-The Hindu No major country has managed to reduce poverty or sustain economic growth without a robust manufacturing SECtor The contribution of manufacturing to GDP in 2017 was only about 16%, a stagnation since the economic reforms began in 1991. The contrast with the major Asian economies is significant. For example, Malaysia roughly tripled its share of manufacturing in GDP to 24%, while Thailand’s share increased from 13% to 33% (1960-2014). In...

-The Telegraph Low wages, no social SECurity mark ‘non-standard forms of employment’ By 11am last Wednesday, Salim had collected all the household trash littering the lanes in the central Delhi neighbourhood of Regar Pura and dumped it in the local garbage yard. If he were a regular civic employee, his day’s work would be over. But Salim said his “actual work” would only start now: he would be segregating the plastic bags and bottles and liquor...

-The Hindu Cyclone-hit State presents preliminary report to the visiting Central team BHUBANESWAR: Even as normal life is limping back to normality in the districts ravaged by cyclone Fani on May 3, the Odisha government on Wednesday presented a preliminary report putting the losses at Rs. 11,942 crore. The report was presented to the visiting inter-ministerial Central team assessing the cyclone damages. The cyclone affected 1.6 crore people in 18,388 villages and 51...

-CaravanMagazine.in India is often hailed for its democracy, for empowering its poor and ordinary citizens to participate in the electoral process and play a role in shaping the country. This narrative has increasingly come under strain since the Supreme Court, through its March 2003 judgment in Union of India vs Association for Democratic Reforms, made it mandatory for candidates contesting elections to disclose their wealth, educational qualification, and criminal cases pending...

  Initial media reports suggest how timely interventions by various official agencies in Odisha prevented loss of human lives when Cyclone Fani hit that state on 3rd May. However, it is essential to also take into account recent official reports by different agencies, which indicate that the impact of the cyclone has been quite severe. A situation assessment report on the impact of Fani cyclone dated 15th May, 2019, which was released...