Whether it is in education, health or jobs, there are enormous differences in outcomes in modern India, so much so that it often seems like two countries exist within one. Economic opportunities have undoubtedly expanded for a section of India's population, but there are serious obstacles in the path of many. Nobel laureate and development economist Amartya Sen has written about the 'conversion handicap' which, quite separately from an 'earnings...

In the wake of mass protest by locals against land acquisition process The Union government on Sunday asked the Orissa government not to take precipitate action in the wake of a mass protest by locals against the land acquisition process launched at Govindpur village for the Posco steel plant. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said in a statement that coercion was not the way to resolve the crisis. He hoped that the Orissa...

Signs of softening of stand by management and workers The deadlock at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant continued on Sunday amid signs of a softening of stand by both the management and workers. Nearly 2,000 workers are currently on the ninth day of a stay-in strike. While the talks held on Saturday night between Haryana Labour Minister Shiv Charan Lal Sharma and trade union representatives failed to break the impasse, another round of...

-The Tribune   It appears there are no takers for the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NAREGA) scheme in Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. And the simple reason for this is that workers are getting higher Wages at private projects and there is no dearth of such projects in Noida. Under the scheme, over 26,000 job cards were made in Gautam Budh Nagar. Further, bank accounts for 6,367 people...

When it was almost certain that the governments of the country were to take their hands off from total acquisition of land for a private project, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has started thinking otherwise. The thought went out for hundred per cent acquisition by the government. Had this come at the germinal stage of discussion about changes in the colonial Act, it could have resulted in Mamata Banerjee’s face...