Apparel exporters risk losing clients like GAP, Reebok and Nike if India fails to convince the US on Friday that its industry does not employ children. India has been asked to defend itself in the US on May 20 against charges of child labour. Child labour is a sensitive issue for American multinationals who source 30% of their global requirements from India. The brands can stop India sourcing if the country...
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Outsider in own home, Maharashtra village wrests control of forest produce sale by Jaideep Hardikar
If the problems are macro, think micro. That seems to have been the guiding principle for Lekha-Mendha, the Maharashtra village that last month became the first in India to win the right to grow, harvest and sell bamboo. Such rights are the key goal of a five-year-old central law which aims to give tribal communities control over some resources of the jungles they live in. “There is no point in looking out...
More »Rahul demands probe into Bhatta-Parsaul violence by Atiq Khan
“Poor farmers could not fathom why they were beaten up, their houses set afire” Starting from where he left off in Bhatta-Parsaul and emboldened by the success of the Congress campaign against the Mayawati government on the land acquisition issue, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said, “there will be a Bhatta-Parsaul in every village,” to ensure the government's downfall. “The Congress will fight the government at the ground zero...
More »Shrink PDS & rework NREGA, World Bank tells India by Sharad Raghavan
A World Bank review of India’s social sector programmes has suggested a smaller public distribution system with more cash transfer, reworking of NREGA as a public works programme for urban areas and finally, a social security package including health care for those without regular employment. The report titled ‘Social Protection for a Changing India’, was commissioned by the Planning Commission. The bank said the three-pillar approach should be combined with social...
More »India 'redefines' poverty for new survey
-BBC India's cabinet has approved a proposal for a survey to identify people living below the poverty line, which also redefines what constitutes poverty. It will classify the rural poor into "destitutes, manual scavengers and primitive tribal groups". Urban poor will be defined as those in vulnerable shelters, low-paid jobs and homes headed by women or children. The survey, to be conducted alongside a caste census later this year, will help identify those...
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