-Press release by International Labour Organisation dated 12 September, 2022 Latest estimates show that forced labour and forced marriage have increased significantly in the last five years, according to the International Labour Organization, Walk Free and the International Organization for Migration. GENEVA (ILO News): Fifty million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, according to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. Of these people, 28 million were in forced labour...

-Down to Earth A report shows drought-like situation in over 700 blocks of 91 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar & West Bengal A severe deficit in the rainfall during monsoon 2022 has affected Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. However, state governments have shied away from declaring a drought in the states even though Kharif-sowing was badly hit. Uttar Pradesh government directed a drought survey in all its districts September 8,...

-The Hindu How is this initiative different from the MGNREGA for villagers? What are some of the similar schemes being implemented in other States? The story so far: The Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme has rolled out in Rajasthan with the objective of providing economic support to the poor and needy families living in the cities THRough work to be provided on demand for 100 days in a year. The Congress...

-The Hindu The increasing cost of production and the increase in GST on cartons has triggered protests in Himachal Pradesh Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh are out on the streets some THRee decades after their last big agitation. The protests are not surprising; their anger has been simmering for a while. To understand the present crisis, it is crucial to understand the developments of the last few decades. In the 1970s and 1980s,...

-The Hindu The RBI has estimated a 7.1% inflation rate for the July to September quarter India’s retail inflation touched 7% in August, up from 6.71% in July, fuelled by a 7.62% pick-up in food prices paid by consumers, even as industrial production growth in July had dropped to the lowest level since April at just 2.4%, with output levels dropping 2.75% month-on-month.   This is the eighth successive month that retail inflation...