National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give “suitable directions” to rescue the MNREGA and ensure that all workers get paid in accordance with the Minimum Wages Act (1948). In a letter dated November 11, Sonia Gandhi, who is also UPA chairperson, has appended a 10-page note on the subject. The note details the concerns and outlines the legal arguments in support of paying workers...

A senior government official told reporters here on Thursday that Posco might shift to Karnataka, which was making active overtures to the Korean company. This gives a new twist to the ongoing tussle between the Ministry of Environment and Posco. The Ministry had recently asked Posco to stop work in Orissa, where the company has been trying to start operations for many years. Asked about the delays and Posco's predicament, the official said...

States may set it higher, not lower; planned link to cost of living. The Minimum Wages Act will be amended to enact a new centrally set minimum, in the wake of the National Advisory Council's suggestion on asymmetries in this regard between states on payments for work done on schemes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The Union labour ministry has begun consultations on the proposed change and on making...

POSCO wants to build a USD 12 billion steel mill in eastern India, but the project has faced delays because of environmental worries and protests by local residents concerned about the mill's impact on their agriculture-based livelihoods. Here are some questions and answers about the project, which has already been delayed by three years: What is the project? The world's third-largest steel company wants to set up a mill in the eastern state...

The number of seats for them in ZPs will go down following amendment to Act A recent Ordinance of the State Government amends the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act and caps the reservation to various deprived communities at 50 per cent. This means that half the seats are available to general merit candidates. This, according to the Ordinance, will be achieved by keeping the reservation for SC/STs intact and reducing the number...