan, the headquarter, of the Sikkim North district. There were about four-to-five aftershocks of lesser intensity within five-to-six hours. Minor tremors were felt even after a few...
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