The state government is in the process of introducing a land lease policy whereby landowners can lease out land for setting up windmill projects in the state. The policy would help in resolving various issues between companies and landowners and is expected to expedite the process of setting up windmill projects. As per the draft policy, landowners would continue to be the owners of the land, unlike in many cases...

They are based on faulty medical categorisation and miscalculated figures: survivors' organisations The report on the Bhopal gas leak submitted by the Group of Ministers (GoM) to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday drew mixed reactions from survivors' organisations here, which have decided to write to him to allow them a hearing at a CABinet meet to be held on Friday. While welcoming it as “at least some hope after all,”...

The draft law on sexual harassment could make the workplace safer for women. Locker room talk, personal remarks and unsolicited advances will all get the official stamp of disapproval if the draft bill on sexual harassment is passed by the CABinet next month. This comes 13 years after the Supreme Court framed the Vishaka guidelines on sexual harassment at the workplace. The draft bill based on these guidelines has been around...

Companies that do not set up a sexual harassment complaints committee within their organization can be penalized under sweeping provisions proposed in a draft Bill to check sexual abuse at the workplace. The Bill, cleared by the law ministry and expected to be discussed in the CABinet by mid-July, also seeks to make false complaints of sexual harassment punishable under service rules. In an effort to cover every working woman...

The government on Tuesday approved a a proposal to draw a loan of $100 million (about Rs 450 crore) from the World Bank to promote microfinance in the country. The CABinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared the proposal for on-lending to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), which -- in turn -- would disburse the funds to the microfinance sector. “The fund will be used to promote responsible and...