-United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) A prolonged and deadly heatwave has hit large swaths of India and Pakistan affecting hundreds of millions of people and sparking food and energy shortages. Experts say the extreme heat is a grim preview of what the climate crisis has in store for a region home to over 1 billion people. Temperatures in India’s capital and parts of Pakistan have at times reached close to 50°C, killing...

Every year in the month of either February or March, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) announces the notified MGNREGA wage rates (i.e., notified daily wage rates for MGNREGA workers) for various states and Union Territories (UTs) for the upcoming financial year. The MGNREGA rates are notified every year based on the increase in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL). Like the previous years, in 2021 too, experts and civil...

-The Hindu Plea seeks food security, cash transfers for migrant workers who went back to their villages during lockdown The Supreme Court on Friday asked the States and Union Territories to furnish particulars of unorganised and migrant workers to the Centre. The court said a further order could be passed based on these details to protect the interests of workers in a case filed by activists Anjali Bharadwaj, Harsh Mander and Jagdeep...

-The Tribune Hamirpur: The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) today alleged that the MGNREGA workers were being deprived of their legitimate wages and were fleeced by an undue assessment rule. Kashmir Singh Thakur, national secretary, CITU, said it was unfortunate that government officials were partial in the registration of labour class, adding that over 10,000 applications were pending in the state labour office, while many people, who were not even eligible...

-The Hindu CPI for agricultural and rural workers increased by 10 points each last month Rising food prices spurred an increase by 10 points each in the all-India Consumer Price Index (CPI) for agricultural and rural Labourers, respectively, last month, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a release on Saturday. An increase in the prices of rice, wheat-atta, jowar, bajra, ragi, vegetables and fruits contributed the bulk of the spike in...