Coming months ‘crucial' The International Labour Organisation has warned that a jobs crisis caused by the slowdown in the global economy threatens a wave of widespread social unrest engulfing both rich and poor countries. Highlighting the darkening prospects for employment, the Geneva-based ILO said policymakers were running out of time to head off a double-dip recession in labour markets. “We have reached the moment of truth,” said Raymond Torres, director of the...

India's cabinet has approved a major new policy to develop national manufacturing. The policy aims to create a 100 million jobs in the next 10 years and allows for a series of special new zones to support manufacturing growth. At the moment, that sector only accounts for about 16% of the country's gross domestic product. That has barely changed in the last three decades and is seen as well below India's potential. It is...

Imagine there was one changeable factor that affected virtually every measure of a country's health— including life expectancy, crime rates, addiction, obesity, infant mortality, stroke, academic achievement, happiness and even overall prosperity. Indeed, this factor actually exists. It's called economic inequality. A growing body of research suggests that such inequality — more so than income or absolute wealth alone — has a profound influence on a population's health, in every socioeconomic...

-The United Nations   A new report by the United Nations labour agency warns of a youth jobs crisis in both developed and developing countries, with young people aged 15 to 24 finding it increasingly difficult to obtain decent employment and future prospects are dim. As it released its “Global Employment Trends for Youth: 2011 Update,” the International Labour Organization (ILO) notes that the recent global economic crisis led to a “substantial” increase...

-Express News Service   Amid the truce offer, the Maoists on Wednesday slammed the state government’s move to recruit 10,000 police constables from Junglemahal and termed it as an “conspiracy hatched by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee”.   A statement signed by one Akash, who identified himself as CPI(Maoist) state committee secretary, read: “She (Mamata Banerjee) wants to give arms to the tribal population and we are apprehending that she will bring the Salwa Judum...