-The Hindu There is a resonance between Saramago’s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate José Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind. The thread It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and...

-TheWire.in The lack of any discussion with the legitimate representatives of millions of workers whose welfare is at stake is a worrying trend. In the last two months, India’s labour laws have experienced rapid changes in the blink of an eye. A number of State Governments have either amended or are considering amending the Factories Act, 1948 to extend maximum working hours which violates the ILO Convention, Hours of Work (Industry), 001. Madhya...

-The Hindu Food security and farmer welfare are intertwined It is ironic that it took a devastating pandemic to force the government’s hand for long-overdue agrarian reforms. Amendments have been made to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Finance Minister has urged States to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Several long-term changes have been made to the agricultural sector, such as fair pricing and e-trading, along with liquidity measures. The Centre...

-The Hindu Business Line Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw open the auction of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining. The decision, which was part of the announcements made by the Centre under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, was already proposed in January through the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. What is it? These auctions invite participants to mine coal blocks by bids on the percentage value of coal sold that they will...

-GaonConnection.com Recently the Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining in the country. Jharkand has already approached the Supreme Court opposing this move. Now, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra governments have written to the Union environment minister opposing the auction to protect its forests, a tiger reserve and a proposed elephant reserve Three days after the Jharkhand government approached the Supreme Court of India challenging the Centre’s...