-The Indian Express Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, India’s exports of agricultural commodities have dipped from $43.2 billion to $33.8 billion, even as imports have climbed from $15.5 billion to $25.6 billion Falling exports and rising imports — this has been the story of the country’s agricultural trade over the last three years, notwithstanding the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious Make in India initiative. Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, India’s exports of agricultural commodities have dipped...

-The Hindu Greater data availability, especially on labour markets, needed to better gauge social impact of such policies The World Bank has said the social impact of demonetisation may have been greater as the informal economy was likely to have been hit especially hard. However, the Bank said the impact of demonetisation on the informal economy was difficult to measure and greater data availability, especially on labour markets, is needed to...

-Scroll.in/ Business Standard Previous attempts to organise 2.8 million employees of the country's IT sector have failed In 2008, as Tamil Nadu erupted in angry protests against the killings of Sri Lankan Tamils during that country’s civil war, a group of young software professionals in Chennai’s Tidel Park banded together to form a human chain. “Stop the War, Save Tamils” was their demand – a slogan that featured on posters, T-shirts and...

-Livemint.com IT employees in Tamil Nadu, represented by unions, are seeking intervention of courts and state governments to prevent the companies’ growing penchant for job cuts Chennai: Two unions in Tamil Nadu, the only state where labour groups have been actively supporting information technology (IT) employees, have become their voice in the fight against layoffs in the industry. The IT employees’ wing of the New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF) on Tuesday sought the...

-PTI The court was hearing a PIL alleging that the statutory cess levied from real estate firms for the welfare of construction workers was not being utilised properly. Where has a whopping amount of Rs 20,000 crore, meant for workers’ welfare, gone? Spent on tea parties or vacation of officials? Even the Comptroller and Auditor General doesn’t know, wondered the Supreme Court. These posers were put to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)...