-The Economic Times For one who had worked so closely to frame the world's largest job guarantee programme, known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, it's not easy to see it succumb to pressure. It's no wonder that economist-cum-activist Jean Dreze will raise his voice against this, along with eminent academics such as Pranab Bardhan and Maitreesh Ghatak. Dreze says corruption related to NREGA and leakages - its...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government's efforts to promote 'khadi' are facing a trademark hurdle with the brand having been registered abroad, in countries such as Germany, as well as in India. After haldi and basmati, this is the latest instance of infringement of intellectual property rights, which is essentially traditional knowledge. What makes the task more difficult for the government is that 'khaddar' and 'khadi' are common across the...

-IANS Kolkata: Climate change is causing toxic metals trapped in the sediment beds of the Hooghly estuary in the Indian Sunderbans to leach out into the water system due to changes in ocean chemistry, say scientists, warning of potential human health hazards. They predict that after about 30 years, increasing ocean acidification - another dark side of spiked atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide - could in fact unlock the entire stock of...

-The Guardian A report highlights conditions of modern slavery in Indian mills, and the abused workers should have recourse to UK courts Eighteen months ago the Rana Plaza building in bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 garment workers, and prompting global shock and outrage. Companies responded by promising to improve their act: more than 150 international retailers signed up to the bangladesh accord on fire and building safety, a legally binding...

-The Week Shambhu Kumar, 8, quite liked his job as a domestic help in a small town in Assam. He had to mind two children nearly his age, keep an eye on the ducks and be available for chores all day. It wasn't too hard, and he was well fed, too, though he missed his grandmother, a tea garden labourer. One day, some women from the state education department came to the...